JP2002232607A - Carrier selection table capable of deciding long distance call type - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a carrier selection table capable of deciding a domestic long distance call type. SOLUTION: The domestic long distance call type is decided by having area codes in a LATA(local access and transport area) and area codes in states in a RAM or a ROM and comparing an area code dialed by a user with these codes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention compares a telephone service charge provided by a plurality of telephone service companies (hereinafter referred to as "carriers") and automatically selects a telephone company with a low charge. The present invention relates to a carrier selection table used by a telecommunications terminal (telephone, facsimile device, key telephone device, PBX device, etc.) having a built-in (hereinafter referred to as "LCR function") to determine a low-priced telephone service.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a telecommunication terminal with a built-in LCR function, charge information of each carrier required for charge comparison (hereinafter referred to as a "carrier charge table") or information of each carrier is determined and information indicating which carrier charge is cheaper. (Hereinafter, referred to as a “carrier selection table”) to determine which carrier to use (hereinafter, referred to as “LCR determination”). L
After the CR determination, if a certain carrier is to be used, an access code for designating the carrier is read from the storage area and dialed automatically.

[0003] The telephone charge determination method used in the conventional LCR function is based on ground information (MA identification information in Japan, NPA-NXX (area code and local exchange number) in the United States, country code for international calls). In advance, information on which telephone company is the cheapest is stored in advance.

[0004] Conventional telephone charges include the distance between a calling party and a called party (distance element) and the time period of the call (weekday, weekend,
Daytime, nighttime, midnight, etc.). In order to accurately calculate the telephone charge, the distance element and the time element were required. In Japan, a message area (MA) is used to know the distance element.
Japan is divided into 567 MAs, and coordinate values (X coordinate and Y coordinate) are assigned to each MA. In order to know the distance element, the values of the coordinates to which the calling party and the called party belong are known, and the distance is calculated using the two coordinate values. Which coordinates the caller and the callee belong to is determined by a maximum of five digits up to ABCDE of the telephone number 0ABCDEFGHJ (MA identification information). The five digits of ABCDE theoretically have 100,000 different numbers, but the actual MA identification information is about 1000.
It is on the street.

[0005] There are about 1,000 types of ground information (MA identification information) in which a caller may make a call in Japan, and if all the 1000 types are included in the carrier selection table, the table size becomes several kilobytes. become. However, Japan's MA identification information is systematically assigned from north to south and can be significantly compressed by distance. Looking at the A code of the telephone number 0ABCDEFGHJ, 1 is in Hokkaido, 2 in Tohoku, 3 in Tokyo, 4 in Kanto, 5 in Chubu, 6 in Osaka, 7 in Kinki, 7 in Chugoku and Shikoku, and 8 in Kyushu. The Okinawa region is 9 and, for example, from a caller in Tokyo, the A code is 1, 2, 5, 6,
In the case of 7, 8, and 9, all distances (for example, 100 km)
As described above, they enter the same distance division. If the distance element of the telephone charge is equal to 100 km or more,
There is no need to calculate and distinguish distances above 100 km.
Codes can be tabulated collectively, such as 2 or less or 5 or more. Therefore, in the carrier judgment table in Japan, in order to indicate the ground information,
A method of minimizing the table size by sorting the MA identification information in ascending order and collecting the information by distance division has been widely used.

In the United States, in order to know the distance element, the values of the coordinates to which the calling party and the called party belong (V coordinate value and H coordinate value)
, The distance is calculated using the two coordinate values. To which coordinates the calling and called parties belong is determined by the telephone number NPA-N
It is determined by six digits of NPA-NXX among XX-XXXX. The 6 digits of NPA-NXX theoretically have 1 million numbers, but there are about 200,000 numbers that are actually assigned and used.

[0007] There are 200,000 types of ground information (NPA-NXX) in which a caller may make a telephone call in the United States alone. If all the 200,000 types are included in the carrier selection table, 3 bytes x 200,000 = 600,000 bytes (600K
Bytes), and the table size is too large. Japan's MA identification information is geographically ordered from 1 to 9 from north to south, so it is possible to reduce the table size by sorting the MA identification information in ascending order and grouping by distance division. Has been described above. But,
In the United States, NPAs are assigned completely randomly, irrespective of their geographical location. Even if the NPAs are sorted in ascending or descending order, they cannot be grouped by distance division and the table size can be reduced. Can not. Unable to reduce table size, 600
If there are K bytes, the amount of memory is too large to be built into an inexpensive telecommunications terminal.

[0008] As described above, the LC of the US domestic long distance telephone
The carrier selection table for the R determination is too large in size, requires a lot of RAM memory, and has a problem in that the cost of the telecommunications terminal increases significantly.
To solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-02188
In the invention of No. 7, the size of the carrier selection table is reduced by using a code indicating an arbitrary number. If a code indicating an arbitrary number is used, it is possible to make all grounds into a single-line table, but if expressed in one line, all long-distance calls are processed in the same way, and the type of long-distance calls can be determined. Can not.

In the United States, domestic long-distance calls are classified into the following three types, and a long-distance telephone company can be selected for each type. The first is long-distance communication within LATA. The second is long-distance calls within LATA outer states. Third is out-of-state long distance calls. Since some users may have selected different long-distance telephone companies for each of the three types, when making an LCR determination, three long-distance telephone companies that the user has selected and registered are different. When inquiring about each of the three types, when the user dials, the user must look at the area code to determine which of the three types corresponds.

[0010] In the carrier selection table using a code indicating an arbitrary number in the invention of Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-021887, a plurality of area codes can be expressed collectively. It cannot be distinguished whether it is in the state or not.

As described above, in the carrier selection table using codes indicating arbitrary numbers,
Dialed area code is LATA from caller's point of view
There was a problem that it was not possible to determine whether inside or outside LATA, inside or outside the state. An object of the present invention is to solve the above problem and to provide a carrier selection table capable of determining the type of domestic long distance call.

[0011]

According to the present invention, an area code in LATA and an area code in state are stored in RAM or R.
The main feature is that the type of domestic long-distance call is determined by comparing the area code held by the OM with the area code dialed by the user.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The purpose of providing a carrier selection table capable of determining the type of domestic long-distance call is LA.
This is realized by storing the area code in the TA and the area code in the state in RAM or ROM and comparing them with the area code dialed by the user.

[0013]

An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of a carrier selection table capable of determining a type of a long-distance call according to the present invention. 1 is L
It is an example of a carrier selection table which has an ATA area code in a RAM and determines and distinguishes between LATA long-distance communication and LATA long-distance communication. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the carrier selection table capable of determining the type of long-distance communication according to the present invention. Numeral 2 is an embodiment of a carrier selection table which has an in-state area code in the RAM and distinguishes between long-distance calls in the state and long-distance calls outside the state.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the carrier selection table capable of determining the type of long-distance communication according to the present invention.
3 shows an example in which an area code in LATA is stored in ROM. 4 shows an example in which the RAM has carrier selection information of the area code in LATA. 5 shows an example in which all area codes other than the area codes described in 3 and carrier selection information corresponding to the area codes are stored in the RAM. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of the carrier selection table capable of determining the type of long-distance communication according to the present invention. 6 shows an example in which the in-state area code is stored in the ROM. 7 shows an example in which the carrier selection information of the in-state area code is stored in the RAM. 8
Shows an example in which all area codes other than the area codes described in No. 6 and carrier selection information corresponding to the area codes are stored in the RAM.

One embodiment of the carrier selection table according to the present invention which can determine the type of long-distance communication according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes an embodiment of a carrier selection table which has an area code in LATA in a RAM and distinguishes between long-distance communication within LATA and long-distance communication outside LATA. In this example, an example of a carrier selection table provided to a user living in an area 970 in Colorado, USA is shown. 97
In the LATA to which the 0 area belongs, two types of area codes 970 and 303 are used.
Area codes within A can be said to be area codes outside LATA except for the two types. In the example of No. 1, the carrier selection information corresponding to the area code in LATA is "1". In this embodiment, E is used as a code indicating an arbitrary number.
When a single digit is represented by 4 bits, 0 to 9 and hexadecimal A to F can be expressed, and a code indicating an arbitrary number can be selected from six types from A to F. Not E, but A or B or C or D or F
But it doesn't matter. In this embodiment, E is used, but E is an arbitrary number, that is, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,.
Represents an arbitrary number of 7, 8, 9. EEE as in example 4
Indicates an arbitrary three-digit number, and indicates all numbers from 000 to 999. When searching the carrier selection table of FIG. 1, the search is performed from the upper area code to the lower area code in order from the top. If the area code dialed by the user is XXX, first, XX
Compare X with 303. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1”) and carrier selection is performed. If they do not match, XXX and 970 are compared. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1”) and carrier selection is performed. If they do not match, XXX and EEE are compared.
Since EEE is a code indicating an arbitrary three-digit number, XX
X matches EEE, reads carrier selection information "2", and performs carrier selection. Before coming to the EEE line, X
XX does not match 303, does not match 970,
Therefore, in this example, in the present example, the case other than the LATA area code (303, 970), that is, LA
Only when the area code is outside the TA, the carrier selection information “2” is read. In other words, when the area code in LATA is dialed, the carrier selection information "1"
Is read out, and when a non-LATA area code is dialed, carrier selection information "2" is read out. With the above method, the LATA area code and the LATA area code are determined, and the LATA long distance call is routed to the carrier A, and the LATA long distance call is routed to the carrier B. It is possible to discriminate long-distance calls outside of LATA and transfer them to different carriers.

An embodiment of the carrier selection table according to the present invention which can determine the type of long-distance communication according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 is the area area code in RAM
FIG. 9 is an embodiment of a carrier selection table for distinguishing between long-distance calls within a state and long-distance calls outside a state. This example shows an example of a carrier selection table provided to a user in Colorado, USA. In Colorado, 303, 719, 720,
970, four types of area codes are used. These four types can be said to be in-state area codes, and the other types are out-of-state area codes. In the example of 2, the carrier selection information corresponding to the in-state area code is “1”. In this embodiment, E is used as a code indicating an arbitrary number. E is any number, ie, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Represents an arbitrary number of 7, 8, 9. EEE as in example 4
Indicates an arbitrary three-digit number, and indicates all numbers from 000 to 999. When searching the carrier selection table 2 in FIG. 1, the search is performed from the upper area code to the lower area code in order from the top. If the area code dialed by the user is XXX,
XXX and 303 are compared. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1”) and carrier selection is performed. If they do not match, XXX and 71
Compare 9 If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1”) and carrier selection is performed. . If they do not match, XXX and 720 are compared. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1”) and carrier selection is performed. If they do not match, XXX and 970 are compared. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1”) and carrier selection is performed. If they do not match, XXX and EEE are compared. Since EEE is a code indicating an arbitrary three-digit number, XXX matches EEE,
The carrier selection information “2” is read, and carrier selection is performed. It is confirmed that XXX does not match 303, 719 does not match, 720 does not match, and 970 does not match before the line of EEE is reached. (303, 719, 7
20, 970), that is, only in the case of an out-of-state area code, the carrier selection information “2” is read.
In other words, when the in-state area code is dialed, the carrier selection information “1” is read, and when the out-of-state area code is dialed, the carrier selection information “2” is read. With the above method, the intra-state area code and the out-of-state area code are determined, the intra-state long-distance call is routed to the carrier A, and the out-of-state long-distance call is routed to the carrier B. It is possible to distinguish out-of-state long distance calls and route them to different carriers.

An embodiment of the carrier selection table according to the present invention which can determine the type of long-distance communication according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3 shows an example in which an area code in LATA is stored in ROM. 4 shows an example in which the RAM has carrier selection information of the area code in LATA. 5 is 3
2 shows an example in which all area codes other than the area codes described in Table 1 and carrier selection information corresponding to the area codes are stored in the RAM. In this example, an example of a carrier selection table provided to a user living in an area 970 in Colorado, USA is shown. 97
In the LATA to which the 0 area belongs, two types of area codes 970 and 303 are used.
Area codes within A can be said to be area codes outside LATA except for the two types. In the example of No. 4, the carrier selection information corresponding to the area code in LATA is “1”. In this embodiment, E is used as a code indicating an arbitrary number.
E is any number, ie, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
Represents an arbitrary number of 6, 7, 8, 9. E as in example 5
If it is EE, it indicates an arbitrary three-digit number, 000
To 999. When searching the carrier selection table in FIG. 3, first, the area codes (3 in FIG. 3) in the ROM are searched from the upper area code to the lower area code in order from the top. If the area code dialed by the user is XXX, first, XXX and 3
Compare 03. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, "1" stored in 4 of FIG. 3 in the RAM), and the carrier is selected. If they do not match, XXX and 970 are compared. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, "1" stored in 4 of FIG. 3 in the RAM), and the carrier is selected. If they do not match, XXX and EEE are compared. Since EEE is a code indicating an arbitrary three-digit number, XXX matches EEE, and reads carrier selection information “2” to perform carrier selection. By the time EEE is reached, it has been confirmed that XXX does not match 303 and does not match 970, so in this example,
Only in the case of an area code other than the LATA area code (303, 970), that is, in the case of the non-LATA area code, the carrier selection information “2” is read. In other words, LA
When the area code in TA is dialed, carrier selection information “1” is read, and when the area code outside LATA is dialed, carrier selection information “2” is read. With the above method, the area code and LA in LATA
Determine the area code outside TA, route long distance calls within LATA to carrier A, route long distance calls outside LATA to carrier B, and so on.
Intra-long distance communication and LATA long-distance communication can be distinguished and transferred to different carriers.

An embodiment of the carrier selection table according to the present invention which can determine the type of long-distance communication according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6 is ROM for the area code in the state
The following shows an example. 7 shows an example in which the carrier selection information of the in-state area code is stored in the RAM. 8 shows an example in which all area codes other than the area codes described in 6 and carrier selection information corresponding to the area codes are stored in the RAM. . This example shows an example of a carrier selection table provided to a user in Colorado, USA. In Colorado, 303, 719,
Four types of area codes 720 and 970 are used, and these four types can be said to be in-state area codes, and the other four types are out-of-state area codes. In the example of 7, the carrier selection information corresponding to the in-state area code is “1”. In this embodiment, E is used as a code indicating an arbitrary number. E is any number, ie, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4,
Represents any number of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. In the case of EEE as in the example of 8, an arbitrary three-digit number is indicated, and 0
Represents all numbers from 00 to 999. When searching the carrier selection table of FIG. 4, the area code (6 in FIG. 4) in the ROM is searched in order from the upper area code to the lower area code from the top. If the area code dialed by the user is XXX, first, XXX
And 303 are compared. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, 7 in FIG. 4 in the RAM).
"1"), and a carrier is selected. If they do not match, XXX and 719 are compared. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1” stored in 7 of FIG. 4 in the RAM), and carrier selection is performed. . If they do not match, XXX and 7
Compare 20. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1” stored in 7 of FIG. 4 in the RAM), and carrier selection is performed. If they do not match, XXX and 970 are compared. If they match, the corresponding carrier selection information is read (in this example, “1” stored in 7 of FIG. 4 in the RAM), and carrier selection is performed. If they do not match, XXX and EEE are compared. Since EEE is a code indicating an arbitrary three-digit number, XXX matches EEE, and reads carrier selection information “2” to perform carrier selection. By the time EEE is reached, it has been confirmed that XXX does not match 303 and does not match 970, so in this example,
State area code (303, 719, 720, 970)
In other cases, that is, only in the case of an out-of-state area code, the carrier selection information “2” is read. In other words, when the in-state area code is dialed, the carrier selection information “1” is read, and when the out-of-state area code is dialed, the carrier selection information “2” is read. In the above manner, the intra-state area code and the out-of-state area code are determined, and the intra-state long distance call is routed to the carrier A,
Intra-state long-distance calls and out-of-state long-distance calls can be distinguished and routed to different carriers, such as routing out-of-state long distance calls to carrier B.

[0018]

As described above, the carrier selection table which can determine the type of long-distance call according to the present invention can be used to determine whether a long-distance call is within LATA or outside LATA, within a state or outside a state.
There is an effect that routing can be performed separately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a carrier selection table according to claim 1, which can determine the type of long-distance call.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a carrier selection table according to claim 2 which can determine the type of long-distance communication.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a carrier selection table according to claim 3 which can determine the type of long-distance communication.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a carrier selection table according to claim 4, which can determine the type of long-distance call;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Hold the area code in LATA in RAM
One embodiment of a carrier selection table for judging and distinguishing between long-distance calls in A and long-distance calls outside LATA 2 A carrier selection table which has an in-state area code in a RAM and distinguishes between long-distance calls in states and long-distance calls outside states Embodiment 3 Embodiment having LATA area code in ROM Embodiment 4 Carrier selection information of LATA area code is R
One Example Having AM 53 One Example Having All Area Codes Except for the Area Codes Listed in 3 and Carrier Selection Information Corresponding to It in RAM 6 One Example Having In-State Area Code in ROM 7 In-State Area An embodiment in which the carrier selection information of the code is stored in the RAM 86 An embodiment in which all the area codes other than the area codes described in 6 and the corresponding carrier selection information are stored in the RAM

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An LATA area in a carrier selection table used by a telecommunication terminal having a built-in low-price service selection function for selecting and using a low-priced telephone service from a plurality of telephone services. By storing the code in the RAM and comparing it with the area code dialed by the user, the LATA
A carrier selection table for distinguishing between internal long-distance calls and outside LATA long-distance calls 2. A carrier selection table used by a telecommunication terminal having a built-in low-price service selection function to select and use a low-price telephone service from a plurality of telephone services, and to select a low-price service, an area within a state. A carrier selection table storing a code in a RAM and distinguishing between long-distance calls within a state and long-distance calls outside a state by comparing it with an area code dialed by a user. 3. A carrier selection table used by a telecommunication terminal incorporating a low-price telephone service selection function for selecting and using a low-priced telephone service from a plurality of telephone services to determine a low-price telephone service. By storing the code in the ROM and comparing it with the area code dialed by the user, the LATA
A carrier selection table for distinguishing between internal long-distance calls and outside LATA long-distance calls 4. A carrier selection table used by a telecommunications terminal having a built-in low-price service selection function for selecting and using a low-price telephone service from a plurality of telephone services to determine a low-price telephone service. A carrier selection table storing codes in a ROM and comparing the long-distance calls within the state with the long-distance calls outside the state by comparing with the area code dialed by the user.