JP2004260809A - Gateway apparatus and inter-area transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gateway apparatus with which a data packet can designate a transfer path in a network. <P>SOLUTION: The gateway apparatuses 4A-4D each having an address positioned in an area network are connected to terminal apparatuses 21-24, and cooperate with inter-area transfer server systems 11-14, respectively. The gateway apparatuses 4A-4D each receive the destination address of an output signal from the terminal apparatuses, generate an area identification interrogation signal on the basis of the destination address, transmit the generated signal to the destination address via at least the area networks 11-14, and receive the area identification information returned from the destination address. The gateway apparatuses 4A-4D each analyze the received area identification information to judge whether or not the destination address is positioned in the area network. When judging that the destination address is not positioned in the area network, the gateway apparatuses 4A-4D transfer the output signal to the inter-area transfer server systems via the area network, and the inter-area transfer server systems transfer the output signal to the destination address. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a gateway device and a transfer system, and more particularly to a gateway device and an inter-region transfer system for transferring data between different regional networks.

  In recent years, with the spread of the Internet, many industries related to the Internet have greatly developed. Generally, a user first applies for an IP address to an Internet service provider (hereinafter, referred to as an ISP), and then, based on the applied IP address, a gateway device or a terminal device, for example, a personal computer or a network audio device (VoIP). Set. In this way, the user can use the terminal device and the gateway device to connect to the regional network owned by the ISP. In addition, by connecting to another ISP's regional network via this ISP's regional network, information can be freely browsed on the Internet.

  However, not all ISPs own their network cables and build regional networks. Some ISPs rent one or more network cable circuits from the network cable owner. Also, some ISPs borrow some bandwidth from network cable circuit owners and renters. In addition, between different regional networks, when a user attempts to connect to an address located in another regional network, the user may use another channel by consulting with the ISP of his own ISP and the ISP of the other regional network. Can be smoothly connected to the IP address of the local network.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional Internet frame. As shown in FIG. 1, the Internet 10 includes four regional networks 11 to 14. The first terminal device 21 is connected to the first regional network 11 via the gateway device 31. The second terminal device 22 is connected to the second regional network 12 via the gateway device 32. The third terminal device 23 is connected to the third regional network 13 via the gateway device 33.

  The first regional network 11 is connected to a third regional network 13 and a fourth regional network 14, respectively. The second regional network 12 is connected to a third regional network 13 and a fourth regional network 14, respectively. The third regional network 13 is connected to the first regional network 11, the second regional network 12, and the fourth regional network 14, respectively. The fourth regional network 14 is connected to the first regional network 11, the second regional network 12, and the third regional network 13, respectively. The data communication speed between the regional networks of each ISP is determined by a contract discussed between the ISPs.

  When data is transmitted from the first terminal device 21 to the third terminal device 23, first, the data is output from the first terminal device 21, is packetized via the gateway device 31, and is transmitted to the first region. The data is transmitted to the network 11. Thereafter, the packetized data is transmitted from the first regional network 11 to the third regional network 13, and transmitted from the third regional network 13 to the gateway device 33. Further, the data is transmitted from the gateway device 33 to the third terminal device 23.

  The data output from the first terminal device 21 is an audio analog signal or a packetized digital signal. When the data output from the first terminal device 21 is a voice analog signal, the gateway device 31 converts the received voice analog signal into a digital signal and divides the digital signal into a plurality of packets. These packets are converted into the original voice analog signal by the gateway device 33 and output to the third terminal device 23.

  This packetized data is not necessarily transmitted directly from the first regional network 11 to the third regional network 13, but after being transmitted from the first regional network 11 to the fourth regional network 14, The data can be transmitted from the fourth regional network 14 to the third regional network 13. Similarly, when transmitting data from the first terminal device 21 to the second terminal device 22, the packetized data is transmitted to the gateway device 31, the first regional network 11, the fourth regional network 14, It may be transmitted to the gateway device 32 via the second regional network 12, or transmitted to the gateway device 32 via the gateway device 31, the first regional network 11, the third regional network 13, and the second regional network 12. May be done. Then, it is transmitted from the gateway device 32 to the second terminal device 22.

  However, as described above, the amount of data that can be transmitted between regional networks of different ISPs and the communication speed of data are limited by the contract between the ISPs, so that the packet is not always transmitted via the fastest transfer path, It is not transmitted from address to destination address.

  For example, it is assumed that the first regional network 11 and the fourth regional network 14 are regional networks in the Taiwan region, and the third regional network 13 is a regional network in the Beijing region. The ISP of the first regional network 11, the fourth regional network 14, and the ISP of the third regional network 13 individually make contracts, and according to the individual contracts, the first regional network 11 The data communication speed with the fourth regional network 14 is 100 MB / sec, the data communication speed between the first regional network 11 and the third regional network 13 is 2 MB / sec, and the fourth It is assumed that the data communication speed between the regional network 14 and the third regional network 13 is 10 MB / sec.

  Here, when the data packet output from the gateway device 31 is directly transmitted from the first regional network 11 to the third regional network 13, the communication speed of the data packet is limited to 2 MB / sec or less. On the other hand, when the data packet is transmitted via the first regional network 11, the fourth regional network 14, and the third regional network 13 in order, the communication speed of the data packet is limited to 10 MB / sec or less. . Therefore, the communication speed of the data packet is faster when the data packet passes through the fourth regional network 14 than in the case where the data packet is directly transmitted from the first regional network 11 to the third regional network 13. In other words, the optimal transfer path is to transmit data packets in order via the first regional network 11, the fourth regional network 14, and the third regional network 13.

  However, the contract between the ISPs may change depending on the situation. For example, it is assumed that the ISPs of the first regional network 11 and the third regional network 13 have updated their contracts so as to change the data communication speed between them to 30 MB / sec. In this case, transmitting the data packet directly from the first regional network 11 to the third regional network 13 is better than transmitting the data packet to the third regional network 13 via the fourth regional network 14 in a detour. Speed increases.

  In a method of transferring a data packet via a general network path, a transfer path of a transferred data packet cannot be determined. For example, even if the ISP of the first regional network 11 and the ISP of the third regional network 13 renew the contract and increase the data communication speed between them, the data is transmitted from the gateway device 31 to the first regional network 11. The data packet is not directly transmitted from the first regional network 11 to the third regional network 13 as expected, but is transmitted from the first regional network 11 to the fourth regional network 14 based on the previous optimal transfer path. Is transmitted to the third regional network 13 via the third regional network 13, and may be transmitted to the gateway device 33 from the third regional network 13.

  Therefore, providing a gateway device capable of specifying a transfer route of a data packet in a network has become one of the important issues in the Internet technology field at present.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the above-described conventional example, and has as its object to provide a gateway device capable of transmitting a data packet via a specified predetermined network.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a gateway device whose address is located in a regional network, is connected to a terminal device, and cooperates with an inter-region transfer server system. A first input / output module for receiving a destination address of an output signal of the first input / output module; a query signal generation module for generating a local identification information query signal based on the destination address of the output signal; A second input / output module for transmitting to the destination address of the output signal via a local network and receiving the local identification information returned from the destination address of the output signal; and analyzing the local identification information, An analysis module for determining whether a destination address of an output signal is located in the regional network If the analysis module determines that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the regional network, the second input / output module transfers the output signal to the inter-region via the regional network. The output signal is transmitted to a server system, and the inter-region transfer server system transfers the output signal to a destination address of the output signal.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the gateway device according to claim 1, wherein the second input / output module outputs at least one output packet as the output signal.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the gateway device according to claim 2, wherein when the analysis module determines that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the regional network, the analysis module changes the destination address of the output packet to the different address. The destination address of the output packet is designated in the inter-region transfer server system, and the destination address of the output signal is recorded in the output packet. If it is determined that the destination address of the output signal is located in the regional network, the destination of the output packet is determined. A destination addressing module for setting an address as a destination address of the output signal is further provided.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the gateway device of the first aspect, the second input / output module further receives at least one input packet transferred from the destination address of the output signal by the inter-region transfer server system. It is characterized by the following.

  The invention of claim 5 is the gateway device according to claim 4, wherein the destination address of the input packet is an address of the gateway device, the source address of the input packet is a destination address of the output signal, The input / output module outputs the input packet as an input signal to the terminal device.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the gateway device according to claim 5, wherein the input signal is any one of a digital signal, an analog signal, and a voice signal.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the gateway device of the first aspect, the output signal is any one of a digital signal, an analog signal, and a voice signal.

  The invention of claim 8 includes a regional network, a gateway device connected to the terminal device and connected to the regional network, and an inter-region transfer device connected to the regional network, and cooperates with the terminal device. An inter-region transfer system, wherein the gateway device receives a destination address of an output signal from the terminal device, determines whether the destination address of the output signal is located in the regional network, When determining that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the regional network, the gateway device transmits the output signal to the inter-region transfer device, and the inter-region transfer device outputs the output signal. To the destination address of the output signal.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the inter-region transfer system of the eighth aspect, the gateway device includes a first input / output module for receiving a destination address of the output signal from the terminal device, and a destination of the output signal. An interrogation signal generation module for generating an area identification information interrogation signal based on the address, transmitting the area identification information interrogation signal to at least the destination address of the output signal via the area network, and returning from the destination address of the output signal A second input / output module that receives the obtained area identification information, and an analysis module that analyzes the area identification information to determine whether a destination address of the output signal is located in the area network, The analysis module determines that the destination address of the output signal is not located on the regional network. In this case, the second input / output module transmits the output signal to the inter-region transfer device via the regional network, and the inter-region transfer device transmits the output signal to a destination address of the output signal. Is transferred.

  According to the present invention, the gateway device first determines whether or not the destination address of the output signal is located in another regional network. If it is determined that the destination address of the output signal is located in another regional network, the packetized output signal is transmitted to the inter-region transfer server system, and the packet is transmitted via the inter-region transfer server system. The signal is transmitted to another regional network, and the output signal is transmitted to the destination address. As a result, data can be transmitted via the specified network (ie, the inter-region transfer server system).

  Hereinafter, a gateway device and an inter-region transfer system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a block configuration of the gateway device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the gateway device 4 includes a first input / output module 41, an interrogation signal generation module 42, a second input / output module 43, an analysis module 44, and a destination address designation module 45.

  The first input / output module 41 receives a destination address of an output signal output from the terminal device. This output signal is a digital signal, an analog signal, or an audio signal. The inquiry signal generation module 42 generates an area identification information inquiry signal based on the destination address of the output signal. The second input / output module 43 transmits the packetized area identification information inquiry signal to the destination address of the output signal, and receives the area identification information returned from the destination address of the output signal. The analysis module 44 determines whether the destination address of the output signal is located in the same regional network as the gateway device 4 by analyzing the regional identification information. If the analysis module 44 determines that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the same regional network as the gateway device 4, the second input / output module 43 outputs the output signal in at least one output packet. Before that, by designating the output packet to be transmitted to the inter-region transfer server system by the destination address designating module 45, the output packet outputted from the second input / output module 43 will The output signal is transmitted from the inter-region transfer server system to the destination address of the output signal.

  In the present embodiment, the address of the gateway device 4 is located in the regional network. The gateway device 4 is connected so as to be able to transmit and receive signals to and from the terminal device, and cooperates with the inter-region transfer server system. The gateway device 4 forms an inter-region transfer system together with the regional network and the inter-region transfer device. In the present embodiment, the gateway device 4 and the inter-region transfer device are each connected to a regional network, and the gateway device 4 is further connected to a terminal device. Note that the gateway device 4 receives the destination address of the output signal output from the terminal device, and determines whether the destination address of the output signal is located in the regional network. When it is determined that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the regional network, the gateway device 4 transmits the output signal to the inter-region transfer device. Then, the output signal is transferred from the inter-region transfer device to the destination address of the output signal.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a frame in which a plurality of inter-regional transfer systems according to the present embodiment cooperate. The inter-region transfer system includes a gateway device, a regional network, and a cross-region transfer device. As shown in FIG. 3, the first gateway device 4A, the second gateway device 4B, the third gateway device 4C, and the fourth gateway device 4D are respectively a first terminal device 21, a second terminal device 22 , Are connected to the third terminal device 23 and the fourth terminal device 24 and are connected to the first regional network 11, the second regional network 12, the third regional network 13 and the fourth regional network 14, respectively. Is done.

  The inter-region transfer server system 5 is a predetermined network system, and is connected to a plurality of regional networks via a plurality of inter-region transfer devices. As shown in FIG. 3, the inter-region transfer server system 5 includes a first inter-region transfer device 51, a second inter-region transfer device 52, a third inter-region transfer device 53, Four inter-region transfer devices 54 are provided. The first inter-region transfer device 51, the second inter-region transfer device 52, the third inter-region network transfer device 53, and the fourth inter-region transfer device 54 are respectively connected to the first region network. 11, a second regional network 12, a third regional network 13, and a fourth regional network 14. Further, the inter-region transfer server system 5 further includes a predetermined network 55 connected to each inter-region transfer device.

  Since the data communication speed between the regional networks is determined by the contract between the ISPs, the bandwidth is limited by the contract agreement between the ISPs. Here, the predetermined network 55 of the inter-region transfer server system 5 is, for example, a private network owned by the ISP, and all the bands are controlled by the ISP. That is, the predetermined network 55 is a network having excellent quality.

  Hereinafter, an application flow in which the gateway device and the inter-region transfer server system according to the present embodiment cooperate will be described with reference to an actual example.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an application example of the inter-region transfer system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, first, in step 601, when the first terminal device 21 communicates with the second terminal device 22 via the Internet, the first terminal device 21 transmits an output signal to be transmitted. Is transmitted to the first gateway device 4A. Alternatively, the first terminal device 21 can transmit the output signal to the first gateway device 4A, further analyze the output signal by the first gateway device 4A, and incorporate its destination address. In the present embodiment, when the first terminal device 21 is a computer, the output signal is a digital signal. When the first terminal device 21 is a telephone, the output signal is a voice signal, and the destination address is displayed by a dial tone.

  After receiving the destination address of the output signal, in step 602, the area identification information is imported from the first gateway device 4A to the second gateway device 4B via a general Internet path. The first gateway device 4A and the second gateway device 4B are the same as the gateway device 4 described above.

  In the first gateway device 4A, after the first input / output module receives the output signal or its destination address, the interrogation signal generation module generates an area identification information interrogation signal. Here, the destination address of the region identification information interrogation signal is the same as the destination address of the output signal. Thereafter, the second input / output module of the first gateway device 4A transmits the region identification information inquiry signal to the first region network 11. At this time, the area identification information inquiry signal is transmitted to the second gateway device 4B via a general Internet path.

  For example, it is transmitted to the second gateway device 4B via the first regional network 11, the third regional network 13, and the second regional network 12. After receiving the area identification information inquiry signal, the second gateway device 4B outputs the area identification information in response to the area identification information inquiry signal. This area identification information is returned to the first gateway device 4A via a general Internet path. The second input / output module of the first gateway device 4A receives the area identification information. Note that the area identification information records information on an area network in which the second gateway device 4B is located.

  In step 603, the first gateway device 4A determines whether the first gateway device 4A and the second gateway device 4B are located in the same regional network by analyzing the received region identification information. .

  If it is determined that the first gateway device 4A and the second gateway device 4B are not located in the same regional network, the first gateway device 4A and the second gateway device 4B are connected to the inter-region transfer server system 5 (See steps 604 to 608). On the other hand, when it is determined that the first gateway device 4A and the second gateway device 4B are located in the same regional network, the first gateway device 4A and the second gateway device 4B pass through a general Internet route. Then, the communication channel is established (see steps 609 to 611).

  Subsequently, in step 604, the first gateway device 4A receives an output signal from the first terminal device 21. At that time, if the output signal is not packetized, the first gateway device 4A first packetizes the received output signal and converts it into an output packet. Then, in step 605, the destination address specification module of the first gateway device 4A specifies the destination address of the output packet to the first inter-region transfer device 51, and the second input / output of the first gateway device 4A. The module transmits the output packet to the first inter-region transfer device 51 via the first region network 11. As shown in FIG. 5, the header of the output packet includes the address data 71 of the first gateway device 4A, the address data 72 of the first inter-region transfer device 51, the destination address of the output signal, that is, the second address. The address data 73 of the gateway device 4B is included.

  In step 606, the inter-region transfer server system 5 transmits the output packet received by the first inter-region transfer device 51 to the second inter-region transfer device 52 via the predetermined network 55. Thereafter, in step 607, the second inter-region transfer device 52 of the inter-region transfer server system 5 transmits the output packet to the second gateway device 4B, and subsequently, the second gateway device 4B transmits the output packet. To the second terminal device 22. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the header of the output packet includes the address data 71 of the first gateway device 4A and the address data 73 of the second gateway device 4B. Finally, in step 608, it is determined whether the transfer of all output packets has been completed. If the transfer of the output packet has not been completed yet, steps 604 to 608 are repeated. If the transfer of the output packet has already been completed, this flow ends.

  When the first gateway device 4A and the second gateway device 4B are located in different regional networks, the first gateway device 4A is output from the second gateway device 4B and is transmitted by the inter-region transfer server system 5. At least one forwarded input packet may be received. At this time, the configuration of the input packet is a data packet of general transfer. In other words, the destination address is the address of the first gateway device 4A, and the source address is the address of the second gateway device 4B. Then, the first input / output module of the first gateway device 4A further converts the received input packet into an input signal, and outputs the input signal to the first terminal device 21. In the present embodiment, the input signal is, for example, a digital signal, an analog signal, an audio signal, or the like.

  On the other hand, if the first gateway device and the second gateway device are located in the same regional network (not shown), in step 609, the first gateway device receives an output signal from the first terminal device. . At this time, if the output signal is not packetized, the first gateway device first packetizes the received output signal and converts it into an output packet. Then, in step 610, the first gateway device transmits the output packet to the second gateway device in the first regional network via a general network path. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an output packet at that time. Finally, in step 611, it is determined whether or not all output packets have been transferred. If the transfer of the output packet has not been completed yet, steps 609 to 611 are repeated. If the transfer of the output packet has already been completed, this flow ends.

  According to the above-described method, the first gateway device 4A is connected to an arbitrary gateway device via the inter-region transfer server system 5, for example, the second gateway device 4B or the third gateway device shown in FIG. 4C and a communication channel can be established.

  As described above, an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and a design change or the like may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is possible and they are included in the scope of the present invention.

The figure which shows the frame of the conventional internet. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a gateway device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a frame in which a plurality of inter-regional transfer systems cooperate in the embodiment. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an application example of the inter-region transfer system according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an output packet transmitted from the first gateway device to the first inter-region transfer device in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an output packet transmitted from the second inter-region transfer device to the second gateway device in the embodiment.

Explanation of reference numerals

4 Gateway device 41 First input / output module 42 Interrogation signal generation module 43 Second input / output module 44 Analysis module 45 Destination address designation module 4A First gateway device 4B Second gateway device 4C Third gateway device 4D No. 4 gateway device 5 inter-region transfer server system 51 first inter-region transfer device 52 second inter-region transfer device 53 third inter-region transfer device 54 fourth inter-region transfer device 55 predetermined Network 71 Address data of first gateway device 72 Address data of first inter-region transfer device 73 Address data of second gateway device

Claims (9)

A gateway device whose address is located in the regional network, is connected to the terminal device, and cooperates with the inter-region transfer server system;
A first input / output module for receiving a destination address of an output signal from the terminal device;
An interrogation signal generation module that generates an area identification information interrogation signal based on the destination address of the output signal;
A second input / output module that transmits the area identification information interrogation signal to at least the destination address of the output signal via the area network, and receives area identification information returned from the destination address of the output signal;
An analysis module that determines whether the destination address of the output signal is located in the local network by analyzing the local identification information,
If the analysis module determines that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the regional network, the second input / output module transfers the output signal to the inter-region via the regional network. A gateway device for transmitting to a server system, wherein the inter-region transfer server system transfers the output signal to a destination address of the output signal.   The gateway device according to claim 1, wherein the second input / output module outputs at least one output packet as the output signal.   When the analysis module determines that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the local network, the destination address of the output packet is specified to the inter-region transfer server system, and the destination of the output signal is specified. An address is recorded in the output packet, and when it is determined that the destination address of the output signal is located in the local network, a destination address designation module that sets the destination address of the output packet to the destination address of the output signal is provided. 3. The gateway device according to claim 2, further comprising:   The gateway device according to claim 1, wherein the second input / output module further receives at least one input packet transferred from the destination address of the output signal by the inter-region transfer server system.   The destination address of the input packet is an address of the gateway device, the source address of the input packet is a destination address of the output signal, and the first input / output module uses the input packet as an input signal and outputs the terminal device. The gateway device according to claim 4, wherein the gateway device outputs the data.   The gateway device according to claim 5, wherein the input signal is any one of a digital signal, an analog signal, and a voice signal.   The gateway device according to claim 1, wherein the output signal is one of a digital signal, an analog signal, and a voice signal. An inter-region transfer system including a regional network, a gateway device connected to the terminal device and connected to the regional network, and an inter-region transfer device connected to the regional network, cooperating with the terminal device. hand,
The gateway device receives a destination address of an output signal from the terminal device, and determines whether the destination address of the output signal is located in the regional network,
When determining that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the regional network, the gateway device transmits the output signal to the inter-region transfer device,
The inter-region transfer system, wherein the inter-region transfer device transfers the output signal to a destination address of the output signal. The gateway device,
A first input / output module for receiving a destination address of the output signal from the terminal device;
An interrogation signal generation module that generates an area identification information interrogation signal based on the destination address of the output signal;
A second input / output module that transmits the area identification information interrogation signal to at least the destination address of the output signal via the area network and receives area identification information returned from the destination address of the output signal;
An analysis module that analyzes the area identification information to determine whether a destination address of the output signal is located in the area network,
If the analysis module determines that the destination address of the output signal is not located in the regional network, the second input / output module transmits the output signal to the inter-region transfer device via the regional network. The inter-region transfer system according to claim 8, wherein the transmission is performed, and the inter-region transfer device transfers the output signal to a destination address of the output signal.

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