JP2006100971A - Group management apparatus and group calling method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a group management apparatus 20 capable of calling a group without the need for re-registering a contact address corresponding to the group even when the contact address of a communication terminal 15 is changed. <P>SOLUTION: The group management apparatus 20 includes: a group cross-reference table storage section 204 for storing in advance a group cross-reference table wherein a group name is cross-referenced with a user name; a user name extract section 200 for extracting a user name in cross-reference with the group name by referencing the group cross-reference table; and an address resolution section 202 that allows the user name extract section 200 to extract the user names corresponding to the group names when receiving the group names from the communication terminal 15 via a proxy server 13, allows a location server 11 to extract contact addresses respectively corresponding to the extracted user names, and transmits the extracted contact addresses to the proxy server 13 for having transmitted the group names. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for performing communication based on a protocol defined in SIP.

  A communication protocol called SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) that controls the start and end of communication when communication is performed using an IP (Internet Protocol) packet including audio data, image data, and the like (for example, non-patented) Reference 1).

  In communication using SIP, the location server stores a user name and a contact address assigned to each communication terminal, and when the caller terminal establishes a call with the callee terminal, the caller communication terminal Sends an INVITE request including the user name of the called terminal to the proxy server. Then, the proxy server refers to the location server database, extracts the contact address corresponding to the user name included in the received INVITE request, and transfers the INVITE request to the terminal on the receiving side based on the extracted contact address. By doing so, a call is established between the terminal on the transmission side and the terminal on the reception side.

  Here, the contact address allocated to the terminal may be allocated by DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). In this case, the contact address allocated by the activation of the terminal or the elapse of a predetermined time after the contact address is allocated. The address may change. Therefore, in a communication system that supports communication based on SIP, each time the contact address of a terminal is changed, the changed contact address is received together with the user name of the terminal by a REGISTER request, and the contact address and user included in the received REGISTER request are received. There may be a registrar server that registers a set of names in a location server. Thereby, even when the contact address of the terminal is changed, the latest contact address of the terminal can be specified by referring to the database of the location server.

J. Rosenberg, "RFC3261 (SIP: Session Initiation Protocol)" [online], IAB (Internet Architecture Board), (USA), June 2002, [searched September 10, 2004], Internet <http : //www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3261.html>

  By the way, one or more contact addresses of one or more terminals are associated with one user name and transmitted to the registrar server by a REGISTER request, so that one or more contact addresses are associated with one user name in the location server. Generated database can be generated. As a result, when calling all the terminals belonging to the group all at once, the terminal transmits an INVITE request including the group name of the corresponding group to the proxy server. Then, the proxy server refers to the location server database, extracts one or more contact addresses corresponding to the received group name, and transfers the INVITE request to all terminals corresponding to the extracted contact addresses. , One or more terminals belonging to the group can be called all at once.

  However, when the contact address of the terminal is changed by DHCP or the like, the contact address of the terminal corresponding to the group may be different from the previous time. In this case, the contact address change of each terminal is constantly monitored, and if there is a change in the contact address, it is necessary to re-register a new contact address of the terminal corresponding to the group. In some cases, it was difficult to quickly prepare a communication environment in which communication can be performed.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a group management apparatus and a group calling method that can solve the above-described problems. For example, even when the contact address of the terminal is changed, it is not necessary to re-register the contact address corresponding to the group.

  In order to solve the above problems, the group management device of the present invention stores a group name in advance in a database in association with one or more user names, receives a group name from a communication terminal via a proxy server, , One or more user names corresponding to the received group name are extracted, and the location server is inquired for a contact address corresponding to each of the extracted one or more user names, so that the group corresponding to the group name is obtained. Specify the contact address of the communication terminal to which it belongs.

  For example, a group management apparatus that manages a group of communication terminals that perform communication based on a protocol defined in SIP, and stores a group correspondence table in which a group name is associated with one or more user names in advance. Via a proxy server, a group correspondence table storage unit, a user name extraction unit that extracts one or more user names corresponding to a group name with reference to a group correspondence table stored in advance by the group correspondence table storage unit When a group name is received from a communication terminal, one or more user names corresponding to the group name are extracted by the user name extraction unit, and a contact address corresponding to each of the one or more user names extracted by the user name extraction unit The proxy that sent the group name to one or more contact addresses extracted by the location server For providing group management apparatus it characterized by comprising an address resolution unit to be transmitted to over server.

  According to the present invention, since one or more user names are stored in association with the group name, each time the contact address is changed, even if the contact address corresponding to the user name is changed, The latest contact address corresponding to the communication terminal included in the group can be extracted by referring to the database in the location server where the correspondence with the user name is updated. Therefore, it is possible to quickly prepare a communication environment in which simultaneous calling to a group can be performed without re-registering a new contact address of a communication terminal corresponding to the group.

  The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a communication system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication system 10 includes a location server 11, a registrar server 12, a proxy server 13, a communication network 14, a group management device 20, and a plurality of communication terminals 15. The communication network 14 is, for example, the Internet, a dedicated line of a communication carrier, an in-house LAN, or the like. Each of the plurality of communication terminals 15 is, for example, an IP phone and is connected to the communication network 14. Each communication terminal 15 communicates with another communication terminal 15 via the communication network 14 based on a protocol defined in SIP.

  Each communication terminal 15 sends a REGISTER request including a newly assigned contact address and its own user name each time a contact address different from the previously assigned contact address such as an IP address is assigned by, for example, DHCP. By transmitting to the registrar server 12 via the communication network 14, the registrar server 12 is notified of its latest contact address. Here, the REGISTER request is a request message used in SIP. Further, the user name used throughout the present embodiment means AOR (Address Of Record) defined by SIP (RFC3261).

  When calling to another communication terminal 15, the communication terminal 15 transmits the user name or group name of the communication terminal 15 on the receiving side to the proxy server 13 via the communication network 14, thereby allowing the proxy server 13 to One other communication terminal 15 corresponding to the user name or one or more other communication terminals 15 corresponding to the group name execute a call, and between the other communication terminals 15 according to call control based on the well-known SIP. Communicate with.

  The registrar server 12 is connected to the communication network 14, receives a REGISTER request from each communication terminal 15 via the communication network 14, extracts the user name and contact address of the communication terminal 15 from the received REGISTER request, and extracts the extracted user The name and contact address are sent to the location server 11.

  The location server 11 receives the user name and contact address of the communication terminal 15 from the registrar server 12, and stores the received contact address in the database in association with the received user name. When the user name is received from the group management device 20, the location server 11 refers to the database stored therein and returns a contact address corresponding to the received user name to the group management device 20.

  The proxy server 13 is a server that relays a message based on a protocol stipulated in SIP, receives information for identifying the receiving communication terminal 15 from the transmitting communication terminal 15 via the communication network 14, and receives the received information. The identification information of the incoming communication terminal 15 is transferred to the group management device 20. When the identification information of the receiving communication terminal 15 transmitted to the group management apparatus 20 is a user name, the proxy server 13 receives one contact address of the communication terminal 15 corresponding to the transferred user name, and receives the received 1 Is called to the communication terminal 15 on the receiving side corresponding to the contact address, the communication terminal 15 on the calling side and the communication terminal 15 on the receiving side are made to communicate according to call control based on SIP.

  On the other hand, when the identification information of the receiving communication terminal 15 transmitted to the group management device 20 is a group name, the proxy server 13 receives one or more contact addresses of the communication terminal 15 corresponding to the transferred group name, and receives them. By making a call to the receiving communication terminal 15 corresponding to the one or more contact addresses, communication is established between one of the one or more receiving communication terminals 15 and the calling communication terminal 15 in accordance with call control based on SIP. Let

  The group management device 20 stores in advance a group correspondence table in which user names are associated with group names. When the group management device 20 receives identification information of the communication terminal 15 on the receiving side from the proxy server 13, the group correspondence table is displayed. The group corresponding to the identification information is searched for, one or more user names corresponding to the searched group name are extracted, and the extracted user name is transmitted to the location server 11. When the group management apparatus 20 receives a contact address from the location server 11 in response to the transmitted user name, the group management apparatus 20 transfers the received contact address to the proxy server 13.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the group management apparatus 20. The group management device 20 includes a user name extraction unit 200, an address resolution unit 202, a group correspondence table storage unit 204, and an input unit 206. The group correspondence table storage unit 204 stores in advance a group correspondence table in which one or more user names are associated with group names.

  The user name extraction unit 200 receives the identification information of the communication terminal 15 from the address resolution unit 202, refers to the group correspondence table stored in advance in the group correspondence table storage unit 204, and matches the received identification information It is determined whether the name exists in the group correspondence table. When a group name corresponding to the received identification information exists in the group correspondence table, one or more user names corresponding to the group name are extracted, and the extracted one or more user names are returned to the address resolution unit 202. When the group name corresponding to the received identification information does not exist in the group correspondence table, the user name extraction unit 200 returns the received identification information to the address resolution unit 202 as it is.

  The address resolution unit 202 receives the identification information of the communication terminal 15 from the proxy server 13 and transmits the received identification information to the user name extraction unit 200. Then, the address resolution unit 202 receives the user name from the user name extraction unit 200 in response to the transmitted identification information, and transmits the received user name to the location server 11. In response to the transmitted user name, the contact address is received from the location server 11, and the received contact address is transmitted to the proxy server 13. As described above, the address resolution unit 202 transmits the identification information received from the proxy server 13 to the user name extraction unit 200 regardless of either the user name or the group name. Then, the address resolution unit 202 inquires of the location server 11 using the data received from the user name extraction unit 200 as the user name.

  The input unit 206 is an interface such as USB or RS232C. Prior to constructing the communication system 10, the group correspondence table is stored in the group correspondence table storage unit 204 in advance via the input unit 206. In this example, the input unit 206 is an interface used in a stand-alone environment such as USB or RS232C. However, as another example, the input unit 206 is configured to execute an application such as Telnet via the communication network 14. The group correspondence table may be stored in the group correspondence table storage unit 204.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the location server 11. The location server 11 includes an address correspondence table storage unit 110, an address registration unit 112, and an address extraction unit 114. The address correspondence table storage unit 110 stores the contact address in association with the user name. The address registration unit 112 receives the contact address of the communication terminal 15 together with the user name of the communication terminal 15 from the registrar server 12 and stores the received contact address in the address correspondence table storage unit 110 in association with the received user name. . When the user name is received from the group management device 20, the address extraction unit 114 refers to the address correspondence table storage unit 110, extracts a contact address corresponding to the received user name, and performs group management on the extracted contact address. A reply is sent to the device 20.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the group correspondence table stored in the group correspondence table storage unit 204. The group correspondence table storage unit 204 stores a group correspondence table in which the user name 2042 is associated with the group name 2040 in advance. The user name extraction unit 200 refers to the group correspondence table, compares the identification information received from the address resolution unit 202 with the group names in the group correspondence table, and all the corresponding group names are associated with each other. Extract user name of. Then, the extracted user name is transmitted to the address resolution unit 202. If there is no matching group name, the user name extraction unit 200 returns the received identification information to the address resolution unit 202 as the user name.

  In this figure, user names 100 to 109, policy, 111 to 149, and user1 are in group name G1, user names 150 to 198, admin1, and admin2 are in group G2, user names 150 to 198, admin1, admin2 , And user2 are associated with group G3, and user names admin1 and admin2 are associated with group 199, respectively.

  FIG. 5 shows another example of the group correspondence table stored in the group correspondence table storage unit 204. The group correspondence table storage unit 204 stores in advance a group correspondence table in which a user name 2042 described in a regular expression is associated with a group name 2040. The description ““ ^ 1 [0-4] [0-9] $ ”, user1” corresponding to the group name G1 indicates the user names 100 to 149 and user1. Similarly, the description ““ ^ 1 [5-9] [0-9] $ ”” corresponding to the group name G2 indicates a user name of 150 to 199. The group name G3 is associated with the group name G2 and the user name user2, the group name 110 is associated with policy, and the group name 199 is associated with admin1 and admin2.

  The user name extraction unit 200 refers to the group correspondence table, compares the identification information received from the address resolution unit 202 with the group name in the group correspondence table, and if there is a matching group name, the matching group name The user name is expanded according to the description of the user name corresponding to. next. The user name extraction unit 200 further compares each expanded user name with the group name, and if there is a matching group name, further expands the user name according to the description of the user name corresponding to the matching group name. . The user name extraction unit 200 can extract the user name corresponding to the group name by repeating the above operation until there is no group name that matches the expanded user name.

  For example, in the group configuration shown in FIG. 5, when extracting the user name corresponding to G1, the user name extraction unit 200 expands the user name based on the description of the user name corresponding to the group name G1, 100 to 149 And get user1. Next, the user name extraction unit 200 detects that 110 included in the expanded user name matches the group name, and further expands the user name 110 as “polvce”. It is confirmed that there is no group name corresponding to each of the expanded user names 100 to 109, 111 to 149, user1 and policy in the group correspondence table, and the user name extraction unit 200 finally performs the expansion after the expansion. Are confirmed as 100 to 109, 111 to 149, user1, and policy. Thus, by making the user name of the group correspondence table a regular expression, the data amount of the group correspondence table can be reduced.

  In this example, the user name of the group correspondence table is described by a regular expression. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an expression that can indicate a plurality of values such as defining a range of values by an inequality sign. Any expression may be used.

  FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the communication system 10 when registering the contact address of the communication terminal 15. First, the group correspondence table is stored in the group correspondence table storage unit 204 via the input unit 206 (S100). Next, each time the contact address of the communication terminal 15-1 is updated at a predetermined timing such as power-on of the communication terminal 15 or DHCP update timing, the communication terminal 15-1 is updated using the REGISTER request. The contact address a is notified to the registrar server 12 through the communication network 14 together with the user name A (S102).

  Next, the registrar server 12 extracts the user name A and the contact address a from the REGISTER request received from the communication terminal 15-1, and transmits the extracted user name A and contact address a to the address registration unit 112 of the location server 11. (S104). The address registration unit 112 stores the contact address a received from the registrar server 12 in the address correspondence table storage unit 110 in association with the user name A (S106).

  Each time the contact address of the communication terminal 15-2 is updated, the communication terminal 15-2 uses the REGISTER request to set the updated contact address b together with its user name B through the communication network 14. The server 12 is notified (S108). The registrar server 12 transmits the user name B and contact address b of the REGISTER request received from the communication terminal 15-2 to the address registration unit 112 of the location server 11 (S110). The address registration unit 112 stores the contact address b received from the registrar server 12 in the address correspondence table storage unit 110 in association with the user name B (S112).

  Similarly, each time the contact address of the communication terminal 15-3 is updated, the communication terminal 15-3 uses the REGISTER request to send the updated contact address c together with its user name C via the communication network 14. The registrar server 12 is notified (S114). The registrar server 12 transmits the user name C and contact address c of the REGISTER request received from the communication terminal 15-3 to the address registration unit 112 of the location server 11 (S116). The address registration unit 112 stores the address correspondence table storage unit 110 by associating the contact address c received from the registrar server 12 with the user name C (S118).

  FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the communication system 10 when the communication terminal 15-1 calls the group G1. First, the communication terminal 15-1 which is a transmission side transmits an INVITE request to the group G1 to which the communication terminal 15-2 and the communication terminal 15-3 belong (S200). The proxy server 13 extracts G1 that is identification information indicating the called party stored in the To header of the INVITE request, and transmits the extracted identification information G1 to the group management apparatus 20 (S202). The INVITE request is a request message used in SIP.

  The group management apparatus 20 refers to the group correspondence table storage unit 204 to determine whether or not the group name corresponding to the identification information G1 indicating the called party is stored in the group correspondence table of the group correspondence table storage unit 204. . When the group name corresponding to the identification information G1 indicating the called party is stored in the group correspondence table, the user name extraction unit 200 extracts the user names B and C corresponding to the group name from the group correspondence table storage unit 204. (S204). The address resolution unit 202 transmits the user names B and C extracted by the user name extraction unit 200 to the address extraction unit 114 of the location server 11 (S206).

  The address extraction unit 114 refers to the address correspondence table storage unit 110 and extracts contact addresses b and c corresponding to the user names B and C received from the address resolution unit 202 (S208). Then, the address extraction unit 114 returns the extracted contact addresses b and c to the address resolution unit 202 (S210). The address resolution unit 202 transfers the contact addresses b and c received from the address extraction unit 114 to the proxy server 13 (S212).

  The proxy server 13 transmits an INVITE request to the contact address b received from the address resolution unit 202 in response to the transmitted identification information G1 indicating the called party (S214). Similarly, the proxy server 13 transmits an INVITE request to the contact address c received from the address resolution unit 202 in response to the transmitted information G1 indicating the called party (S216). Then, one of the communication terminals 15-2 and 15-3 on the receiving side and the communication terminal 15-1 on the calling side establish a call with each other by call control based on the well-known SIP and perform communication (S218). .

  As is clear from the above description, according to the group management apparatus 20 of the present embodiment, one or more user names are stored in association with the group name, so that the contact address corresponding to the user name has been changed. However, each time the contact address is changed, the latest contact address corresponding to the communication terminal 15 included in the group is obtained by referring to the database in the location server 11 in which the correspondence between the contact address and the user name is updated. Can be extracted. Therefore, it is possible to quickly prepare a communication environment in which simultaneous calling to a group can be performed without re-registering a new contact address of the communication terminal 15 corresponding to the group.

  The location server 11, registrar server 12, proxy server 13, and group management device 20 described above are shown as independent devices, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the location server 11, registrar server 12, The proxy server 13 and the group management device 20 may be realized as one device having functions. Each functional block included in the group management device 20 may be executed by hardware by an integrated logic IC such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or may be a digital signal signal processor (DSP). Processor) or a general-purpose computer.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in embodiment mentioned above. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be made to the above-described embodiment. Furthermore, it is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a group management device 20. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a location server 11. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a group correspondence table stored in a group correspondence table storage unit 204. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of a group correspondence table stored in the group correspondence table storage unit 204. FIG. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of operation | movement of the communication system 10 in the case of registering the contact address of the communication terminal 15. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of operation | movement of the communication system 10 when the communication terminal 15-1 calls with respect to the group G3.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Communication system, 11 ... Location server, 110 ... Address correspondence table storage part, 112 ... Address registration part, 114 ... Address extraction part, 12 ... Registrar server, 13 ... Proxy server, 14 ... communication network, 15 ... communication terminal, 20 ... group management device, 200 ... user name extraction unit, 202 ... address resolution unit, 204 ... group correspondence table Storage unit, 2040 ... Group name, 2042 ... User name, 206 ... Input unit

Claims (2)

A group management apparatus that manages a group of communication terminals that perform communication based on a protocol defined in SIP (Session Initiation Protocol),
A group correspondence table storage unit that stores in advance a group correspondence table in which a group name is associated with one or more user names;
A user name extraction unit that extracts one or more user names corresponding to the group name with reference to the group correspondence table stored in advance by the group correspondence table storage unit;
When the group name is received from the communication terminal via a proxy server, the user name extraction unit extracts one or more user names corresponding to the group name, and the user name extraction unit extracts 1 An address resolution unit that causes a location server to extract a contact address corresponding to each of the above user names, and that transmits the contact address extracted by the location server to the proxy server that has transmitted the group name. A group management device characterized by the above. A group calling method in a communication system that includes a location server, a registrar server, a proxy server, a group management device, and a plurality of communication terminals, and performs communication based on a protocol defined in SIP,
When registering the contact address of the communication terminal,
The communication terminal is
Each time the contact address is assigned, performing a step of sending a REGISTER request including the assigned contact address and its user name to the registrar server;
The registrar server is
Extracting the user name and the contact address of the communication terminal from the REGISTER request received from the communication terminal, and transmitting the extracted user name and the contact address to the location server;
The location server is
Performing the step of storing the user name of the communication terminal received from the registrar server in an address correspondence table storage unit in association with the contact address of the communication terminal received from the registrar server;
When the calling communication terminal makes a call to a group associated with a plurality of receiving communication terminals,
The communication terminal on the calling side is
Sending an INVITE request including the group name corresponding to the group to the proxy server;
Performing communication with at least one communication terminal on the receiving side having the contact address corresponding to the group name transmitted to the proxy server;
The proxy server is
Retrieving the group name from the INVITE request received from the originating communication terminal and transferring the retrieved group name to the group management device;
In response to the transferred group name, based on the contact address returned by the group management device, sending an INVITE request to the called communication terminal having the contact address,
The group management device
One or more of the group names corresponding to the group name received from the proxy server with reference to the group correspondence table stored in the group correspondence table storage unit in advance in association with the one or more user names. Extracting a user name;
Sending the extracted one or more user names to the location server;
In response to each of the transmitted one or more user names, forwarding the contact address returned by the location server to the proxy server;
The location server is
Referring to the address correspondence table storage unit, extracting the contact address corresponding to the user name received from the group management device;
And a step of transmitting the extracted contact address to the group management device.

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