JP2002057701A - Multimedia communication method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multimedia communication method and system by which a party desiring communication with another party via the Internet can be connected at any time not through a provider and a server having a special role and without the need for preliminary negotiation between both parties. SOLUTION: The multimedia communication method includes processing where a terminal 28 or 29 calls an opposite terminal 29 or 28 request the opposite terminal 29 or 28 for the acquisition and return or notice of the IP address of the opposite terminal 29 or 28 through a telephone line by using an input signal processing terminal such as a personal computer 30 and a communication connection terminal such as an ISDN terminal adaptor 21 3754/254}22), processing where the requested terminal 28 or 29 connects with a provider 25 or 26, acquires the assigned IP address from the provider 25 or 26 and returns the IP address to the request source terminal or informs request source terminal about the IP address, and processing where the terminals 28, 29 connect with the providers 25, 26 or servers, make TCP/IP connection with each other by using the returned or informed IP address and conduct peer-to-peer communication.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a peer-to-peer communication method and apparatus for performing multimedia using the Internet and a LAN, and more particularly, to a telephone line and the Internet which can be connected to the other party at any time in the same manner as a home telephone. The present invention relates to a peer-to-peer multimedia communication method and apparatus that can be used as a videophone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is an Internet videophone that performs two-way communication of images and sounds on the Internet in a peer-to-peer manner. In such an Internet videophone, parties wishing to communicate connect to an Internet service provider (hereinafter simply referred to as a provider) or a network server (hereinafter simply referred to as a server) having a special function of serving as an exchange. This is achieved by: Therefore, Internet videophones could not be realized only by using ordinary providers and servers that do not have the special functions as described above.
In addition, it was necessary for both parties to access at the same time.

[0003]

As described above, in the prior art, in order to use the Internet videophone, it is necessary to go through or use a special provider having an exchange function and to communicate. Since the parties had to access and connect at the same time, it was necessary to discuss the connection date and time in advance.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve these conventional problems, and a party who wants to communicate via the Internet has a meeting with both parties in advance without going through a provider or server having a special role. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multimedia communication method and apparatus which can be connected at any time without having to perform the communication.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a multimedia communication method according to the present invention uses a communication information terminal comprising an information processing terminal such as a personal computer and a communication connection terminal such as an ISDN terminal adapter. A processing step of calling the other terminal through the telephone line from the original terminal to obtain an IP address, requesting return or notification of the obtained IP address, and the requested terminal is connected to a provider and allocated by the provider. I
Acquiring a P address and returning or notifying the IP address to the requesting terminal; and the requesting terminal connects to a provider or connects to a server, and then uses the returned or notified IP address. A TCP / IP connection with a partner terminal to perform peer-to-peer communication.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The principle and embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. (Principle) In the Internet, a TCP / IP connection is made between a provider and a communication information terminal including a personal computer and a terminal adapter, but a fixed IP address is not assigned to the communication information terminal.
An IP address is assigned to each connection as needed. For this reason, it is not possible to exchange IP addresses like telephone numbers between parties who want to communicate in advance, and it is necessary to obtain an IP address each time a connection is made and to obtain the IP address from the other party with whom communication is desired. Was. In the present invention, the IP address is obtained from a partner, and after connecting to the Internet, a TCP / IP connection is similarly made to a partner communication information terminal connected to a certain provider to enable peer-to-peer communication. The multimedia communication method of the present invention is used when a communication party communicates on the Internet using a communication information terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a terminal) including an information processing terminal such as a personal computer and a communication connection terminal such as an ISDN terminal adapter. At the other end of the communication, the other party connects to the Internet service provider with the other terminal, notifies or sends the assigned IP address to the communication party each time, and the other terminal connects to the Internet service provider. While the communicating party connects to another or the same provider, the IP address is used to communicate with the partner terminal.
Perform a CP / IP connection and perform peer-to-peer communication.

(Embodiment of Apparatus) FIG. 1 is a rear view of a multimedia communication apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of the multimedia communication device. The multimedia communication apparatus of the present invention has a personal computer and a modem mounted in an ISDN terminal adapter, and connects a facsimile apparatus, a telephone, and a public communication network (INS (registered trademark) net) outside the adapter. Figure 1
Is a rear view of the device in which connection terminals for connection to the outside of the adapter are arranged, and includes a telephone-side analog port (A, B) 2, a line-side port 3, and a data port (RS232C) 4.
, A USB port 5 and an (RS232C) 6 for analog ports (A, B). As shown in FIG. 2, the telephone-side analog ports (A, B) 2 connect A to the facsimile machine 9 and B to the telephone 10 respectively. The line side port 3 is connected to the INS net 11. The other side of the telephone-side analog ports (A, B) 2 and the line-side port 3 are connected to control means 12 mounted inside the adapter 1. The control means 12 includes the modem 8
Are connected, and the USB port 5 and the data port (RS232C) 4 are connected. The modem 8 is connected to the (RS232C) 6 for analog ports (A, B) and the USB port 5.

(Embodiment of Method) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a simplified TCP / IP communication in the present invention. a) Terminal (A) 28 and terminal (B) 29 are both dial-up connection providers (A) 25,
(B) It is assumed that it is connected to 26. b) The terminal (A) 28 acquires the socket number by specifying the type of the socket and creating the socket. c) The terminal (A) prepares for TCP / IP communication by binding based on the acquired socket number, the IP address allocated by the provider (A) 25, and a predetermined port number. d) The terminal (B) 29 is also the provider (B) 26
A socket is created and bound on the basis of the assigned IP address to prepare for TCP / IP communication. e) The terminal (A) 28 transmits data (moving image, sound and text) on the Internet by designating the IP address allocated by the provider (B) 26 to the provider (B) 26 of the terminal (B) 29. I do.

F) From the terminal (B) 29 to the provider (A) 25 of the terminal (A) 28, specify an IP address allocated by the provider (A) 25, and specify data (moving image, sound or text) on the Internet. ). g) By repeating the above e) and f), two-way communication is performed between the terminal (A) 28 and the terminal (B) 29. h) To end the communication, close the socket. TCP / IP communication is performed according to the above procedure.
According to the present invention, in order to obtain an IP address from a partner, a program is started to automatically call the partner (an analog line) and obtain an IP address from a partner provider. , The TCP / IP communication is started with the notified IP address as the destination. This enables peer-to-peer communication by connecting to the Internet.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a peer-to-peer multimedia communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, ISP stands for Internet Service Provider, IN stands for Internet, and TA
Is an abbreviation for terminal adapter. In the present invention, the analog telephone line is first connected to the other party, then the data port is connected to the provider, and the IP address allocated by the provider is exchanged by both parties. Communicate using IP protocol. Hereinafter, the procedure will be described.

From the analog port (6) of the terminal adapter (1 in FIGS. 1 and 2) of the terminal (A) 28, a telephone call is made to the analog port (6) of the terminal adapter (1) of the terminal (B) 29. Multiply. The terminal (B) 29 returns a reply to the terminal (A) 28 in response to the modem 24 of the terminal adapter (1). A dial-up connection is made to the provider (A) 25 from the data port (4) of the terminal adapter (1) of the terminal (A) 28. The terminal (A) 28 obtains the IP address allocated by the provider (A) 25. The terminal (A) 28 notifies the terminal (B) 29 of the acquired IP address through an analog line. A dial-up connection is made to the Internet provider (B) 26 from the data port (4) of the terminal adapter (1) of the terminal (B) 29 and the terminal (A) 2
A TCP / IP connection is made on the Internet to the terminal (A) 28 using the IP address notified from the server 8. Terminal (A) 28 and terminal (B) 29 on the Internet
Performs two-way communication, and at the same time disconnects the analog line and performs communication on the Internet.

In the procedure shown in FIG. 3, a call is made from the terminal (A) 28 to notify the acquired IP address, but it is also possible to make a call from the terminal (B) 29. Yes, and it is of course possible to notify the other party of the IP address obtained by the terminal (B) 29. Further, only the program for returning or notifying the acquired IP address to the other party can be used independently. Further, the terminal (A) 28 first connects to the provider and transmits the assigned IP address to the partner terminal with which communication is to be performed via a telephone line or the like, so that the partner (A) 28 receives the IP address.
A TCP / IP connection can be performed using the P address.

Note that the sequence numbers in the sequence diagram of FIG.
Is a sequence of steps that serves as a flowchart. This step is converted into a program, and the converted program is stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. By connecting a telephone, the present invention can be realized immediately. That is, the present invention is easily performed by installing the program of the present invention from the recording medium into a computer and executing the program. Also, the present invention can be realized on a computer by downloading the program to any other computer via a network.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Using a telephone line and the Internet, it can be used as a videophone that can be connected to the other party at any time, just like a home telephone. The use of the communication connection device according to the present invention has an effect that a videophone call can be made at any time. Furthermore, since communication is performed over the Internet using a provider, there is a remarkable effect that telephone charges are limited to local rates wherever they are.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a multimedia communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of a multimedia communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of a multimedia communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a simplified explanatory diagram of TCP / IP communication according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... ISDN terminal adapter, 2 ... Telephone side analog port (A, B), 3 ... Line side port, 4 ... RS232C for data ports, 5 ... USB port, 6 ... RS232C for analog ports A and B, 8 ... Modem, 9 facsimile, 10 telephone, 11 INS net, 12 control means, 21, 22 ISDN terminal adapter (A) (B), 23, 24 ... modem function, 25, 26 ...
Providers (A) and (B), 27: Public network, 28, 29
... terminals (A) and (B), 30 ... personal computers.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroharu Yoshikawa 3-12-1 Kachidoki, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Forefront Tower Ricoh System Development Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5K030 HA08 HB21 HC01 HD05 HD09 JA03 JT06 LA08 5K101 KK04 LL00 LL03 MM04 MM05 NN06 NN18 NN21 PP03 QQ07 QQ09 QQ10 RR05 RR11 RR27 RR28 SS07 SS08 TT04 UU16

Claims (6)

[Claims] An information processing terminal such as a personal computer and an ISDN.
Using a communication connection terminal such as a terminal adapter, a requesting terminal calls a partner terminal through a telephone line to obtain an IP address, and a processing step of requesting return or notification of the obtained IP address; Connecting to a provider, obtaining an IP address allocated from the provider, returning or notifying the IP address to the requesting terminal, the requesting terminal connecting to the provider or connecting to the server Performing a TCP / IP connection with the partner terminal using the returned or notified IP address, and performing peer-to-peer communication. 2. An arbitrary communication party, when communicating on the Internet, calls a partner terminal with which communication is to be performed, connects the partner terminal to an arbitrary Internet service provider, and obtains an IP address. The multimedia communication method according to claim 1, wherein the IP address is returned or notified. 3. The communication party connects his terminal to an arbitrary Internet service provider, and
The P address is transmitted to the terminal to be communicated with using a telephone line or the like, stored in the storage means of the communication information terminal of the partner, and arbitrarily performed peer-to-peer communication from the communication partner using the stored IP address. The multimedia communication method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 4. A data communication connection device in which an analog port and a modem are added to an ISDN terminal adapter having a data port, wherein data communication is performed through the data port and telephone communication is performed with a communication partner through the analog port. A multimedia communication device used for data transfer of an IP address acquired by using the communication. 5. A program for realizing the multimedia communication method according to claim 1, wherein the program is implemented.
An ISDN terminal adapter and a communication connection device, which are connected to an information terminal serving as a host such as a personal computer through a single port using a USB interface or an RS232C interface. 6. A program recording medium, wherein the processing steps of the multimedia communication method according to claim 1 are converted into a program, and the converted program is stored in a recording medium.