JP2002217945A - Communication system, communication method and communication terminal and program storage media - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication system and communication method that can select a destination terminal, capable of conducting communications with own communication terminal, from only the proper name of a communication destination. SOLUTION: Each communication terminal registers the relevant proper name, communication form of communication terminal, and characteristics information to a retrieval server, and outputs a retrieval request including the proper name and the communication form of a communication destination to the retrieval server during communication execution. The retrieval server selects a terminal, which corresponds to the specified proper name and can execute the specified communication form, and responds it to the requesting terminal. The requesting terminal selects a destination terminal and executes communication with it, based on the response. According to this configuration, a destination terminal capable of conducting communications with the own communication terminal can be selected from only the proper name of a communication destination, so that it is unnecessary to obtain and store information of a communication destination, beforehand.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication method, a communication terminal, and a program storage medium. More specifically, a communication system, a communication method, and a communication method that enable selection of a partner terminal that can communicate with its own communication terminal from only the unique name of the communication partner and that enable communication that does not require information of the partner terminal. And a communication terminal, and a program storage medium. Note that the system is a logical set configuration of a plurality of devices, and the devices of each configuration are not limited to those in the same housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, the Internet (IP) (Internet Protocol) is used as a communication protocol in the Internet which has exploded.
l) is used. Currently used IP is IP
v4, and a 32-bit address (IP address) is used as the source / destination. The IP address is a 32-bit address in units of 8 bits.
Expressed as a decimal number. Such a sequence of numbers is difficult for the user to remember. For this reason, a DNS (Domain Name System) for enabling communication using a host name instead of an IP address is used.

A DNS server manages the correspondence between the IP address of a terminal (host) and a host name, and obtains a host address (IP address) based on the host name by accessing the DNS server when the terminal performs communication. Can be.

As described above, a user often uses a host name to designate a communication partner, but it is necessary to convert the host name into an IP address in order to actually start communication. This conversion process is executed by the DNS. Previously, the administrator manually registered the correspondence between the host name and the IP address in the DNS server, but now several techniques for automating this registration work have been proposed.

[0005] For example, RFC 2137 and draft-i
etf-dhc-dhcp-dns-12. In txt etc., DHCP server and DHCP client are DNS
While cooperating with the server, DNS A record (host name →
IP address translation entry) or PTR record (IP
A method of updating the address → host name conversion entry) has been proposed.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-112852,
The DHCP server sends the DHCP client's IP address and MAC (Media Access Control).
l) By notifying the DNS server of the address,
A method for updating the registration information of the NS server is described. In this method, the DNS server administrator sets the MAC
By setting a fixed correspondence between the address and the host name, the host name of the DHCP client can be determined.

Further, DNS-Dynamic-Upda
The te is a mechanism for dynamically changing the association between a host name and an IP address in DNS according to necessity (such as moving a host).

However, anyway, the conventional DNS
Since a search key for obtaining an IP address is a host name, a user who wants to communicate cannot be specified, and it is necessary to know by some means the host name of a device currently used by the user. Also, when the host name of a device is specified, the only useful information for communicating with the device is the IP address of the device, and there is no other information for efficient communication with the device.
The form of communication cannot be considered.

In addition, SIP (Session Initiation Proto)
col) assigns a unique ID (SIP address) to each user, associates the device currently in use among a plurality of types of devices owned by the user with the SIP server, and associates the ID with the user. In the case of communication, by designating the user's ID to the SIP server, the user can know how to access the device currently in use. However, there is only one device associated with the ID, and when there are a plurality of devices at hand of a partner who wants to communicate, it is not possible to select a device according to the form of communication. Communication is not possible.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and is possessed by the user based on the user's unique name and the form of communication with which the user wants to communicate. A communication system, a communication method, and a communication terminal capable of starting efficient communication with an optimal terminal by acquiring characteristic information of a device (or devices) that can satisfy a communication mode to be communicated among the devices; And a program storage medium.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first aspect of the present invention is as follows.
A unique name set as the affiliation of the managed communication terminal,
Searches for a unique name and communication form based on a database in which characteristic information and executable communication forms of each communication terminal are registered in association with each other, and a search request message specifying the unique name and communication form from the data communication requesting terminal A search processing unit that performs a search process of the database as a key, wherein the data communication request terminal is configured to perform a search based on the characteristic information obtained from the search server as a search result based on the search request message. A communication partner terminal is selected to execute communication.

[0012] Further, in one embodiment of the communication system of the present invention, the communication terminal under the control of the search server transmits a message including a unique name, characteristic information, and a communication form executable by each communication terminal. It is characterized in that it is configured to transmit the notification message to the search server.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication system of the present invention, the database provided in the search server includes identification information of a communication terminal under management, hardware information, or at least one of characteristic information of software information. Is characterized by including.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication system of the present invention, the communication terminal under the management of the search server includes identification information of the communication terminal, or hardware information, or at least one of characteristic information of software information. A message is transmitted to the search server as a characteristic notification message.

[0015] Further, in one embodiment of the communication system of the present invention, the communication terminal under the management of the search server includes a change in characteristic information of at least one of identification information of the communication terminal, hardware information, and software information. Is detected, and a message based on the detected change in the characteristic information is transmitted to the search server as a characteristic notification message.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication system of the present invention, the data communication request terminal includes search level information for setting a search level in the search server in the search request message and transmits the search request message to the search server. And a search processing unit of the search server is configured to execute a search result extraction process based on search level information included in the search request message.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication system of the present invention, the communication system has a plurality of search servers, the plurality of search servers form a hierarchical structure, and are stored in a database of a lower-level search server. It is characterized in that the higher level search server holds at least the unique name information of the management terminal information obtained.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication system of the present invention, the unique name is a name set as a belonging identifier for identifying any of a user, a place, a service, and an organization to which the managed communication terminal belongs. There is a feature.

Further, a second aspect of the present invention is a communication method between communication terminals, wherein a data communication request terminal searches for a search request message specifying a unique name and communication form set as belonging to the communication terminal. Transmitting to the server; and performing, in the search server, a database search process using the unique name and the communication mode as a search key based on the search request message specifying the unique name and the communication mode from the data communication requesting terminal. A step of selecting a communication partner terminal based on characteristic information obtained from the search server as a search result based on the search request message, and executing communication with the data communication request terminal. In the communication method.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication method according to the present invention, the communication method further includes a communication terminal under the management of the search server, a unique name, characteristic information, and executable communication of each communication terminal. And transmitting the message including the form as a characteristic notification message to the search server.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication method according to the present invention, in the communication terminal managed by the search server,
The method further includes a step of transmitting a message including at least one of the identification information of the communication terminal, the hardware information, and the software information as a characteristic notification message to the search server.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication method according to the present invention, the data communication requesting terminal includes search level information for setting a search level in the search server in the search request message and transmits the search request message to the search server. And executing a search result extraction process based on search level information included in the search request message in the search server.

Further, a third aspect of the present invention relates to a communication terminal that executes data communication, wherein a unique name set as belonging to the communication terminal, characteristic information, and an executable communication form of each communication terminal. The communication terminal is characterized in that the communication terminal has a configuration of transmitting a message including the message to the search server as a characteristic notification message for registration processing to the search server.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication terminal of the present invention, the communication terminal uses a message including at least one of identification information of the communication terminal, hardware information, and software information as a characteristic notification message. , And transmitting it to the search server.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication terminal of the present invention, the communication terminal detects a change in characteristic information of at least one of identification information of the communication terminal, hardware information, and software information. And transmitting a message based on the change in the characteristic information to the search server as a characteristic notification message.

Further, in one embodiment of the communication terminal of the present invention, the unique name is a name set as a belonging identifier for identifying any of a user, a place, a service, and an organization to which the managed communication terminal belongs. There is a feature.

Further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in a communication terminal for executing data communication, a search request message specifying a unique name and a communication mode of a data communication partner terminal is generated and transmitted to a search server. A communication terminal having a configuration for selecting a communication partner terminal based on characteristic information obtained from the search server as a search result based on a search request message and executing communication.

[0028] Further, in one embodiment of the communication terminal of the present invention, the communication terminal is configured to include search level information for setting a search level in the search server in the search request message and transmit the search request message to the search server. It is characterized by the following.

Further, a fifth aspect of the present invention is a program storage medium for providing a computer program for causing a computer system to execute communication processing between communication terminals, wherein the computer program includes a data communication request. A search step of executing a database search process using a unique name and a communication mode as a search key based on a search request message specifying a unique name and a communication mode from a terminal; and acquiring from a result searched in the search step. And transmitting the characteristic information to the data communication requesting terminal.

The program storage medium according to the fifth aspect of the present invention is a medium for providing a computer program in a computer-readable format to a general-purpose computer system capable of executing various program codes. It is.

Such a program storage medium defines a structural or functional cooperative relationship between the computer program and the storage medium for realizing the functions of a predetermined computer program on a computer system. Things. In other words, by installing the computer program into the computer system via the storage medium, a cooperative operation is exerted on the computer system, and the same operation and effect as the other aspects of the present invention can be obtained. You can do it.

Still other objects, features and advantages of the present invention are:
It will become apparent from the following more detailed description based on the embodiments of the present invention and the accompanying drawings.

[0033]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [System Overview] FIG. 1 shows a configuration example to which the system of the present invention can be applied. In the system of FIG. 1, a user A has communication terminals A-1, 111 and a communication terminal A-111.
2, 112, communication terminals A-3, 113, and user B
Are communication terminals B-1, 121, communication terminals B-2, 122,
It has communication terminals B-3 and 123, each of which has a configuration capable of accessing the search server 101. Each communication terminal is a terminal capable of various communication, such as a personal computer such as a desktop or a notebook, a PDA, and a mobile phone.

First, an outline of an example of using the system in the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described. It is assumed that a user A and a user B communicate with each other using one of the terminals.

User A wants to have two-way video communication with user B, but user A has no information about user B's physical location or possessed equipment, and is assigned to user B Know only the unique name given. Here, the unique name is a unique name set as belonging to the communication terminal and registered in advance in the search server 101. That is, the unique name is a name set as a belonging identifier for identifying any one of a user, a place, a service, and a group to which the communication terminal managed by the search server belongs.

The search server 101 stores each user A, B,
The unique names of C, D, and the communication terminals owned by each user, the form of communication that each communication terminal can execute, the identification information of each terminal, the characteristics of software information such as programs, and hardware information Data associated with information is registered in a database.

In the configuration of FIG. 1, user B has communication terminals B-1, 121, communication terminals B-2, 122, and communication terminal B.
-3, 123, and information on these communication terminals, specifically, unique names, communication form information, and characteristic information are registered in the search server. Details of these pieces of information will be described later.

The user A activates a video conference application on the communication terminals A-1 and 111 to execute two-way moving image communication on the communication terminals A-1 and 111, and sends a user B specific information to the search server 101. A search request message specifying the name and the communication mode is transmitted. The communication mode in this case is two-way video communication. More specifically, a more detailed communication format such as MPEG image communication may be specified.

When the search server 101 receives a search request message from the communication terminal A-1, 111 of the user A,
A search is performed for a communication device of the user B that can process the unique name of the user B and the specified communication mode. In the configuration example of FIG. 1, the devices associated with the unique name of the user B are the communication terminals B-1, 121, the communication terminals B-2, 122, and the communication terminals B-3, 123, and the designated communication is performed. Of the communication terminal B-1 and communication terminal B-1 and communication terminal B-2 and communication terminal B-1
Assume that there are only 22.

The search server 101 sends the user B's communication terminals B-1, 1, 1 to the user A's communication terminals A-1, 111.
21. Output the characteristic information of the communication terminals B-2 and 122 as a search response message.

Upon receiving the search response message from the search server 101, the communication terminals A-1 and 111 of the user A
Pass search results to the application. In the application, an inquiry is made to the user A and the communication terminals B-1, 12
1. Select one of the communication terminals B-2 and 122 and start bidirectional video communication with the selected terminal.

As described above, the system of the present invention obtains data on the communication partner device from the search server, and designates the communication partner device according to the obtained information to start communication. Hereinafter, the details of the system of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a search server and a communication terminal, and an example of data transmission and reception between the two devices. Search server 21
0 indicates a registration processing unit 211, a search processing unit 212, a database unit 213, and a network interface unit 2
14. The search server 210 inputs a characteristic notification message and a search request message from the communication terminal, and outputs an acknowledgment message and a search response message to the communication terminal.

In FIG. 2, terminal A which is one of the communication terminals
Reference numeral 220 denotes a characteristic detection unit 223 and an application unit 2
24, a registration unit 221, a search unit 222, and a network interface unit 225. Terminal A220,
A characteristic notification message and a search request message are output to the search server 210, and an acknowledgment message and a search response message are input from the search server 210.

In the system of the present invention, each terminal has its own characteristic information such as identification information of the terminal, a data communication function of voice or image data executable by the terminal,
Registration that notifies the search server of terminal characteristic information, such as software functions such as compression / decompression processing (ex. MPEG) functions, and hardware functions such as CPU performance and memory capacity, and executes registration in the database in the search server Phase, and a search phase in which a user specifies a communication mode and requests a search server to search for a communicable device in order to select a terminal when each terminal communicates with another user terminal. Have.

The characteristic notification message and the acknowledgment message described above are used in the registration phase, and the search request message and the search reply message are used in the search phase. Next, the configurations of the search server and the communication terminal will be described.

[Configuration of Search Server] Search server 2 in FIG.
10 receives the characteristic notification message from the registration unit of each communication terminal,
Execute the registration process for. Also, the database unit 213
A confirmation response message is created based on the completion of the registration processing to the communication terminal, and the confirmation response message is transmitted to the communication terminal that transmitted the characteristic notification message.

The registration processing section 211 sets a timer when receiving a registration completion confirmation response from the database section 213. When the timer expires, a deletion request is sent to the database unit 213 to delete the communication terminal information registered in the database unit 213 from the database unit. The time of the timer is set in advance, for example, 1 minute, 10 minutes, or the like. When a new characteristic notification message notifying that the characteristic has not changed is received from the communication terminal, the timer is reset and the process of deleting information from the database is stopped. Further, the registration processing unit 211 issues a request for updating registration information to the communication terminal prior to the expiration of the timer, and upon receiving a characteristic notification message as a response from the communication terminal to the update request, a new characteristic notification message. The database is updated based on the message.

The database unit 213 includes the registration processing unit 21
1 receives the registration or update request, registers the unique name, communication mode, and characteristic information included in the request in the database, and returns a confirmation response to the registration processing unit 211 based on the registration completion. Further, it receives a deletion request from the registration processing unit 211, deletes the information of the corresponding communication terminal, and returns a confirmation response. Further, the search request is received from the search processing unit 212, the database is searched using the unique name included in the search request and the communication mode as keys, and the characteristic information of the corresponding device is sent to the search processing unit as a search result. send. FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of the database.

In the database, unique names associated with users, places, services, and the like are registered. One or more communication terminal names corresponding to each unique name, the form in which each communication terminal can communicate, and Characteristic information such as an identifier of the communication terminal, hardware information, and software information is registered.

The unique name is a specific user, a specific place,
This is an identifier for uniquely identifying the affiliation of the terminal such as a specific service or group, and a unique name is set. A user who wants to execute communication needs to know these registered unique names, and requests the search server for a search for communicable terminal information by specifying the unique names and the communication mode. . The unique name specified by the user may be an object to which a unique name is assigned, such as a specific user, a specific place, a specific service, and the like. Note that a plurality of unique names may be associated with one device. When the user holding the device, the place where the device is placed, the service provided by the device, or the like is changed, a new association is performed. Assignment of a unique name is performed by a central organization, such as a governmental agency or provider, and is the only unique name on the network.

The characteristic information indicates characteristics of the communication terminal equipment, and includes, for example, the following. Such information can be generally obtained from the OS. a. Identifier FQDN Host name IP address and netmask MAC address etc. b. Details of hardware Computing unit: Detailed information of CPU Storage unit: Detailed information of memory, Detailed information of hard disk Input / output device Input device: Detailed information of keyboard, Detailed information of mouse Output device: Detailed information of display, Detailed information of printer Input / output device: Detailed information of network interface (NIC) c. Details of software OS middleware: CODEC, encryption application, etc.

The form of communication is the form of communication desired by the application. For example, the following elements can be considered. a. Video communication: input, output b. Voice communication: input, output c. Data communication: input, output d. Remote control: input

The form of communication possible in each device is determined mainly from the details of the hardware in the characteristic information. For example, a sound card is required to enable voice communication. This determination is made using a correspondence table or the like listing necessary characteristic information when defining the form of communication.

Communication terminals registered in the database include personal computers, mobile phones, televisions, PDs
A is a terminal capable of various communication such as A, and the identification form of the terminal, hardware, and software information are registered as the executable communication form of each terminal and the characteristic information of each terminal.

Returning to FIG. 2, the description of the configuration of the search server 210 will be continued. The search processing unit 212 receives a search request message from each communication terminal and issues a search request to the database unit 213. The search processing unit 212 is a database unit 213
From the search results from, select the characteristic information of the communication terminal that matches the search level specified in the search request message from the communication terminal, create a search response message, and send it to the communication terminal that sent the search request message I do. The network interface unit 214 executes data transmission / reception processing with each communication terminal via a network.

[Configuration of Communication Terminal] Next, the configuration of each communication terminal will be described. The characteristic detecting unit 223 monitors the characteristic state of the terminal at the time of starting the communication terminal or at every predetermined time cycle, specifically, for example, executes hardware detection and program detection processing to monitor the characteristic state of the terminal. Is passed to the registration unit 221, and when the characteristics change, the changed characteristic information is sent to the registration unit 221.
Pass to.

The registration unit 221 receives the characteristic information from the characteristic detection unit 223, creates a characteristic notification message, and transmits it to the search server 210. The registration unit 221 performs a process of transmitting a characteristic notification message to the search server at each time set by the timer. The registration unit 221 resets the timer after transmitting the characteristic notification message to the search server 210, and continues until the timer expires.
If no new characteristic information is received from 23,
A characteristic notification message notifying that the characteristic has not changed is transmitted to the search server 210. The registration unit 221
When an acknowledgment message for the characteristic notification message is received from the search server 210, the characteristic detecting unit 223
Returns an acknowledgment to.

The application section 224 is an application started by the user on the device. The form of communication differs for each application, and for example, there are the following. * Communication form in videophone application Input and output of video communication-Input and output of voice communication * Communication form in file transfer application Input or output of data communication

At the time of executing the application, if the user specifies the unique name of the other communication terminal before starting communication with another communication terminal, the application unit 224 outputs the unique name to the search unit 222 and The communication mode and the search level are output. The search unit 222 creates a search request message based on the unique name of the communication partner, the communication mode, and the search level specified by the application unit 224, and transmits the message to the search server 210.

The search unit 222 receives the search response message from the search server 210, extracts the characteristic information of one or a plurality of devices that satisfy the requested communication mode among the devices of the communication partner, and extracts them. The information is output to the application unit 224.

The user obtains the characteristic information of one or a plurality of devices satisfying the requested communication mode in this way. When there are a plurality of terminals that satisfy the requested communication mode, one device is selected from among the devices in consideration of the characteristic information of each device, and communication is started based on the selected device and the characteristic information of the device. . Network interface unit 225
Executes data transmission / reception processing with a search server and another terminal via a network.

As described above, the system of the present invention has two phases, a registration phase and a search phase. Hereinafter, processing in each phase will be described.

[Registration Phase] First, the processing of the registration phase will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. (1) The characteristic detecting unit of each communication terminal (for example, terminal A, 220 in FIG. 2) acquires characteristic information from the OS when the device is started, and passes the characteristic information to the registration unit. In addition, a hardware detection and a program search process are executed for each predetermined time cycle, and a process of acquiring terminal characteristic information is executed. Performs processing function detection as a characteristic of the terminal, such as a terminal identifier, software functions such as compression processing and decompression processing functions of audio or image data executable by the terminal, and hardware functions such as CPU performance and memory capacity. I do.

(2) The registration unit creates a characteristic notification message including a communication form executable in the communication terminal, a unique name corresponding to the communication terminal, and characteristic information based on the received characteristic information, and registers the search server. Send to processing unit.

FIG. 5A shows a configuration example of the characteristic notification message.
Shown in As shown in FIG. 5A, the characteristic notification message includes characteristic information including a unique name associated with a user, a place, a service, and the like, an identifier of a communication terminal, hardware information, software information, and execution of the communication terminal. It has communication form information such as possible communication forms, for example, whether moving picture input, moving picture output, voice input, and voice output are possible.

Returning to FIG. 4, the description of the registration phase process will be continued. (3) Upon receiving the characteristic notification message from the registration unit of each communication terminal, the registration processing unit of the search server issues a registration request to the database unit. (4) Upon receiving the registration request from the registration processing unit, the database unit of the search server registers the unique name, characteristic information, and communication mode included in the request in the database. (5) When the registration of the characteristic information is completed, the database unit of the search server returns the unique name of the registered device to the registration processing unit. (6) The registration processing unit of the search server generates an acknowledgment message including the unique name of the registered device, and transmits the message to the registration unit of the device.

FIG. 5D shows a configuration example of the confirmation response message.
Shown in The confirmation response message has unique name information associated with a user, a place, a service, and the like, as shown in FIG.

(7) Upon receiving the confirmation response message, the registration unit of the communication terminal passes the confirmation response to the characteristic detection unit. (8) When the characteristic detecting unit receives the confirmation response, the registration processing is completed. (9) When the characteristic detecting unit detects a change in the characteristic after the registration is completed, the characteristic detecting unit notifies the registered unit of the changed characteristic. (10) The operations of (2)-(8) are repeatedly executed.

(11) The registration unit of the communication terminal creates a characteristic notification message including information indicating that there is no characteristic change every predetermined period even when the characteristic change is not transmitted from the characteristic detection unit, and sends it to the search server. Send. (12) When the registration processing unit of the search server receives the characteristic notification message including the information indicating that there is no change in the characteristic, the registration processing unit does not exchange with the database unit and transmits an acknowledgment message to the registration unit of the device. . (13) The registration unit of the device receives the confirmation response message. (14) The registration processing unit of the search server performs a certain period (ex.
If the characteristic notification message is not received from the device for a period that is several times the fixed period defined in the process (11), the characteristic information of the device is deleted from the database unit.

FIG. 5B shows a configuration example of the characteristic notification message when the characteristics of the communication terminal change, and FIG. 5C shows a configuration example of the characteristic notification message when the characteristics do not change. Is shown below. As shown in FIG. 5B, the characteristic notification message when the characteristic of the communication terminal has changed includes a unique name associated with a user, a place, a service, and the like.
The change of the characteristic information including the identifier of the communication terminal, the hardware information, and the software information, and the addition and the deletion of the characteristic information, and the communication form executable by the communication terminal, such as a moving image input, a moving image output, a sound input, and a sound output are possible. It has communication form information such as whether there is. The characteristic notification message in the case where there is no change in the characteristics of the communication terminal includes only the unique name as shown in FIG.

When the search server receives the characteristic notification message shown in FIG. 5B, it updates the database registration information in accordance with the received message. When the search server receives the characteristic notification message shown in FIG. Maintain database information.

[Search Phase] Next, the processing in the search phase will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. (1) First, a user who intends to execute communication using a certain communication terminal starts an application on the communication terminal,
Designate a unique name to identify the user, place, service, etc. that identifies the communication partner. This unique name is a unique name registered in the database of the search server.

(2) The startup application of the communication terminal transmits the unique name to the search unit. (3) The search unit inquires of the application unit about the communication mode and the search level. (4) The application unit notifies the search unit of the communication mode and the search level.

The search level indicates the degree at which a search is requested, and includes, for example, the following. a. strict: a communication terminal that satisfies a search request and is considered optimal b. loose: Among the communication terminals satisfying the search request, n is the top n when the designated number is n. c. all: All communication terminals that satisfy the search request

The search levels “loose” and “all” are used, for example, when presenting a user of an application of a communication terminal with a list of communication partner devices and leaving the user to select a terminal. The ordering of the optimality of the communication terminal is performed by comparing the form of communication with the characteristic information of the terminal.

(5) The search unit of the communication terminal transmits a search request message including the unique name specified by the application, the communication mode, and the search level to the search processing unit of the search server.

FIG. 7A shows an example of the structure of a search request message.
Shown in As shown in FIG. 7A, the search request message includes a unique name associated with a user, a place, a service, or the like as a communication partner, a communication form executable by the communication terminal,
For example, it has communication mode information such as whether moving image input, moving image output, voice input, and voice output are possible, and further has the above-described search level information.

(6) Upon receiving the search request message from the search unit of the communication terminal, the search processing unit of the search server searches the database unit using the unique name, communication mode and search level included in the message as search keys. Make a request.

(7) Upon receiving the search request from the search processing unit, the database unit of the search server searches the database using the unique name and the communication form included in the search request as keys, and the communication partner indicated by the unique name The characteristic information of one or a plurality of devices satisfying the communication mode among the devices held by the device is obtained. (8) The database unit of the search server sends the characteristic information of one or more devices obtained by the search to the search processing unit. (9) Upon receiving the search result from the database unit, the search processing unit of the search server selects as many pieces of characteristic information as specified by the search level, creates a search response message,
Transmit to the search unit of the communication terminal.

FIG. 7B shows an example of the structure of a search reply message.
Shown in The search reply message is, as shown in FIG. 7B, characteristic information including a unique name associated with a user, a place, a service, and the like as a communication partner, an identifier of a communication terminal, hardware information, and software information. , FIG.
Satisfies the communication form of the search request message shown in (a),
It has characteristic information for each communication terminal according to the search level.

(10) When the search unit of the communication terminal receives the search reply message from the search processing unit of the search server,
The characteristic information of one or more devices is extracted from the message, and the information is transmitted to the application. (11) The application of the communication terminal selects one device from the characteristic information of one or more devices obtained from the search unit, and starts communication with the device.

As described above, according to the system of the present invention,
Attempt to execute communication by registering unique names corresponding to various categories such as users, places, and services, and registering one or more communication terminals corresponding to the unique names together with their characteristic information and communication mode in a server. The user who performs the search request to the search server by specifying the unique name of the communication partner and the communication mode can specify a communication terminal capable of performing communication in the specified communication mode, and the communication device configuration of the communication partner can be specified. It is possible to select a communicable device and execute communication without information on the communication.

The unique name can also be specified for a user, a place, a service, an organization, and the like. For example, when a user having a certain communication terminal (communication terminal A) wants to execute communication with a specific company. By designating a company name (unique name), the search server can select a terminal communicable with the communication mode of the user's communication terminal A from communication terminals registered corresponding to the company name to notify the user. It becomes possible, and the user does not need to hold information on a specific communication terminal in advance.

[Search Server Hierarchical Model] Next, a description will be given of a configuration in which search servers are hierarchically arranged in the system of the present invention. By arranging the search servers in a hierarchical manner, it is possible to have scale expandability, and it is possible to manage the search servers for each organization or home.

In the configuration hierarchical model, a hierarchical search server and a plurality of devices serving as search clients are configured. FIG. 8 shows an example of this configuration. In the configuration of FIG. 8, the search servers are search server A 810 and search server B 8
20, and a search server C830, each having a terminal capable of accessing each search server. Search server B 820 and search server C 830 are search server A 8
It is configured as ten lower layer servers.

The search server hierarchy model has three phases: a search server hierarchy phase, a registration phase, and a search phase. The operation of the search server and the device in each phase is described below.

[Layered Layer] First, the hierarchical phase will be described with reference to FIG. Prior to operation, the search server registers its own identifier and the [unique name] of the communication terminal managed by itself with the search server one level higher. By this registration, the search server is hierarchized.

The processing in FIG. 9 will be described. In FIG. 9, the processing between the terminal for the activation characteristic detection and the acknowledgment and the lower-level search server is the same as the above-described processing of the registration phase using FIG. A procedure executed between the lower order search server and the upper order server after executing the communication terminal registration process will be described.

(1) The registration processing unit of the lower search server transmits a hierarchical message including the unique name of the device to be managed to the registration processing unit of the upper search server. Note that the identifier of the upper search server is statically held in the system.

FIG. 10A shows an example of the structure of a hierarchical message.
Shown in The hierarchical message includes, as shown in FIG. 10A, an identifier of its own search server, a communication terminal managed by its own search server, and unique name information registered in its own search server database. It is composed of The unique name is a unique name associated with a user, a place, a service, and the like as described above.

(2) The registration processing unit of the upper search server sends the contents of the hierarchical message to the database unit. (3) The database unit of the upper search server registers the content of the registration message. (4) When the registration is completed, the database unit of the upper search server returns an acknowledgment to the registration processing unit. (5) Upon receiving the confirmation response, the registration processing unit of the upper search server transmits an acknowledgment message to the registration processing unit of the lower server.

In this configuration, the registration contents of the database of the lower-order search server are the same as in the above-described embodiment (see FIG. 3).
However, in the database of the upper search server, the identifier of the lower search server and the unique name registered in the database of the lower server are registered in association with each other.

When there is a change in the communication terminal managed by the lower search server, the lower search server transmits a new hierarchical message (re-registration) to the upper search server. FIG. 10B shows a configuration example of a hierarchical message at the time of re-registration. The hierarchical message at the time of re-registration is shown in FIG.
Like the hierarchical message of the above, it has an identifier of its own search server, and further includes at least one of an added unique name or a deleted unique name.

[Registration Phase] The procedure for registering each communication terminal in the search server is the same as in the normal case other than the above-described hierarchical model. When there is a change in the unique name managed by the search server in the registration phase, the processing of the layering phase is performed again as described above.

[Search Phase] Next, the procedure of a search phase for searching for a partner communication terminal in order to execute communication with another communication terminal in a hierarchical model will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) First, a user who intends to execute communication using a certain communication terminal starts an application on the communication terminal and specifies a unique name for specifying a user, a place, a service, etc. for specifying a communication partner. . This unique name is a unique name registered in the database of the search server.

(2) The startup application of the communication terminal transmits the unique name to the search unit. (3) The search unit inquires of the application unit about the communication mode and the search level. (4) The application unit notifies the search unit of the communication mode and the search level.

The search level indicates the degree at which a search is requested, and includes a strict (strict), a loose (loose), and an all (all) as described above.

(5) The search unit of the communication terminal transmits a search request message including the unique name designated by the application, the communication mode, and the search level to the search processing unit of the search server.

The structure of the search request message is the same as that of FIG. 7A described above. That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, a unique name associated with a user, a place, a service, and the like, a communication form executable by the communication terminal, for example, a moving image input, a moving image output, a sound input, and a sound output are possible. It has communication form information such as whether or not there is, and further has the above-described search level information.

(6) Upon receiving the search request message from the search unit of the communication terminal, the search processing unit of the search server searches the database unit using the unique name, communication mode and search level included in the message as search keys. Make a request.

(7) Upon receiving the search request from the search processing unit, the database unit of the search server searches the database using the unique name and the communication form included in the search request as keys, and the unique name is stored in the database. Since it does not exist, no characteristic information can be obtained.

(8) The database section of the search server informs the search processing section that the unique name does not exist in the database. (9) Upon receiving the search result from the database unit, the search processing unit of the search server creates a search response message including the identifier of the higher-order search server instead of the characteristic information,
Transmit to the search unit of the communication terminal. Note that the identifier of the upper search server is statically held in the system.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a message structure of a search reply message when the unique name does not exist in the database.
(B). FIG. 12A is a message configuration example of a search response message when a unique name exists in the database. As shown in FIG. 12 (b), the search reply message when the unique name does not exist in the database includes the unique name associated with the user, place, service, and the like as the communication partner, and then the communication terminal searches for the unique name. Contains the identifier of the search server to be designated as the server.

(10) When the search unit of the communication terminal receives the search reply message as shown in FIG. 12B from the search server, the search unit includes a request including the unique name specified by the application, the communication mode and the search level. The message is transmitted to the search processing unit of the upper search server that is the search server specified in the search response message.

(11) The search processing unit of the upper search server
When a search request message is received from the search unit of the communication terminal, a search request is issued to the database unit using the unique name, communication mode and search level included in the message as a search key. (12) Upon receiving the search request from the search processing unit, the database unit of the upper search server searches the database using the unique name and the communication mode included in the search request as keys, and manages the device having the unique name. The identifier of the search server (in this case, the lower-order search server B) is obtained.

(13) The database unit of the upper search server transmits the identifier of the lower search server B obtained by the search to the search processing unit. (14) Upon receiving the search result from the database unit, the search processing unit of the upper search server creates a search response message including the identifier of the lower search server B instead of the characteristic information, and transmits it to the search unit of the communication terminal. .

The search response message at this time is also shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), a unique name associated with a user, a place, a service, or the like as a communication partner, and an identifier of a search server to be next designated as a search server by the communication terminal are included.

(15) Upon receiving the search response message, the search unit of the communication terminal converts the request message including the unique name specified by the application, the communication mode and the search level into a lower search server specified by the search response message. B to the search processing unit. (16) Upon receiving the search request message from the search unit of the communication terminal, the lower-order search server B search processing unit sends a search request to the database unit using the unique name, communication mode and search level included in the message as a search key. put out.

(17) Upon receiving the search request from the search processing unit, the database unit of the lower-order search server B searches the database using the unique name and the communication form included in the search request as keys, and is indicated by the unique name. Characteristic information of one or a plurality of devices that satisfy the communication mode among the devices held by the communication partner is obtained. (18) The database unit of the lower search server B sends the characteristic information of one or a plurality of devices obtained by the search to the search processing unit.

(19) Upon receiving the search result from the database unit, the search processing unit of the lower-order search server B selects as many pieces of characteristic information as specified by the search level, creates a search response message, and To the search section. (20) Upon receiving the search response message from the search processing unit of the lower-order search server B, the search unit of the communication terminal extracts characteristic information of one or a plurality of devices from the message and transmits the information of the device to the application. Tell (21) The application of the communication terminal selects one device from the characteristic information of one or more devices obtained from the search unit, and starts communication with the device.

As described above, according to the present hierarchical system,
Information of each communication terminal can be distributed and managed by a plurality of search servers, and there is no need for centralized data management, and an infinite number of terminal management configurations are realized.

In the above-described search processing example using FIG. 11, a search reply message is transmitted from the communication terminal to the communication terminal in response to one search request to the search server, and a new search is performed based on the search response message. Although the mode of repeatedly executing the process of outputting the request to another search server has been described, if the terminal information requested in the database of its own search server does not exist for the search request from the communication terminal to the search server, the search server A message may be transmitted and received between the servers, the message may be transferred to a search server capable of acquiring necessary information, and a search response message may be transmitted from the search server having terminal information to the communication terminal.

[Specific Communication Example] A specific communication example to which the above-described configuration of the present invention is applied will be described. An example of a videophone system will be described as a communication example.

For example, assume that user A has a notebook PC-A and user B has a notebook PC-B, a PDA-B, and a mobile phone-B. At this time, the user A
Wants to have two-way video communication with user B, but user A has no information about user B's physical location,
Only knows the unique name assigned to.

User B currently has notebook PC-B and PD
AB and mobile phone-B are possessed, and these devices are registered in the search server in the registration phase.
The user A specifies the unique name of the user B for the video conference application running on the notebook PC-A.

The application started on the notebook PC-A transmits a unique name to the search unit of the notebook PC-A. The search unit of the notebook PC-A inquires of the application about the communication mode and the search level.
The application sets the form of communication as input and output of video communication and input and output of voice communication, and sets the search level to [a
11] to the search unit.

The search section of the notebook PC-A stores a unique name,
A search request message including a search level and a communication mode is transmitted to the search server. Upon receiving the search request message, the search processing unit of the search server requests the database unit of the search server to search for a device that matches the unique name and the communication mode.

[0120] The database unit of the search server returns the search result to the search processing unit. In this example, the devices that match the unique names are the notebook PC-B of the user B, the PDA-B,
It is assumed that the mobile phone-B that satisfies the designated communication mode is the notebook PC-B and the PDA-B. In this case, the characteristic information of the notebook PC-B and the characteristic information of the PDA-B are passed.

Since the search level is [all], the search processing section of the search server generates a notebook PC-B and a search reply message including the characteristic information of the PDA-B, and the notebook PC-A which is the terminal of the user A. Return to. Note PC-A
Receiving the search response message, the search unit passes the search result to the application unit.

The application section of the notebook PC-A inquires of the user A, for example, by displaying terminal information on a display, and makes a note PC-B and a PDA-
A desired device is selected from B. In this example, it is assumed that notebook PC-B has been selected. At this point, the communication partner is determined. Thereafter, the video conference application of the notebook PC-A of the user A is connected to the notebook PC-B of the user B.
Start communication with your video conferencing application.

The present invention has been described in detail with reference to the specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can modify or substitute the embodiment without departing from the spirit of the present invention. That is, the present invention has been disclosed by way of example, and should not be construed as limiting. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the claims described at the beginning should be considered.

[0124]

As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to select a partner terminal capable of communicating with its own communication terminal only from the unique name of the communication partner. It is not necessary to acquire and remember information of the partner terminal in advance because communication can be started between the terminals. At the start of communication, a device optimal for communication can be selected from a plurality of devices, so that optimal and efficient communication can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a system configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a search server and a communication terminal and a transmission / reception message in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a database included in a search server of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence of a registration phase in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a characteristic notification message and an acknowledgment message in a registration phase in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence of a search phase in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a search request message and a search reply message in a search phase in the system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram illustrating the configuration of a hierarchical system according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence of a layering phase in the layering system of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a layered message in a layered phase in the layered system of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a processing sequence of a search phase in the hierarchical system according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a search request message and a search reply message in a search phase in the hierarchical system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 search server 111, 112, 113 communication terminal 121, 122, 123 communication terminal 210 search server 211 registration processing unit 212 search processing unit 213 database unit 214 network interface 220 communication terminal 221 registration unit 222 search unit 223 characteristic detection unit 224 application unit 225 Network interface 810, 820, 830 Search server

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04M 11/00 303 H04B 7/26 109M (72) Inventor Kuniaki Kurihara 6-7 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo No. 35 F-term in Sony Corporation (reference) HH05 HH11 HH22 HH23 JJ11 5K101 KK16 NN18 PP03

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. A database in which a unique name set as an affiliation of a communication terminal under management, characteristic information, and an executable communication form of each communication terminal are registered in association with each other; A search server having a search processing unit that executes a search process of the database using a unique name and a communication mode as a search key based on a search request message that specifies a name and a communication mode, the data communication request terminal comprising: A communication system having a configuration in which a communication partner terminal is selected and communication is performed based on characteristic information obtained from the search server as a search result based on the search request message. 2. A configuration in which a communication terminal managed by the search server transmits a message including a unique name, characteristic information, and a communication form executable by each communication terminal to the search server as a characteristic notification message. The communication system according to claim 1, comprising: 3. The database of the search server, wherein the database includes identification information of a communication terminal under management, or hardware information or software information. Item 1
A communication system according to claim 1. 4. A communication terminal under the management of the search server sends a message including at least one of identification information of the communication terminal, hardware information, and software information as a characteristic notification message to the search server. The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a configuration for transmitting. 5. A communication terminal under management of the search server detects a change in characteristic information of at least one of identification information of the communication terminal, hardware information, and software information, and detects a change in the detected characteristic information. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication system according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting a message based on the information to the search server as a characteristic notification message. 6. A search processing unit of the search server, wherein the data communication request terminal has a configuration in which search level information for setting a search level in the search server is included in the search request message and transmitted to the search server. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a search result is extracted based on search level information included in the search request message.
A communication system according to claim 1. 7. The communication system includes a plurality of search servers, the plurality of search servers form a hierarchical structure, and at least unique name information of management terminal information stored in a database of a lower-level search server is provided. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication system has a configuration owned by a higher-order search server. 8. The unique name includes a user to which the managed communication terminal belongs, a place, a service,
The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication system is a name set as an affiliation identifier for identifying one of the groups. 9. A communication method between communication terminals, wherein a data communication request terminal transmits a search request message specifying a unique name set as an affiliation of a communication terminal and a communication mode to a search server, Performing a search process of a database using a unique name and a communication mode as a search key based on a search request message specifying a unique name and a communication mode from the data communication requesting terminal; A step of selecting a communication partner terminal based on characteristic information obtained from the search server as a search result based on a search request message and executing communication. 10. The communication method, further comprising: in a communication terminal under the management of the search server, a message including a unique name, characteristic information, and an executable communication form of each communication terminal as a characteristic notification message. The communication method according to claim 9, further comprising a step of transmitting to the search server. 11. The communication method further includes, in a communication terminal under the management of the search server, a characteristic notification of a message including identification information of the communication terminal, or hardware information or software information. The communication method according to claim 9, further comprising transmitting the message to the search server as a message. 12. The communication method, further comprising: at the data communication requesting terminal, transmitting search level information for setting a search level in the search server to the search server while including the search level information in the search request message; 10. The communication method according to claim 9, further comprising: executing, at a server, a search result extraction process based on search level information included in the search request message. 13. A process for registering a message including a unique name set as belonging to a communication terminal, characteristic information, and an executable communication mode of each communication terminal to a search server in a communication terminal executing data communication. A communication terminal having a configuration for transmitting a characteristic notification message for use to a search server. 14. The communication terminal, comprising: identification information of the communication terminal;
14. The communication terminal according to claim 13, wherein a message including characteristic information of at least one of hardware information and software information is transmitted to the search server as a characteristic notification message. 15. The communication terminal, comprising: identification information of the communication terminal;
Or hardware information, or a change in the characteristic information of at least one of the software information is detected, and a message based on the detected change in the characteristic information is transmitted as the characteristic notification message to the search server. The communication terminal according to claim 13, wherein: 16. The unique name includes a user, a place, a service, and the like to which the managed communication terminal belongs.
14. The communication terminal according to claim 13, wherein the communication terminal is a name set as an affiliation identifier for identifying one of the groups. 17. A communication terminal that executes data communication, generates a search request message designating a unique name of a data communication partner terminal and a communication mode, and transmits the search request message to a search server;
A communication terminal having a configuration of selecting a communication partner terminal based on characteristic information obtained from the search server as a search result based on the search request message and executing communication. 18. The communication terminal according to claim 17, wherein the communication terminal includes a search request message including search level information for setting a search level in the search server and transmitting the search level information to the search server.
A communication terminal according to claim 1. 19. Communication processing between communication terminals is performed by a computer
A program storage medium for providing a computer program to be executed on a system, wherein the computer program changes a unique name and a communication form based on a search request message specifying a unique name and a communication form from a data communication request terminal. A program storage medium comprising: a search step of executing a search process of a database serving as a search key; and a step of transmitting characteristic information obtained from a result searched in the search step to a data communication request terminal. .