JP2006279223A - Data communication method, communication server apparatus, and communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data communication method, a communication server apparatus, and a communication terminal, which excellently carry out data transmission/reception in group communication executed in real time. <P>SOLUTION: A communication server apparatus 200 repetitively determines whether each communication terminal at a reception side can make communication and holds transfer of data to communication terminals whose communication is determined as disabled. When the communication terminals whose communication is once determined as disabled are determined to be communicatable after that, the communication server apparatus 200 transfers the data whose transfer is held to the communication terminals newly. Thus, in the group communication such as the PoC, when one communication terminal transmits data to a plurality of communication terminals, even when a communication terminal whose communication is temporarily disabled appears, the data is transmitted to the communication terminal after awaiting the recovery of the communication state, and multiple data communication is excellently carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data communication method between communication terminals such as a mobile phone, a communication server device that controls the data communication, and a communication terminal.

  In recent years, modes of communication by communication terminals such as mobile phones have been diversified, and in addition to conventional voice calls by circuit switching, new modes of communication such as packet communication using an IP (internet protocol) network are being performed. . For example, there is “chat mail” in which conversation is performed by exchanging characters between communication terminals in real time (see Patent Document 1). Chat mail is one of communication modes called “group communication” in which a group is formed between members registered in advance and media data such as characters is communicated in real time within the group.

One type of group communication that has been attracting attention in recent years is called PoC (push to talk over cellular). In PoC, a group is formed by a plurality of communication terminals, and one-to-many communication is performed in real time within this group. Communication is performed when the communication terminal on the transmission side transmits data to other communication terminals in the group, and the other communication terminals on the reception side simultaneously receive the data. Such real-time group communication may be performed in half duplex for bandwidth reservation.
JP 2003-174520 A

  However, when real-time group communication such as PoC is performed in half duplex, when data is transmitted simultaneously from the communication terminal of the speaker to a plurality of communication terminals of the listener, communication becomes impossible in the listener due to deterioration of communication quality. Even if there is a terminal that cannot properly receive data, the communication cannot be reported from the listener side to the speaker side because the communication is performed in half duplex. As a result, the speaker cannot grasp that there is a communication terminal that cannot receive data, and cannot retransmit data, so that there is a problem that good group communication is hindered.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to enable data transmission / reception to be satisfactorily maintained even when a communication terminal having poor communication quality is included in real-time group communication. The object is to provide a communication method, a communication server device for controlling such data communication, and a communication terminal suitable for such data communication.

  A first aspect of the present invention relates to a data communication method performed by a first communication terminal and a plurality of second communication terminals via a communication server device, and the data communication method includes the first communication described above. A first step in which the communication server apparatus receives data transmitted from the terminal to the plurality of second communication terminals, and whether or not the second communication terminal can communicate with each other. When it is determined in the second step that the apparatus repeatedly determines that all the second communication terminals can communicate in the second step, the communication server apparatus transfers the data to all the second communication terminals. In addition, if it is determined in the second step that at least one second communication terminal cannot communicate, the communication server device holds the data and holds the transfer, After the data transfer is suspended, when it is determined that all the second communication terminals are communicable by determining whether the second step is repeated, the data that the communication server device has suspended the transfer is transferred to the plurality of second communication terminals. And a fourth step of transferring to the two communication terminals.

  In the data communication method according to the first aspect, when the transfer of the data is put on hold in the third step, the fact that untransferred data is held is retained in the first communication terminal and / or the plurality of data You may notify to a 2nd communication terminal.

  In the data communication method according to the first aspect, the communication server device holds data whose holding time exceeds a predetermined time and / or exceeds a predetermined amount of data among the data held for transfer. A fifth step of discarding the minute data may be included.

  A second aspect of the present invention relates to a data communication method performed by a first communication terminal and a plurality of second communication terminals. The data communication method is performed by each of the plurality of second communication terminals. The first step in which the first communication terminal repeatedly determines whether or not communication is possible, and if it is determined in the first step that all the second communication terminals are communicable, the first step The communication terminal transmits data to all the second communication terminals, and if it is determined in the second step that at least one second communication terminal cannot communicate, the first communication terminal holds the data. And when the second communication terminal determines that all the second communication terminals are communicable by repeating the determination of the first step after the data transmission is suspended, the first communication is suspended. The terminal holds the transmission Gastric data and a third step of transmitting to said plurality of second communication terminals.

  In the data communication method according to the second aspect, when the transfer of the data is suspended in the second step, the data communication method notifies the plurality of second communication terminals that untransferred data is held. Also good.

  Further, in the data communication method according to the second aspect, the first communication terminal uses data whose holding time exceeds a predetermined time and / or a predetermined amount of data among the data whose transmission is held pending. There may be a fourth step of discarding the excess data.

  A third aspect of the present invention relates to a communication server device that controls data communication performed by a first communication terminal and a plurality of second communication terminals, and the communication server device includes the first communication terminal. Receiving means for receiving data transmitted to the plurality of second communication terminals, determination means for repeatedly determining whether or not each of the second communication terminals can communicate, and holding the data Possible holding means, transfer means for transferring the data to all second communication terminals, and if the determination means determines that at least one second communication terminal cannot communicate, the reception means The received data is held in the holding means, the transfer by the transfer means is suspended, and after the transfer is suspended, the determination means determines that all the second communication terminals can communicate with the holding means. The was lifting data and a control means for controlling to transfer to all of the second communication terminal by the transfer means.

  The communication server device according to the third aspect has notification means for notifying the plurality of second communication terminals that untransferred data is held when holding the transfer while holding the data. May be.

  The control means may perform control so that data whose holding time exceeds a predetermined time and / or excess data from a predetermined amount of data among the data whose transfer is held is discarded.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to a communication terminal that performs data communication with a plurality of communication terminals, and this communication terminal repeatedly determines whether or not each of the plurality of second communication terminals is communicable. Determination means for determining, holding means capable of holding the data, transmission means for transmitting the data to all the second communication terminals, and at least one second communication terminal in the determination means determined that communication is impossible If the data is held in the holding means, the transmission by the transmitting means is suspended, and the determination means determines that all the second communication terminals are communicable after the transmission is suspended. Control means for controlling the transmission means to transmit the data held in the holding means to all the second communication terminals.

  The communication terminal according to the fourth aspect has notification means for notifying the plurality of second communication terminals that the untransferred data is held when holding the data and holding the transfer. Also good.

  The control means may perform control so that data whose holding time exceeds a predetermined time and / or excess data from a predetermined data amount among the data whose transmission is held is discarded.

  According to the present invention, when data is transmitted from one communication terminal to a plurality of communication terminals, even if a communication terminal that temporarily becomes incapable of communication appears, Since data can be transmitted, good data communication can be maintained.

  Hereinafter, two embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a communication system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The communication system illustrated in FIG. 1 includes communication terminals 100-1 to 100-4 and a communication server device 200.

  The communication terminals 100-1 to 100-4 are wireless communication terminals such as mobile phones, and are connected to the communication network 300 via base stations (300-1 and 300-2). The communication terminals 100-1 to 100-4 perform data communication according to the control of the communication server device 200 connected to the communication network 300. In the present embodiment, as an example, half-duplex data communication using PoC is performed.

  Note that data transmitted in data communication includes, for example, data such as voice of calls, images, and characters.

  The communication terminals 100-1 to 100-4 send a signal for checking whether or not communication is possible by a ping (packet internet groper) command or the like from the communication server apparatus 200 during the PoC data communication period. If received, a predetermined response is returned to the communication server device 200.

  The communication server device 200 is a device that controls group communication by PoC of the communication terminals 100-1 to 100-4.

  When receiving a request for starting group communication by PoC from one of communication terminals 100-1 to 100-4, communication server apparatus 200 calls the communication terminal of the other party in response to the request and establishes a communication session.

  After establishing the communication session, the communication server device 200 relays data transmitted from one communication terminal to a plurality of communication terminals. In other words, data transmitted from the transmitting communication terminal to the receiving communication terminal is temporarily received and transferred to the receiving communication terminal.

In addition, the communication server device 200 repeatedly determines whether or not each communication terminal is in a communicable state during the group communication period. For example, the communication server apparatus 200 periodically determines whether or not the receiving communication terminal is in a communicable state by executing a ping command on the receiving communication terminal and examining the response. To do.
If it is determined by this determination that all the communication terminals on the reception side can communicate, the communication server device 200 transfers the data transmitted from the communication terminal on the transmission side to each communication terminal on the reception side.
On the other hand, if it is determined by this determination that there is a communication terminal that cannot communicate, the communication server device 200 suspends data transfer to all communication terminals on the reception side and is sent from the communication terminal on the transmission side. Temporarily store the data. After that, when the communication terminal that is determined to be incapable of communication is newly determined to be communicable by the repeated determination described above, the communication server device 200 transmits the transfer pending data to all the communication terminals on the receiving side. .

  Further, the communication server device 200 appropriately discards data pending transfer according to a predetermined condition. For example, among the data pending transfer, the data whose retention time exceeds a predetermined time is discarded. Alternatively, among the data pending transfer, the data that exceeds the predetermined amount of data and has the oldest time when the transfer was suspended is discarded. This makes it possible to limit the amount of data held in the communication server device 200 due to data transfer suspension.

Next, the configuration of the communication terminals 100-1 to 100-4 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the communication terminals 100-1 to 100-4.
The communication terminal shown in FIG. 2 includes an antenna 1, a communication unit 2, a key input unit 3, a voice processing unit 4, a display unit 5, a storage unit 6, and a control unit 7.

  The communication unit 2 performs processing related to wireless communication with the base stations (300-1 and 300-2) of the communication network 300. For example, the transmission data supplied from the control unit 7 is subjected to predetermined modulation processing to be converted into a radio signal and transmitted from the antenna 1. Further, the radio signal from the base station received by the antenna 1 is subjected to a predetermined demodulation process to be converted into reception data, and output to the control unit 7.

  The key input unit 3 has keys having various functions such as numeric keys, character keys, arrow keys, and decision keys. When these keys are operated by a user, the operation contents are electrically stored. It converts into a signal and notifies the control part 7.

  Further, the key input unit 3 is provided with a key (transmission key) for transmission and reception in group communication by PoC. When the user operates the transmission key, the communication terminal is switched to the transmission terminal or the reception terminal.

  The audio processing unit 4 processes an audio signal input / output through a speaker or a microphone. That is, the audio signal input from the microphone is subjected to signal processing such as amplification, analog-digital conversion, encoding, and the like, converted into digital audio data, and output to the system control unit 7. Further, the audio data supplied from the system control unit 7 is subjected to signal processing such as decoding, digital-analog conversion, amplification, etc., converted into an analog audio signal and output to a speaker.

  The display unit 5 is configured using a display device such as a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL panel, for example, and displays an image corresponding to the image data supplied from the control unit 7. For example, the destination telephone number at the time of outgoing call, the telephone number of the other party at the time of incoming call, the contents of the received mail and the outgoing mail, the standby screen, date, time, remaining battery level, etc. are displayed.

  The storage unit 6 stores various data used in the processing of the control unit 7 and data of processing results of the control unit 7. For example, the computer program of the control unit 7, constant data used for the processing, variable data temporarily stored in the course of processing, an address book for managing information such as telephone numbers and email addresses are stored.

The control unit 7 performs various processes related to the overall operation of the communication terminal.
For example, as processing related to a call, voice input / output in the voice processing unit 4 and call data transmission / reception in the communication unit 2 are controlled so that a voice call according to a predetermined protocol is appropriately performed.
In addition, as processing related to the e-mail, input of character data from the key input unit 3, display of the transmitted / received mail on the display unit 5, so as to appropriately perform transmission mail creation, browsing of received mail, and transmission / reception of e-mail Controls transmission / reception of electronic mail in the communication unit 2.

  The control unit 7 includes, for example, a computer that executes processing based on a program (operating system, application, etc.) stored in the storage unit 6 and executes the above-described processing according to the program.

  Each processing block included in the control unit 7 will be described below.

  The reception control unit 701 and the transmission control unit 702 control operations related to data transmission / reception in PoC half duplex data communication.

The notification processing unit 703 processes a notification sent from the communication server device 200. For example, when a predetermined signal (such as a ping command) for confirming the communication state is transmitted from the communication server device 200, the notification processing unit 703 transmits a predetermined response signal to the communication server device 200.
In addition, when the notification processing unit 703 receives a notification that untransferred data is held in the communication server device 200, the notification processing unit 703 requests the key input control unit 704 to invalidate the transmission key and asks the sender. It is prohibited to become. In this case, the notification processing unit 703 may cause the display unit 5 to display characters and images that notify the invalidity of data transmission.

  The key input control unit 704 enables or disables input of the transmission key of the key input unit 3 in accordance with a request from the notification processing unit 703. If the input of the transmission key is invalidated, it is prohibited to become a transmission terminal, and data cannot be transmitted even if the user operates the transmission key.

Next, the configuration of the communication server device 200 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the communication server device 200.
A communication server device 200 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a communication unit 8, a user interface unit 9, a control unit 10, and a storage unit 11.

  The communication unit 8 performs processing related to communication via the communication network 300. For example, when performing group communication by PoC, the communication server device is connected to the IP network. The communication unit 8 performs processing related to data transmission / reception via the IP network.

  The user interface unit 9 inputs and outputs information for operating the communication server device 200 such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a display device.

  The storage unit 11 stores various data used in the processing of the control unit 10 and data of processing results of the control unit 10. For example, the computer program of the control unit 10, constant data used for the processing, variable data temporarily stored in the processing process, and the like are stored.

  In addition, the storage unit 11 temporarily holds data whose transfer has been suspended by the control unit 10.

  The control unit 10 performs various processes related to the overall operation of the communication server device 200. For example, when the start of group communication is requested from one communication terminal, the communication terminal of the other party is called to perform processing for establishing a communication session. In addition, after the communication session is established, data transmitted from one communication terminal to a plurality of communication terminals is temporarily received, and this is appropriately transferred to the receiving communication terminal.

  The control unit 10 includes, for example, a computer that executes processing based on a program (operating system, application, or the like) stored in the storage unit 11, and executes processing according to the program.

  The control unit 10 includes a determination unit 101, a reception control unit 102, a transfer control unit 103, a primary storage data processing unit 104, and a notification transmission unit 105 as processing blocks related to group communication by PoC.

  The determination unit 101 repeatedly determines whether or not each communication terminal participating in data communication by PoC can communicate. For example, whether or not each communication terminal is communicable depending on whether or not a signal for confirming the connection state by a ping command or the like is periodically transmitted to the communication terminal on the receiving side and a response signal to the response is returned. Determine.

  The reception control unit 101 and the transfer control unit 103 control operations related to data reception and transfer in half-duplex data communication using PoC.

  The reception control unit 101 receives data transmitted by group communication from a communication terminal on the transmission side.

When the determination unit 101 determines that all communication terminals on the reception side can communicate, the transfer control unit 103 transfers the data received by the reception control unit 101 to all communication terminals on the reception side.
On the other hand, if the determination unit 101 determines that at least one communication terminal is incapable of communication, the transfer control unit 101 suspends data transfer to the communication terminal that has been determined to be incapable of communication, and is sent from the communication terminal on the transmission side. The received data is temporarily stored in a predetermined storage area of the storage unit 11.
If the communication terminal determined to be incapable of communication after the transfer suspension is determined to be communicable by repeated determination by the determination unit 101, the data whose transfer is suspended is transferred to the communication terminal on the receiving side.

  For example, the transfer control unit 103 suspends data transfer to all the communication terminals on the reception side when it is determined that communication is impossible even with one communication terminal on the reception side. In this case, the transfer control unit 10 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 11 due to transfer suspension when it is determined by the determination unit 101 performed thereafter that all communication terminals on the receiving side can communicate. Transfer the data to all communication terminals on the receiving side.

  The temporary storage data processing unit 104 discards data temporarily stored in the storage unit 11 due to transfer suspension based on a predetermined condition. For example, among the data pending transfer, the data whose retention time exceeds a predetermined time is discarded. Alternatively, among the data pending transfer, the data that exceeds the predetermined amount of data and has the oldest time when the transfer was suspended is discarded.

The notification transmission unit 104 performs processing for transmitting a notification to each communication terminal.
For example, a signal notifying whether or not untransferred data remains in the storage unit 11 is transmitted to each communication terminal on the transmission side and the reception side.

  Here, the operation of the communication system according to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. In the example of FIGS. 4 and 5, a voice call is performed with the communication terminal 100-1 as the transmission side and the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 as the reception side.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a first example of a data communication procedure in the communication system according to the present embodiment.

  The communication terminal 100-1 on the transmission side logs into the communication server device 200 and requests to call the communication terminal of the other party. In response to this request, the communication server device 200 calls the communication terminal of the other party that is the receiving side, and establishes a communication session. This is the server login process.

  When the communication session is established, the communication server device 200 periodically transmits a signal (such as a ping command) for confirming the connection state to the receiving side terminals (100-2 to 100-4) (step S102). , S116, S130, S144).

Since the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 are all communicable at the time of confirmation in step S102, each communication terminal on the receiving side returns a response signal to the communication server device 200 (steps S104 and S106). , S108).
Receiving this response signal, the communication server device 200 determines that all the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the receiving side can communicate.
In this case, the communication server device 200 transfers data (step S110) transmitted from the communication terminal 100-1 on the transmission side to all the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the reception side (step S112).

At this time, since the untransferred data is not held in the communication server device 200, the communication server device 200 transmits a signal to that effect to each communication terminal (100-1 to 100-4). This notification is independently transmitted to the communication terminal 100-1 on the transmission side (S114), and is transmitted to the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the reception side in addition to the data in step S110, for example.
Receiving communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 that have received this notification validate the operation of the transmission key. That is, the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 in this case can be switched from the reception side to the transmission side according to the operation of the transmission key at this time.

  In this way, when all the communication terminals on the reception side can communicate, the data transmitted from the communication terminal 100-1 on the transmission side to the communication server device 200 is transmitted to all the communication terminals (100-2 to 100-2 on the reception side). 100-4).

On the other hand, at the time of confirming steps S116 and S130, the communication terminal 100-4 is in a state where communication is impossible, and the response signal (S118, S132) from the communication terminal 100-2 and the communication terminal 100-3 Although the response signals (S120 and S134) are returned, the response signal from the communication terminal 100-4 is not returned.
Therefore, the communication server device 200 determines that the communication terminal 100-4 is incapable of communication.
In this case, the communication server device 200 does not transfer the data (steps S124 and S138) transmitted from the communication terminal 100-1 on the transmission side to the terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the reception side, and temporarily stores them in the storage unit 11. (Steps S126 and S140).
Thereby, since untransferred data is held in the communication server device 200, the communication server device 200 transmits a signal to that effect to the communication terminal 100-1 on the transmission side (S128, S142).

After that, when the communication terminal 100-4 becomes communicable again at the time of confirmation in step S144, response signals are returned from all the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the receiving side (step S146, S146). S148, S150).
Receiving this response signal, the communication server device 200 determines that all the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the receiving side have become communicable again.
Then, the communication server device 200 transfers the transfer pending data temporarily stored in the storage unit 11 to all the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the receiving side (S154).

If untransferred data remains in the communication server device 200 even after the data transfer, the communication server device 200 transmits a signal to that effect to each communication terminal (100-1 to 100-4). .
Receiving communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 having received this notification invalidate the transmission key. In other words, the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the receiving side are prohibited from switching to the transmitting side even if the transmission key is operated. This prohibition state is canceled when there is no untransferred data remaining in the communication server device 200 and a signal to that effect is transmitted from the communication server device 200 to the terminal.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, whether or not each communication terminal on the receiving side is communicable is repeatedly determined in the communication server device 200, and when it is determined that there is a communication terminal that cannot communicate, Data transfer to all communication terminals on the receiving side is suspended. When it is determined that a communication terminal determined to be incapable of communication is subsequently communicable, the data whose transfer has been suspended is transferred to all the communication terminals on the receiving side again.
Thus, for example, in group communication such as PoC, when there is a communication terminal that temporarily becomes unable to communicate when transmitting data from one communication terminal to a plurality of communication terminals, any receiving communication terminal Since data can be transmitted to all receiving communication terminals all at once when the communication state of the communication terminal is recovered without transferring data, there is no delay in data reception between receiving communication terminals. The many-to-many data communication can be performed satisfactorily.
In addition, since the storage area provided in the communication server device 200 for temporarily storing data pending transfer can be shared by a plurality of receiving communication terminals, the capacity of the storage area can be reduced.

Moreover, in this embodiment, each communication terminal is notified whether or not untransferred data is held in the communication server device 200.
Thereby, each communication terminal can correctly grasp the presence or absence of untransferred data held in the communication server device 200.
In particular, in the communication terminal on the receiving side, when it is understood that untransferred data remains in the communication server device 200 by this notification, the data communication on the receiving side is continued by prohibiting the data transmission. The situation where the order of reception is switched when receiving. For example, it is possible to prevent a situation in which an old call voice remaining in the communication server device 200 is heard after a certain communication terminal becomes a transmitting side and speaks words before becoming a transmitting side.

Further, in the present embodiment, data pending transfer held in the communication server device 200 is appropriately discarded according to a predetermined condition. For example, data whose transfer hold time exceeds a predetermined time, or data that exceeds the predetermined data amount and has the oldest transfer hold time are discarded.
As a result, it becomes possible to limit the amount of data held in the communication server device 200 by holding the data transfer, and it is not necessary to unnecessarily increase the storage capacity.
In addition, since the data with the oldest hold time are discarded in order, when there is no temporarily stored data, the data transmitted in real time is connected to the communication terminal on the receiving side without interruption. It becomes possible. As a result, the communication terminal on the receiving side can handle the currently received data as if it were transmitted in real time. For example, a communication that requires real-time performance such as a voice call is performed well. be able to.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the communication system according to the first embodiment described above, data communication is performed via the communication server device. However, in the communication system according to the present embodiment, communication terminals can communicate with each other without using the communication server device. Direct data communication takes place.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the communication system according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 5, in the communication system according to the present embodiment, a plurality of communication terminals (100A-1 to 100A-4) perform direct data communication (P2P: peer-to-peer communication) via the communication network 300. Do.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the communication terminal according to the present embodiment, and the same reference numerals in FIGS. 2 and 6 denote the same components.
The communication terminal shown in FIG. 6 is obtained by replacing the control unit 7 in the communication terminal shown in FIG. 2 with a control unit 7A, and other components are the same as those in the communication terminal shown in FIG.

  The control unit 7A performs various processes related to the overall operation of the communication terminal. The control unit 7A has, for example, a computer that executes processing based on a program stored in the storage unit 6, and executes processing according to the program.

  The control unit 7A includes a reception control unit 705, a transmission control unit 706, a determination unit 707, a primary storage data processing unit 708, a notification processing unit 709, and a key input control unit 710 as processing blocks related to PoC group communication. And have.

  The determination unit 707 is a processing block that operates when the communication terminal becomes the transmission side, and repeatedly determines whether or not each communication terminal participating in data communication by PoC can communicate. For example, whether or not each communication terminal is communicable depending on whether or not a signal for confirming the connection state by a ping command or the like is periodically transmitted to the communication terminal on the receiving side and a response signal to the response is returned. Determine.

  The reception control unit 705 receives data transmitted from the communication terminal of the communication partner in group communication.

When the determination unit 707 determines that all the communication terminals on the reception side can communicate, the transmission control unit 706 transmits data to all the communication terminals on the reception side.
On the other hand, if at least one communication terminal is determined to be incapable of communication in determination unit 707, transmission control unit 706 suspends data transmission to the communication terminal that has been determined to be incapable of communication and stores the data that has been suspended. The data is temporarily stored in a predetermined storage area of the unit 6.
Then, after the transmission suspension, when a communication terminal determined to be unable to communicate is determined to be communicable by repeated determination by the determination unit 707, the data whose transmission has been suspended is transferred to the communication terminal on the receiving side.

  For example, the transmission control unit 706 suspends data transmission to all the communication terminals on the reception side when it is determined that communication is impossible even with one communication terminal on the reception side. In this case, the transmission control unit 706 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 6 due to suspension of transmission when it is determined that all the communication terminals on the receiving side can communicate by the determination of the determination unit 707 performed thereafter. Data is transmitted to all communication terminals on the receiving side.

  Temporary storage data processing unit 708 discards data temporarily stored in storage unit 6 based on a predetermined condition due to suspension of transmission. For example, among the data pending transmission, the data whose retention time exceeds a predetermined time is discarded. Alternatively, among the data pending transmission, the data that exceeds the predetermined amount of data and has the oldest time when transmission was suspended is discarded.

  The notification processing unit 709 transmits a predetermined notification to the receiving communication terminal when operating as a transmitting communication terminal. For example, a signal for notifying whether or not untransmitted data remains in the storage unit 6 is transmitted to each communication terminal on the receiving side.

In addition, the notification processing unit 709 processes notifications and commands sent from the transmission-side communication terminal when operating as a reception-side communication terminal. For example, when a predetermined signal (such as a ping command) for confirming the communication state is sent from the communication terminal on the transmission side, the notification processing unit 709 sends a predetermined response signal to the communication terminal on the transmission side. Send.
When the notification processing unit 709 receives a notification that untransmitted data is held in the communication terminal on the transmission side, the notification processing unit 709 requests the key input control unit 710 to invalidate the transmission key, and It is prohibited to become. In this case, the notification processing unit 709 may cause the display unit 5 to display characters and images that notify the invalidity of data transmission.

  The key input control unit 710 enables or disables the transmission key of the key input unit 3 in accordance with a request from the notification processing unit 709. When the transmission key is invalidated, it is prohibited to become a transmission terminal, and data cannot be transmitted.

  Here, the operation of the communication system according to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG. In the example of FIG. 7, the voice communication is performed with the communication terminal 100A-1 as the transmission side and the communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 as the reception side.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a first example of a data communication procedure in the communication system according to the present embodiment.

  The communication terminal 100A-1 on the transmission side periodically transmits a signal (such as a ping command) for confirming the connection state to the communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 on the reception side (Steps S202, S212, S222, S232).

Since all of the communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 are in a communicable state at the time of confirmation in step S202, each communication terminal on the receiving side returns a response signal to the communication terminal 100A-1 (step S204, S206, S208).
Receiving this response signal, communication terminal 100A-1 determines that all communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 on the receiving side can communicate.
In this case, the communication terminal 100A-1 transmits data such as call voice to all the communication terminals 100-2 to 100-4 on the receiving side (step S210).

At this time, since untransmitted data is not held in the communication terminal 100A-1, the communication terminal 100A-1 transmits a signal to that effect to the communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 on the receiving side. . This notification signal is added to the data in step S210 and transmitted, for example.
Receiving communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 that have received this notification validate the operation of the transmission key. That is, the communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 in this case can be switched from the reception side to the transmission side according to the operation of the transmission key.

  As described above, when all the communication terminals on the reception side can communicate, data is transmitted from the communication terminal 100A-1 on the transmission side to all the communication terminals (100A-2 to 100-4) on the reception side.

On the other hand, at the time of confirming steps S212 and S222, the communication terminal 100A-4 is in a state incapable of communication, and the response signals (S214 and S224) from the communication terminal 100A-2 and the communication terminal 100A-3 Although the response signals (S216, S226) are returned, the response signal from the communication terminal 100A-4 is not returned.
Therefore, communication terminal 100A-1 determines that communication terminal 100A-4 is incapable of communication.
In this case, the communication terminal 100A-1 does not transmit data to all the terminals (100A-2 to 100A-4) on the receiving side, but temporarily stores them in the storage unit 6 (steps S220 and S230).

Thereafter, when the communication terminal 100A-4 becomes ready for communication again at the time of confirmation in step S232, response signals are returned from all the communication terminals on the receiving side (steps S234, S236, and S238).
Receiving this response signal, the communication terminal 100A-1 determines that all the communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 on the receiving side have become communicable again.
In this case, the communication terminal 100A-1 transmits the transmission-pending data temporarily stored in the storage unit 6 to all the communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 on the receiving side (step S240).

If untransferred data remains in communication server apparatus 200 even after this data transmission, communication terminal 100A-1 transmits a signal to that effect to reception side communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4. To do.
Receiving communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 that have received this notification invalidate the transmission key. That is, the communication terminals 100A-2 to 100A-4 on the reception side are prohibited from switching to the transmission side regardless of the operation of the transmission key. This prohibited state is canceled when there is no untransmitted data remaining in the communication terminal 100A-1 and a signal to that effect is transmitted from the communication terminal 100A-1 to the terminal.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, whether or not each communication terminal (100A-2 to 100A-4) on the reception side is communicable is repeatedly determined in the communication terminal (100A-1) on the transmission side. If it is determined that there is a communication terminal that cannot communicate, data transmission to all communication terminals on the receiving side is suspended. When it is determined that a communication terminal determined to be unable to communicate is communicable thereafter, the data whose transmission has been suspended is transmitted again to all the communication terminals on the receiving side.
Thus, for example, in group communication such as PoC, when there is a communication terminal that temporarily becomes unable to communicate when transmitting data from one communication terminal to a plurality of communication terminals, any receiving communication terminal Since data can be transmitted to all receiving communication terminals all at once when the communication state of the communication terminal is recovered without transferring data, there is no delay in data reception between receiving communication terminals. The many-to-many data communication can be performed satisfactorily.
In addition, since the storage area provided in the transmission side communication terminal for temporarily storing data pending transmission can be shared by a plurality of reception side communication terminals, the capacity of the storage area can be reduced. .

In addition, in this embodiment, each communication terminal on the reception side is notified whether or not untransmitted data is held in the communication terminal on the transmission side.
As a result, when the receiving communication terminal recognizes that untransmitted data remains in the transmitting communication terminal by the notification, the receiving communication terminal prohibits the data transmission and the receiving communication terminal continuously When receiving the received data, it is possible to prevent the order of reception from being switched. For example, it is possible to prevent a situation where a communication terminal hears an old call voice remaining in another communication terminal after becoming a transmission side and speaking a word before becoming a transmission side.

Further, in the present embodiment, data pending transmission held in the communication server device 200 is appropriately discarded according to a predetermined condition. For example, data whose transmission hold time exceeds a predetermined time, data that is an excess of a predetermined amount of data and has the oldest time when transmission was held, etc. are discarded.
As a result, it becomes possible to limit the amount of data held in the communication terminal on the transmission side due to the suspension of data transmission, and the storage capacity does not need to be increased unnecessarily.
In addition, since the data with the oldest transmission suspension time are discarded in order, when there is no temporarily stored data, the data transmitted in real time is connected to the communication terminal on the receiving side without interruption. It becomes possible. As a result, the communication terminal on the receiving side can handle the currently received data as if it were transmitted in real time. For example, a communication that requires real-time performance such as a voice call is performed well. be able to.

  As mentioned above, although some embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited only to said form, Various modifications are included.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to group communication by PoC has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various other group communication in which one-to-many data communication is performed. Is possible.

  The processing of the control units 7 and 7A of the communication terminal and the processing of the control unit 10 of the communication server device may all be executed by hardware, or at least a part thereof may be executed by a computer based on a program. Also good.

  The mobile terminal of the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone. For example, the present invention can be widely applied to terminal devices having a communication function such as PDA (personal digital assistants).

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication terminal which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication server apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the data communication procedure in the communication system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication terminal which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the data communication procedure in the communication system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100-1-100-4, 100A-1-100A-4 ... Communication terminal, 200 ... Communication server apparatus, 300 ... Communication network, 1 ... Antenna, 2 ... Communication part, 3 ... Key input part, 4 ... Voice processing part 5, display unit 6, 11 ... storage unit, 7, 7A ... control unit, 701, 705 ... reception control unit, 702, 706 ... transmission control unit, 703, 709 ... notification processing unit, 704, 710 ... key input Control unit, 707 ... Determination unit, 708 ... Temporary storage data processing unit, 8 ... Communication unit, 9 ... User interface unit, 10 ... Control unit, 101 ... Determination unit, 102 ... Reception control unit, 103 ... Transfer control unit, 104 ... Temporary storage data processing unit, 105 ... Notification transmission unit

Claims (12)

A data communication method performed by a first communication terminal and a plurality of second communication terminals via a communication server device,
A first step in which the communication server device receives data transmitted from the first communication terminal to the plurality of second communication terminals;
A second step in which the communication server apparatus repeatedly determines whether or not each of the second communication terminals can communicate;
When it is determined in the second step that all the second communication terminals are communicable, the communication server device transfers the data to all the second communication terminals, and at least one in the second step. A third step in which the communication server device holds the data and holds the transfer when it is determined that the two second communication terminals cannot communicate;
If it is determined that all of the second communication terminals are communicable by determining whether the second step is repeated after the transfer of the data is suspended, the data that the communication server device has suspended the transfer is transferred to the plurality of communication terminals. A data communication method comprising: a fourth step of transferring to a second communication terminal. If the transfer of the data is put on hold in the third step, the first communication terminal and / or the plurality of second communication terminals are notified that untransferred data is held. The data communication method according to claim 1. The communication server device has a fifth step of discarding data whose holding time exceeds a predetermined time and / or excess data from a predetermined amount of data among the data held for transfer. 3. The data communication method according to claim 1, wherein the data communication method is a data communication method. A data communication method performed by a first communication terminal and a plurality of second communication terminals,
A first step in which the first communication terminal repeatedly determines whether or not each of the plurality of second communication terminals is communicable;
When it is determined in the first step that all the second communication terminals are communicable, the first communication terminal transmits data to all the second communication terminals, and at least in the second step When it is determined that one second communication terminal is unable to communicate, the second step in which the first communication terminal holds data and holds transmission,
After the transmission suspension of the data, if it is determined that all the second communication terminals are communicable by determination of repetition of the first step, the data that the first communication terminal has suspended the transmission is And a third step of transmitting to a plurality of second communication terminals. 5. The data communication according to claim 4, wherein when the transfer of the data is suspended in the second step, the plurality of second communication terminals are notified that untransferred data is held. Method. The first communication terminal has a fourth step of discarding data whose holding time exceeds a predetermined time and / or excess data from a predetermined amount of data among the data whose transmission is held pending 6. The data communication method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: A communication server device that controls data communication performed by a first communication terminal and a plurality of second communication terminals,
Receiving means for receiving data transmitted from the first communication terminal to the plurality of second communication terminals;
Determination means for repeatedly determining whether or not each of the second communication terminals can communicate;
Holding means capable of holding the data;
Transfer means for transferring the data to all the second communication terminals;
If it is determined by the determining means that at least one second communication terminal cannot communicate, the data received by the receiving means is held in the holding means, the transfer by the transferring means is suspended, and the transfer If the determination means determines that all the second communication terminals are communicable after the suspension, the data stored in the holding means is controlled to be transferred to all the second communication terminals by the transfer means. And a control means. 8. The communication server according to claim 7, further comprising notification means for notifying the plurality of second communication terminals that untransferred data is held when holding the data and holding the transfer. apparatus. The control means performs control so as to discard data whose holding time exceeds a predetermined time and / or excess data from a predetermined amount of data among the data held for transfer. Item 8. The communication server device according to Item 7. A communication terminal that performs data communication with a plurality of communication terminals,
Determination means for repeatedly determining whether or not each of the plurality of second communication terminals can communicate;
Holding means capable of holding the data;
Transmitting means for transmitting the data to all the second communication terminals;
If it is determined by the determination means that at least one second communication terminal is unable to communicate, the data is held in the holding means and transmission by the transmission means is suspended, and after the transmission is suspended, the determination means Control means for controlling the transmission means to transmit the data held in the holding means to all the second communication terminals when it is determined that all the second communication terminals can communicate with each other. A communication terminal characterized by. 11. The communication terminal according to claim 10, further comprising notification means for notifying the plurality of second communication terminals that untransferred data is held when holding the data and holding the transfer. . The control means controls to discard data whose holding time exceeds a predetermined time and / or excess data from a predetermined amount of data among the data whose transmission is held pending. The communication terminal according to claim 10 or 11.

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