JP2002247148A - Communication controller with phone incoming notice function and notice method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication controller that senses the arrival of an external phone call even when a telephone line is occupied through browsing of the Internet and displays the arrival on a display screen of a personal computer so as to allow a user to replay the incoming call as required. SOLUTION: In the case that data transmission is performed by a first modulation signal in compliance with a prescribed communication rule through a communication path connected to the communication controller, the communication controller detects a fact of transmission of a second signal of other kind from the first modulation signal to the communication controller or detects contents of the received information to inform an information processing terminal such as a personal computer about the arrival and a software program working on the information processing terminal displays a window notifying the arrival of the second signal onto the display screen of the terminal. The user can discriminate the reception of the incoming phone call on the basis of the displayed information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, the access of an Internet provider from a communication line such as a telephone line installed in a home using a modem by a terminal device such as a personal computer in a home via a public line network. When connecting to a point and browsing information stored in a WWW server on the Internet via the WWW browsing software via this point, even if the browsing occupies the communication line, an external telephone Detect incoming calls,
The present invention relates to a device and a method for displaying incoming call information, which display the information on a display screen on a personal computer so that the user can respond to an incoming call if necessary.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of personal computers and the development of the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW) has become available worldwide even at home through communication lines.
It has become easy to connect to the site, but in ordinary households, it is customary to connect from a personal computer to the server of a telecommunications company called a provider using a telephone line, and perform desired browsing via this It is.

As shown in FIG. 6, a user actually uses a terminal device 601 such as a stationary or laptop personal computer to form a modem 602a or a modem card 60.
2b, a public line network 603 (PSDN: Packet)
t Switching Data Network,
PSTN: Public Switched Tele
The connection to the WWW site is executed by establishing a dial-up IP connection with the access point 610 of the Internet connection device 607 via the “Phone Network”.

[0004] As an example, a communication procedure when a user communicates with the WWW server 613 of the Internet connection device 607 will be described. It is assumed that the user has acquired a connection account and password from an Internet connection provider called a provider.

[0005] First, the user establishes connection between the self-terminal device 601 and the access point 610 of the Internet connection device 607 via the public line network 603 using the modem 602a or the modem card 602b, and transmits a "connection request".

The access point 610 transfers a “connection request” from a user to the communication server 611 via the bridge and the local network 606.

The communication server 611 checks the account assigned to the user in advance using the user management table 612, and then requests the server 61 requested by the user.
3 to 615. Each server connects to the router 616 (or the gateway 61) with the connection destination specified by the user.
7) transmit a "connection request";

Now, since the server requested by the user is the WWW server 613, the communication server 611
Establishes a connection with the WWW server 613 and transfers a “connection request” from the user. Upon receiving the “connection request” from the user, the WWW server 613 returns a “response” to the user from the WWW server 613 to which the WWW server 613 is connected.

When the user returns this "response",
HTML file (Hyper Text Marku)
Request the transfer of (p Language) to the WWW server 613. Upon receiving this request, the WWW server 613 returns the HTML file to the user.

When the user returns this HTML file, the user requests the WWW server 613 to transfer the image data in the HTML file. WWW server 613
, Upon receiving this request, returns the image data in the HTML file to the user.

Next, when the transmission request from the user and the return from the WWW server 613 in response to the transmission request are completed, the user issues a “change connection destination” or a “disconnection request” to the WWW server 613. Transmit. When the WWW server 613 receives the “disconnection request”, it returns a “response” corresponding to this request to the user side, and the communication line connecting the user and the WWW server 613 is disconnected by the communication server 611.

When the user changes the connection destination, that is, accesses another connection destination, the user specifies the connection destination and transmits a "connection request". As a result, a connection is established with the connection destination designated by the user via the communication server 611 in the same manner as described above, and communication is performed.

In browsing the WWW, a user repeatedly transfers an HTML file having a large amount of information and repeatedly connects to a number of WWW servers, and this often takes a relatively long time. Occupation is occupied by browsing, and external telephone communication cannot be connected, so situations such as emergency contact can not be done and convenience is often impaired, but to avoid this, introducing multiple lines is a communication cost It is unacceptable for ordinary households.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to provide a communication system in which one communication line is occupied for browsing the World Wide Web (WWW) and transmitting / receiving large-capacity information.
A communication control device and a notification method for notifying the personal computer user of the telephone incoming information by displaying the incoming telephone call on the personal computer by displaying the incoming call on the personal computer, and enabling the telephone to be answered if necessary, are realized.
It is intended to provide a means for avoiding disadvantages caused by blocking external telephone communication.

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided a communication control apparatus having a telephone incoming call notifying function, comprising: a plurality of information processing terminal devices; and a communication path for transmitting information between the information processing terminal devices. The first modulated signal is a device that guarantees high-quality communication, in which data transmission is performed by a first modulated signal according to a certain communication rule from a communication path connected to a communication control device. It has a function of detecting that another type of second signal has been transmitted to the communication control device or detecting the content of the transmitted information, and notifying the information processing terminal device of the arrival.

Also, in the method for notifying incoming telephone calls according to the present invention, after a signal including incoming information detected by the communication control device is processed by the communication control device, the signal is transmitted to an information processing terminal device, This is implemented by displaying a window on the display screen notifying the arrival of the second signal by software operating on the terminal device.

According to the present invention, the occurrence of an incoming call and the telephone number of the caller are displayed on the display screen of the terminal device, and based on this information, the user can judge the response to the incoming call. it can. Therefore, even when the user is browsing the WWW, disadvantages can be avoided without missing an urgent call or important communication.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a communication control apparatus having a telephone incoming call notification function and a notification method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

A communication control apparatus having a telephone incoming call notification function and a notification method according to the present invention are a so-called modem used when transmitting information between a personal computer used at home or the like and a World Wide Web server. Can be applied to

As shown in FIG. 1, a user branches a telephone line installed in a house, for example.
On the other hand, a terminal device 103 such as a personal computer is connected via a communication control device 102 according to the present invention, and a dial-up IP connection with an access point 107 including a modem 105 and a bridge 106 in an Internet connection device 108 of the provider. WWW
Browse.

Also in the present invention, the terminal device 103 used by the user and the WWW server 112 are connected and
Information such as files is exchanged as described in the conventional example.

First, a user who has been provided with an account from a provider that provides an Internet connection service operates the terminal device 103 to make a connection request. Terminal device 1
When the connection request is made, the connection signal 03 oscillates according to a communication protocol of a WWW browser (WWW browsing software) or communication software stored in the apparatus.

This connection request is modulated into a predetermined signal form by the communication control device 102 and transmitted to the access point 107 of the provider via the public line network. As a result, a dial-up IP connection of a physical line is established between the terminal device 103 and the access point 107.

Next, the user operates the terminal device 103 to transmit packet data including the account provided by the provider in order to set up a data link.
When this operation is performed, the terminal device 103 sets a so-called R
PPP (Point-to-point) defined by FC1661, etc.
And transmitting the packet data including the account to the access point 107 of the provider in order to set up a data link based on (Point Protocol).

When the packet data from the user is transmitted, the access point 107 transmits the packet data to the local network 10.
9 to the communication (CC) server 110. The CC server 110 is connected to the terminal device 10 of the user.
3 and the CC server 110, a connection is made to the PPP layer.

Next, the CC server 110 refers to the user management database 111 as a part of the authentication operation, confirms the user account assigned to each user, and transmits the IP address of the user to the terminal device 103. .

In order to effectively utilize this IP address, the CC server 110 allocates one of the IP addresses managed by itself to the user every time a dial-up IP connection is made. . This IP
The address is used until the communication line between the user and the provider is disconnected.

The CC server 110 uses the IP address to communicate with the user terminal device 103 and the WWW server 11.
A connection to the IP layer is established between the communication device 4 and the IP layer 4, and connection authentication of the TCP layer is performed, and a TCP connection is established.
Thus, the user terminal device 103 and the gateway 1
12, an end-to-end communication path is set. The gateway 112 controls at least the TCP layer in the communication control layer.

In a layer above the TCP layer of the gateway 112, a predetermined communication protocol according to an application level to be used is set.
For WW, HTTP (Hyper Text Tra)
If nsfer Protocol is Mail, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer)
Protocol) is set in the transport layer.

As described above, the user terminal device 103 and W
When the WW server 114 is connected, information on the WWW server 114, for example, an HTML file is converted into packet data in order to transfer the information to the user terminal device 103, and the modem 105 of the access point 107.
The communication control device 102 in the user's home 104a modulates the signal into a predetermined signal form suitable for the transmission path through the public line network.
And demodulated by the communication control device 102 and supplied to the terminal device 103.

Actually, the access point 10 of the provider
7 and the communication control apparatus 102 in the user's home 104a, a communication method conforming to the ITU-T V series recommendations, for example, 34 and V. The signal standardized by G.36 is transmitted at a speed of about 28 kbps to about 56 kbps.

Referring to FIG. 2, using a block diagram,
An embodiment for realizing the communication control apparatus 102 according to the present invention will be described. At the same time, the operation of the software for controlling the communication control device 102 and displaying the incoming call will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

When browsing a WWW site by establishing an IP connection, bit stream information such as an HTML file is modulated by a modem at an access point and transmitted via a public line on a WWW server side of the communication control apparatus 102. Reaching the communication control device 102 from the connection point A with the line has been described above.

In recent years, high-speed modems have been used to transmit a lot of information, where a high frequency carrier has a phase modulation (PM) depending on the bit stream to be transmitted.
Alternatively, since the signal has reached quadrature modulation (QAM), the signal reaching the end point A of the communication control apparatus 102 is transmitted to the communication control apparatus 10.
2, the signal passes through a high-pass filter 201 provided therein, and is demodulated again by a demodulator 204 into a bit stream sequence as a digital signal.

Next, this signal is guided to the mixer 211, but when there is no incoming call or the like and there is no incoming signal or the like and there is no signal input to the mixer 211 after passing through the low-pass filter 202, there is no signal. C without signal mixing
Through the terminal device 103 (personal computer P
C).

The incoming call notification display software according to the present invention on the terminal device 103 analyzes the transmitted data as shown in step S1 in FIG. 5, and as shown in step S2, transmits the URL (Uniform) requested to be transmitted. Re
source Locator), and if so, display this on a browser.
This operation is continued until all of the requested data is transferred, so that the user can view the WWW browsing information by displaying the information on the display device of the terminal device 103.

At the time of browsing the WWW, the branch switch 213 of the communication control apparatus 102 is connected to the H side, and a transmission signal such as a file transmission request is transmitted to the modulator 203 via B and H to be phase-modulated (PM). ) Or quadrature modulated (QAM), passes through A, passes through the public line network, and
07 to the modem 105 and the WWW server 114
Sent to

Next, the present invention is applied to a case where a telephone call is made from the telephone 101 in a certain caller's home 104b to the user's home 104a when the user performs WWW browsing and a predetermined signal corresponding thereto is transmitted. Communication control device 102 according to
The operation of the software for controlling the display and displaying the incoming call will be described.

Incoming call notification (so-called call waiting)
If you have a contract, a specific signal that informs you of an incoming call while using the line during WWW browsing is superimposed,
Before this signal is superimposed, an information terminal activation signal is sent from the station side.

The transmitted information terminal start signal is a low frequency signal, passes through A, passes through the low-pass filter 202,
Demodulator 205, analog-to-digital converter (AD) 2
06, the data analysis converters 208, 208 respectively.
209.

When the data analysis converter 209 detects the information terminal activation signal, the data analysis converter 209 generates, in HTML format data, instruction information for the incoming notification display software to open the incoming notification window.

As shown in FIG. 3, this instruction information is inserted into the WWW browsing information packet data string received by the mixer 311 and sent to the terminal device 103 via C.

The incoming call notification display software to which the instruction information has been sent analyzes the transmitted data as shown in step S1 of FIG. 5 and, as shown in step S2, the URL (Uniform Resource) requested by the transmission.
Locator).
Proceed to step S3.

In step S3, when it is confirmed that this data includes the information receiving terminal activation signal, the incoming call notification display software proceeds to step S4, and displays WWW on the display screen 401 of the terminal as shown in FIG. Browsing window 402
Apart from this, an incoming notification display window 403 is displayed.

Next, when the caller's telephone number information is transmitted from the station side, similarly, the signal passed from A through the low-pass filter 202 is demodulated by the demodulator 205. The telephone number information is extracted, and the information is converted into HTML format data.

This data is, as shown in FIG.
11 is inserted into the WWW browsing information data sequence received and sent to the terminal device 103.

The transmitted data is analyzed in step S5 through steps S1, S2, and S3 of the incoming call notification display software, and if the caller telephone number information is included, step S5 is executed.
Proceed to No. 6 and the window 403 of the incoming call notification display window
A displays the telephone number of the caller or the fact that the call has not been notified. At the same time, the incoming notification display software is Wi
In the next B, options that the user should take, for example, (1) answer the phone call, (2) put on hold, (3) reject the incoming call, etc., are displayed, and the process proceeds to step S7.

The operation of the incoming call notification display software and the communication control device 102 when the user selects "answer call" in step S7 will be described.

At this time, as shown in step S8, the incoming call notification display software issues a command to stop transmission of information from the URL being browsed. Sent via

Further, the incoming call notification display software generates a control signal as shown in step S9, and the subscriber line signal generator 212 transmits an on-hook signal, which is a control signal in the subscriber line signaling system, to the station.

Next, the incoming call notification display software proceeds to step S10, and the communication control apparatus 102 sets the switch 213
, And instructs the transmission signal to flow from B to L. As a result, the data sent from the user terminal device 103 is ready to be transmitted from the data conversion device to the office through the digital-analog converter 207.

The user can talk with the caller via the microphone and the speaker attached to the terminal device 103. That is, the incoming call notification display software transmits the user's voice collected from the microphone to the data converter 210 as HTML file data, where the converter 210 extracts the voice data and converts the voice data into a normal voice signal by the digital-analog converter 207. This is because it can be transmitted to the station.

The voice of the caller is transmitted to the low-pass filter 202.
, And is converted into a bit data string by the analog-digital 206, and subsequently H
The data is converted into the TML format and transmitted to the terminal device 103, and the voice data portion is transmitted by the incoming notification display software as sound from the speaker of the terminal device 103 so that the user can hear it.

When the conversation is over and the caller hangs up the telephone or the user selects the end button of the incoming call notification display window, the incoming call notification display software connects B of switch 213 to H as shown in step S11. And the communication control device 102 sends the control signal
To H. Further, the incoming call notification display software proceeds to step S12, and sends a signal for canceling the standby of the URL for which the standby instruction has been issued.

Thus, browsing of WWW is started again.

Regarding the communication control device and the notification method according to the present invention, an incoming call notification during a call (so-called call waiting)
Although the description has been made on the assumption that a contract is made, the present invention can be effectively applied if a subscriber line connected to a subscriber line exchange to which an information terminal activation signal is sent is used.

Further, the communication control apparatus and the notification method according to the present invention have been described on the assumption that an analog subscriber line is used. However, even if the transmission path is a digital subscriber line (xDSL), the communication control apparatus has a similar configuration. The present invention can be effectively applied because it can be configured.

[0059]

According to the communication control device and the notification method of the present invention, even if the communication control device is a single communication line, the communication control device and the notification method can be used as a World communication device.
Even when occupied by browsing the Wide Web and transmitting / receiving large-capacity information, the incoming call from the outside is displayed on the personal computer to notify the personal computer user of the incoming call information. It is possible to answer the call, and it is possible to avoid disadvantages caused by blocking external telephone communication without spending an extra line usage fee.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view for explaining an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a signal processing block diagram of a communication control device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram displayed to explain the operation of the mixer in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing display contents displayed on a user terminal device in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating operations of a communication control device and display software according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional Internet connection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: Telephone, 102: Communication control device, 103: Terminal device, 104a, b: Subscriber home, 105: Modem, 10
6 Bridge 107 Access point 108 Internet connection device 109 Local network 110 Communication server 111 User management table 112 Gateway 113 Mail server 114 WWW server 115 Router 201 High pass Filter 202: low-pass filter, 203: modulator 204, 205: demodulator, 206: analog-digital converter 207: digital-analog converter, 208, 20
9, 210: data converter 211: mixer, 212: subscriber line signal generator, 21
3 switch 401 display device 402 WWW browsing window 40
3. Incoming call notification display window

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Hamada 1-23-18 Arima, Miyama-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture 802 Saginuma Minami Hiddens (72) Inventor Kiyofumi Takema 2-1-1-10 Asashigaoka, Asaka City, Saitama Prefecture F term (reference) 5E501 AB15 AC25 AC37 BA03 BA06 CA02 CB02 CB09 EB05 FA13 FA14 FA46 5K027 EE15 FF01 FF03 FF22 HH23 HH26 5K036 AA13 EE03 JJ05 JJ12 5K101 KK02 NN18 PP03 PP07

Claims (5)

[Claims] An information transmission system having a plurality of information processing terminal devices, a communication path for transmitting information between the information processing terminal devices, and a communication control device for enabling data transmission on the communication path. When certain information is transmitted from a communication path connected to the communication control device by a first modulation signal according to a certain communication rule, a second signal different from the first modulation signal is simultaneously transmitted. A function of, when transmitted to the control device, processing the incoming of the second signal or a part of the information transmitted by the second signal into an information form that can be displayed on the information processing terminal device and transmitting the processed information to the information processing terminal device A communication control device comprising: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first modulated signal is a burst-like time-series signal, and the second signal is a subscriber line signal and a voice band signal used in a subscriber line signal system. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the information displayed by the processing terminal device is extracted from a MODEM signal transmitted from the subscriber line exchange in the pre-communication information notification service or the communication information notification service. 3. The information processing terminal device notified of the arrival of the second signal from the communication control device defined in claim 1 or 2 operates without affecting the transmission of the first modulated signal. A notification method characterized by displaying, by software, an incoming call of a second signal and an option for prompting a user to respond to the incoming call on a display screen. 4. The information notified by the notification method defined in claim 3 is a caller telephone number or non-notification transmission information. 5. The software for executing the notification method defined in claim 3 controls the operation of the communication control device defined in claim 1 or 2.