JP2007180792A - Communication device, server device, and communication control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication device capable of suitably notifying an arrival-during-absence of PTT when PTT communication automatically started in an automatic answer mode ends, and to provide a communication control method for the communication device. <P>SOLUTION: When a record indicating information transmission from a user's own device is not included in a communication log or a record indicating an instruction input in a key input part 103 is not included in a key operation log when PTT communication started in the automatic answer mode ends, it can be judged that the user does not participate in the PTT communication at all and the user does not acknowledge the start of PTT communication, and thereby the existence of the arrival-during-absence is notified. Consequently such a situation that the user does not notice the existence of the arrival-during-absence of PTT at all can be effectively evaded. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device that performs group communication such as PTT (push to talk), a communication control method thereof, and a server device that manages group communication. In particular, when a call signal is not responded, an unanswered incoming call is received. The present invention relates to a communication device having a function of notifying that there has been.

  In general, a mobile phone has a function of notifying a user of an unanswered incoming call (missed call) when a call signal is received but does not answer the call. For example, display a message such as "Missed call" near the center of the standby screen, or display that there was a missed call using a graphic called pict in the upper or lower area of the screen, Alternatively, a missed call is notified by turning on a light emitting element such as an LED.

  In addition to receiving an incoming call, the user is also notified of an incoming e-mail by the same method as that for a telephone when there is an incoming e-mail (received a new mail).

  The missed call display as described above is usually erased when the user performs a predetermined confirmation operation. For example, in the case of a telephone call, it is erased by displaying an incoming call history screen, and in the case of an e-mail, it is erased by receiving a new mail from the server and displaying the received mail on the screen. Even if the user performs a different operation, the missed call display is not erased.

  In many mobile phones, a missed call message is displayed as a soft key with a button for directly changing to an incoming call history or mail reception screen. When the user presses a button corresponding to this display to transition to these screens, the missed call message is erased from the standby screen.

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

  In addition, one of group communications that has been attracting attention recently is called PTT (push to talk) or PoC (push to talk over cellular). In PTT, a plurality of communication devices forming a group perform a real-time voice call by VoIP (voice over internet protocol) (see Patent Document 2).

In PTT group communication, when a user who wishes to speak depresses a predetermined button (PTT button) provided in the communication device, the user's speech request is transmitted to the server device. The server device receives a speech request from each communication device and gives a speech right to one communication device. The communication device that is given the right to speak transmits the user's voice data to the server device, and the server device transmits the voice data to other communication devices all at once. Thereby, a real-time voice call is performed by a plurality of communication devices forming a group.
JP 2003-174520 A JP-T-2005-522067

  In general, a mobile phone that performs PTT communication executes processing related to PTT communication by an application program for PTT communication. This application program is started up manually in response to a user instruction, and is automatically started when an incoming PTT (reception of a PTT communication holding notification by e-mail or the like) is received.

  When the application program for PTT communication is automatically activated in response to an incoming call, it notifies the user of the incoming PTT with a notification sound or the like. At this time, when a user's instruction is input to participate in PTT communication by an operation of a call button or the like, the application program transmits a response to participate in PTT communication to the server device and starts PTT communication. . On the other hand, if the user's instruction is not input for a certain period of time, the application program ends spontaneously without sending a participation response.

As described above, normally, a participation response to PTT communication is not transmitted unless a user instruction is input. However, for example, when it is necessary to always perform PTT communication, participation is automatically performed without a user instruction. It may be preferable to initiate a PTT communication by sending a response.
However, if PTT communication is automatically started, it is unclear whether or not the PTT communication is recognized by the user, and therefore there is a disadvantage that an appropriate missed call display cannot be performed after the PTT communication ends. .
In other words, if the PTT communication is automatically started and the missed call display is not always performed, there is a possibility that the user may not notice that the PTT call has been received, and the missed call display is always executed. If so, there is a problem that an unnecessary missed call display is performed for known PTT communication.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to appropriately notify that the start notification has been received when group communication such as PTT started in response to the start notification is completed. It is to provide a communication device and a communication control method thereof, and to provide a server device that manages group communication performed by such a communication device.

  A first aspect of the present invention is a communication unit that performs group communication, an input unit that inputs an instruction, a notification unit, and a predetermined server that receives a group communication start notification in the communication unit based on the start notification The present invention relates to a communication device including a control unit that performs group communication by the communication unit via the device. In this communication device, when the group communication started based on the received start notification is completed, the control unit transmits information from the own device by the communication unit or inputs an instruction in the input unit during the started group communication. If there is no error, the notification unit notifies the user.

  Preferably, the control unit causes the notification unit to notify that the start notification has been received but a response instruction to the start notification has not been input at the input unit.

  Preferably, when the communication unit receives the start notification, the control unit can automatically perform group communication start processing by the communication unit even if there is no instruction input in the input unit.

Preferably, the communication device according to the first aspect includes a storage unit, and the control unit stores communication information transmitted / received in the communication unit during the group communication in the storage unit, and the group communication Is completed, the presence / absence of information transmission from the own apparatus is determined based on the communication information stored in the storage unit.
The control unit may determine that there is no information transmission from the own device when the information transmitted from the own device is not included in the communication information stored in the storage unit.
The communication information may include a sender name indicating a sender of information during group communication, the storage unit may store a user name of the own device, and the control unit may include the communication information. If the user name is not included in the sender name in the list, it may be determined that there is no information transmission from the own device.

  The data representing the sender name in the communication information may have a data length limited to a predetermined value or less, and the control unit may store the data length of the user name stored in the storage unit as the predetermined value. If it is longer, it may be determined whether or not the user name is included in the communication information, depending on whether or not a sender name that matches the user name is included in the communication information.

Preferably, the communication device according to the first aspect includes a storage unit, and the control unit causes the storage unit to store information related to an instruction input in the input unit regarding the group communication being executed, When the group communication ends, it is determined whether or not an instruction is input to the input unit regarding the group communication based on information stored in the storage unit.
When the information stored in the storage unit includes a response instruction to a start notification of group communication or information regarding an instruction input during group communication, the control unit includes the input unit regarding the group communication. It may be determined that an instruction has been input.

The control unit automatically terminates the group communication when a predetermined condition is established during group communication, and the terminated group communication is automatically started, and the communication unit relates to the group communication. In the case where there is no information transmission from the own device or an instruction input in the input unit, the notification unit may perform the notification.
The predetermined condition may be at least one of a case where a group communication end notification is received by the communication unit and a case where transmission / reception of information related to group communication is not performed for a predetermined time or more in the communication unit.

  When the plurality of group communications automatically started in response to the start notification are completed, the control unit transmits information from the own device in the communication unit or at least the input unit regarding at least one of the plurality of group communications. When there is no input of an instruction in, the notification may be performed by the notification unit.

  A communication device according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a communication unit that performs group communication, an input unit that inputs an instruction, a storage unit that stores information, a notification unit, and a start notification of group communication in the communication unit. When the communication is received, a group communication control unit that automatically starts group communication by the communication unit, and when the group communication control unit automatically starts group communication, transmission of data transmitted and received during the group communication Information related to a person and / or information related to an instruction input from the input unit during the group communication is stored in the storage unit, and when the automatically started group communication ends, participation in the group communication is performed. When the information to show is not memorize | stored in the said memory | storage part, the notification control part which alert | reports reception of the said start notification by the said alerting | reporting part is provided.

  A third aspect of the present invention relates to a server apparatus that communicates with a plurality of communication apparatuses including the communication apparatus according to the first aspect or the second aspect described above and manages group communication. When this server apparatus is requested by one of the communication apparatuses to specify the other party to start group communication, the server apparatus transmits a notification of the start of the group communication to the specified other party communication apparatus, If there is a participation response from any of the communication devices in response to the start notification, the group communication is started. When the ongoing group communication is to be ended, the end notification is sent to the designated communication device of the other party. Send.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention includes a communication unit and an instruction input unit, and when the communication unit receives a group communication start notification, the communication unit performs group communication via a predetermined server device based on the start notification. The present invention relates to a communication control method in a communication apparatus that performs the above. In this communication control method, when the group communication is terminated without information transmission from the own device in the communication unit or an instruction input in the instruction input unit regarding the group communication started based on the start notification, Broadcast reception.

  According to the present invention, when the group communication such as PTT started in response to the start notification is completed, the start notification is received based on the presence of information transmission from the own device or an instruction input in the input unit. This can be notified appropriately.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The communication system according to the present embodiment includes, for example, communication devices 100-1 to 100-5 and a communication management device 200, as shown in FIG.

  The communication device 100-i (i indicates an integer from 1 to 5) is a wireless communication terminal such as a mobile phone, for example, and is connected to the communication network via the base stations (300-1, 300-2, 300-3). 300 is connected. In addition, the communication device 100-i performs data communication according to the control of the communication management device 200 connected to the communication network 300. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that group communication by PTT (push to talk) (hereinafter also referred to as PTT communication) is performed as an example. The data transmitted in the PTT communication includes, for example, data such as call voice, images, characters, and music.

  When performing the PTT communication, the communication device 100-i becomes an organizer's device (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an organizer terminal) that starts the PTT communication, or receives the PTT communication opening notification and performs the PTT communication. It becomes a device that participates in (hereinafter also referred to as a participant terminal).

  When the PTT communication is started by itself as an organizer terminal, the communication device 100-i first accesses the communication management device 200, and selects a plurality of destinations selected from an address book or the like stored in its storage unit. Specify and request to start PTT communication. When the communication management apparatus 200 that has received this request installs a PTT communication management site to be described later, the communication apparatus 100-i acquires information such as the network address and login ID of the installed site from the communication management apparatus 200. To do.

  On the other hand, when the communication device 100-i receives the PTT communication start notification sent from the communication management device 200, for example, the communication device 100-i confirms that the start notification has been received by a notification unit that generates an image, light, sound, vibration, or the like. Inform the user. At the time of this notification, for example, when an instruction to participate in PTT communication is input by a user's key operation or the like, the communication device 100-i transmits a response to the effect that it participates in PTT communication to the communication management device 200 and starts notification. The communication management site is accessed based on the information contained in PTT, and PTT communication is started as a participant terminal.

The communication management device 200 manages PTT group communication performed by the communication devices (100-1 to 100-5).
When the communication management device 200 receives the PTT communication start request issued from the organizer terminal, the communication management device 200 provides a site for PTT communication management on the communication management device 200 (or another server device on the network). This site requests management of information (telephone number, e-mail address, etc.) of each communication device participating in PTT communication, participation / exit of each communication device in / from PTT communication, transmission / reception of data between communication devices, and remarks Various management and control related to PTT communication, such as granting the right to speak to a communication device, is performed.

  When the communication management apparatus 200 establishes a PTT communication management site in response to a PTT communication start request, the communication management apparatus 200 transmits information on the site to the organizer terminal and each of the participant terminals specified in the PTT communication start request. To start notification of PTT communication. In order to participate in the PTT communication, the PTT communication start notification includes, for example, information on the host terminal of the PTT communication (telephone number, e-mail address, etc.), the network address of the above-mentioned PTT communication management site, and a login ID. Contains various information necessary for.

  When the communication management apparatus 200 transmits a PTT communication start notification to the participant terminal, the communication management apparatus 200 monitors a response from the participant terminal to the start notification, and a response to participate in the PTT communication from at least one participant terminal. Is received, PTT communication between the participant terminal and the organizer terminal is started.

  In one communication device that participates in PTT communication, if a speech request (data transmission request) is issued, for example, by pressing a PTT button, the communication management device 200 has no other communication device that is speaking (data transmitting). The right to speak (data transmission right) is granted to the one communication device. That is, data (call voice, text, etc.) sent from the one communication device is received and transmitted to other participating communication devices. If there is another communication device that is speaking, a rejection response is returned to the one communication device. When speech requests of several communication devices overlap, the priority order of each communication device is determined according to a predetermined rule (for example, the higher the ranking is for a terminal with a smaller number of speeches), and based on this, each communication device Give the right to speak in turn.

  When the communication management apparatus 200 receives the PTT communication end request issued by the organizer terminal, the communication management apparatus 200 transmits a PTT communication end notification to each participant terminal, and ends the PTT communication. In this case, the communication management apparatus 200 may transmit an end notification to not only the communication apparatus participating in the PTT communication but also the non-participating communication apparatus that has not returned a participation response to the PTT communication start notification.

  Next, a configuration example of the communication device will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the communication devices (100-1 to 100-5) according to the embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, communication apparatuses having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 may be collectively referred to as “communication apparatus 100”.
2 includes an antenna 101, a communication unit 102, a key input unit 103, an audio processing unit 104, a speaker 105, a microphone 106, a display unit 107, a storage unit 108, and a control unit. 110.

  The communication unit 102 performs wireless communication with base stations (300-1, 300-2, 300-3) connected to the communication network 300. For example, the communication unit 102 performs predetermined modulation processing on the transmission data supplied from the control unit 110 to convert it into a radio signal, and transmits it from the antenna 101. In addition, a predetermined demodulation process is performed on a radio signal from the base station received by the antenna 101 to convert it into reception data, which is output to the control unit 110.

  The key input unit 103 has keys to which various functions such as a power key, a call key, a numeric key, a character key, a direction key, a determination key, and a PTT button are assigned, and these keys are operated by the user. If it is, a signal corresponding to the operation content is generated and input to the control unit 110 as a user instruction.

  The audio processing unit 104 processes an audio signal output from the speaker 105 and an audio signal input from the microphone 106. That is, the audio signal input from the microphone 106 is subjected to signal processing such as amplification, analog-digital conversion, encoding, and the like, converted into digital audio data, and output to the control unit 110. Further, the audio data supplied from the control unit 110 is subjected to signal processing such as decoding, digital-analog conversion, amplification, etc., converted into an analog audio signal, and output to the speaker 105.

  The display unit 107 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 a video signal supplied from the control unit 110. For example, various information and images such as the telephone number of the callee at the time of outgoing call, the telephone number of the other party at the time of incoming call, the contents of received mail and outgoing mail, date, time, remaining battery level, standby screen, etc. are displayed.

  The storage unit 108 stores various data used for processing in the control unit 110. For example, a computer program provided in the control unit 110, an address book for managing personal information such as a telephone number or an email address of a communication partner, an audio file for playing a ring tone or an alarm sound, various setting data, a program Holds temporary data used in the process.

  The storage unit 108 includes an external data storage area AR1 in which access to an arbitrary program is permitted and an application area AR2 in which access to a specific application program is permitted. For example, an application program (hereinafter referred to as a PTT application) that executes processing related to PTT communication stores data such as an incoming history that needs to be stored even after the program ends in a dedicated area in the application area AR2.

  The storage unit 108 is configured by, for example, a non-volatile storage device (non-volatile semiconductor memory, hard disk device, optical disk device, etc.), a randomly accessible storage device (eg, SRAM, DRAM), or the like.

The control unit 110 comprehensively controls the overall operation of the communication device 100. That is, various processes of the communication device 100 (voice communication performed via a circuit switching network, PTT group communication, creation and transmission / reception of e-mail, browsing of Internet websites, etc.) according to operation of the key input unit 103 The operations of each unit described above (transmission / reception of signals in the communication unit 102, input / output of audio in the audio processing unit 104, display of images on the display unit 107, etc.) are controlled so as to be executed in an appropriate procedure.
For example, the control unit 110 includes a computer that executes processing based on a program (operating system, application, etc.) stored in the storage unit 108, and executes the above-described processing according to a procedure instructed by the program.

  The control unit 110 automatically starts the PTT application when the communication unit 102 receives a PTT communication start notification, and performs the following operation according to a preset operation mode (manual response mode, automatic response mode). Process.

<Manual response mode>
When the manual response mode is set, the control unit 110 waits for an instruction to start PTT communication to be input from the key input unit 103 in the activated PTT application. When this instruction is input, the control unit 110 causes the communication unit 102 to execute a PTT communication start process. That is, a response to participate in the PTT communication is transmitted from the communication unit 102 to the communication management apparatus 200, and the site installed by the communication management apparatus 200 is accessed based on the information included in the start notification to start the PTT communication. .

  On the other hand, when the start instruction is not input within the predetermined time, the control unit 110 ends the activated PTT application and does not respond to the start notification of the PTT communication (that is, there is a missed call of PTT). Flag data (fg = '1') indicating that the data is stored in the external data storage area AR1 of the storage unit 108.

  When the control unit 110 stores flag data (fg = '1') indicating that it has not responded to the PTT start notification in the external data storage area AR1, the information related to the PTT communication is set as “missed call history”. Save in the application area AR2. The missed call history includes, for example, information on the organizer terminal and participant terminals (name, telephone number, etc.) and information on the transmission date and time of the start notification.

<Auto answer mode>
When the automatic response mode is set, the control unit 110 executes the PTT communication start process by the communication unit 102 regardless of the presence / absence of an instruction input from the key input unit 103. That is, a response to participate in the PTT communication is transmitted from the communication unit 102 to the communication management apparatus 200, and the site installed by the communication management apparatus 200 is accessed based on the information included in the start notification to start the PTT communication. .

When the PTT communication is started in the automatic response mode, the control unit 110 stores information transmitted / received in the communication unit 102 in the application area AR2 of the storage unit 108 as a communication log. The information stored as the communication log is mainly communication information with the communication management apparatus 200 and communication information with other communication apparatuses that perform PTT communication via the communication management apparatus 200. For example, the sender name of the PTT communication, The transmission data (character data, etc.) is included.
Further, in this case, the control unit 110 stores information regarding an instruction input to the key input unit 103 in relation to the PTT communication being executed as a key operation log in the application area AR2 of the storage unit 108. The key operation log includes, for example, information indicating which key of the key input unit 103 has been operated during PTT communication.

  When a predetermined condition is satisfied during the PTT communication automatically started in the automatic response mode, the control unit 110 automatically ends the PTT communication. For example, when the communication unit 102 receives an end notification of PTT communication sent from the communication management apparatus 200, or when the communication unit 102 does not transmit or receive information related to PTT communication for a predetermined time or more, the PTT communication is performed. Auto end.

  When the automatically started PTT communication is automatically ended, the control unit 110 determines whether or not there has been information transmission from the own apparatus regarding the PTT communication based on the communication log stored in the application area AR2.

  For example, the control unit 110 selects, from the communication log, a sender name that matches the user name of the own device stored in the storage unit 108 (such as a user name of the user of the own device notified to other communication devices). If no match is found, it is determined that there is no information transmission from the own device.

  Taking a chat with text as an example, the communication log in this case includes, for example, “sender name”, “> (separator)”, “sentence content”, “line feed code” as shown in the screen L2 of FIG. The data is recorded in the order of "." The control unit 110 extracts a character string sandwiched between “> (separator)” and “line feed code” in the communication log in the above format as a transmission name, and the user name of the own device is It is determined whether or not they match.

  When the data length of the sender name is longer than a predetermined value, for example, only the head part of the sender name is recorded in the communication log. As described above, when the data length of the “sender name” in the communication log is limited to a predetermined value or less and the data length of the user name of the own device is longer than the predetermined value, the control unit 110 automatically It is determined whether the sender name that matches the user name of the device is included in the communication log. For example, when the number of characters of “sender name” is limited to 8 characters or less in the communication log and the user name of the own device is 10 characters, the control unit 110 corresponds to the first eight characters of the user name of the own device. It is determined whether “sender name” that matches the character string is included in the communication log.

  Further, when the automatically started PTT communication ends, the control unit 110 determines whether or not an instruction is input to the key input unit 103 related to the PTT communication based on the key operation log stored in the application area AR2. judge. For example, an operation of scrolling the screen of the display unit 107 to read the content posted by the sender of the PTT communication, an operation of enlarging an image posted in the PTT communication on the display unit 107, and the like are recorded in the key operation log. If there is, the control unit 110 determines that an instruction related to PTT communication has been input.

  As a result of the above determination, if there is no information transmission from the own device and no instruction is input to the key operation unit 103, the control unit 110 has not responded to the start notification of PTT communication (that is, the PTT communication). Flag data (fg = '1') indicating that there was a missed call) is stored in the external data storage area AR1 of the storage unit 108.

Note that when the PTT communication is automatically executed in the automatic response mode, another communication start notification may be received by the communication unit 102. In such a case, the control unit 110 may continue the previous PTT communication without responding to the subsequent PTT communication, or interrupt the previous PTT communication and automatically start the subsequent PTT communication. May be.
When the subsequent PTT communication is automatically started, the control unit 110 performs the above-described determination for the PTT communication at the end of the subsequent PTT communication, and performs the same determination for the interrupted PTT communication. When it is determined that there is no information transmission from the own apparatus and no instruction input to the key input unit 103 in any one of the two PTT communications, the flag data (fg = ' 1 ′) is stored in the external data storage area AR1 of the storage unit.
The same applies to the case where three or more PTT communications are executed in the automatic response mode, and it is determined that there is no information transmission from the own apparatus and no instruction input to the key input unit 103 in any one of the PTT communications. In this case, the control unit 110 stores flag data (fg = '1') indicating that there was a PTT missed call in the external data storage area AR1 of the storage unit 108.

  When the control unit 110 stores flag data (fg = '1') indicating that it did not respond to the PTT start notification in the external data storage area AR1, the absence of the transmission source as in the manual response mode. The incoming call history is stored in the application area AR2.

  After performing the above-described determination, flag data storage, and missed call history storage, the control unit 110 ends the PTT application, for example, an application program for displaying a standby screen (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a standby application), etc. Run another application program.

  The above is description of the process of the control part 110 in a manual response mode and an automatic response mode.

  When the PTT application has not been started (for example, when a standby application is being executed), the control unit 110 has not responded to the PTT start notification based on the flag data fg stored in the external data storage area AR1. Information to be displayed (hereinafter referred to as missed call notification) is displayed on the display unit 107. For example, when flag data fg having a value “1” is stored in the external data storage area AR1, the control unit 110 displays a message such as “PTT incoming” on the standby screen.

  When an operation for confirming the missed call history is performed on the key input unit 103 in response to the missed call notification, the control unit 110 stops displaying the missed call notification on the display unit 107. For example, there are the following two methods for confirming the missed call history.

In the first method, a predetermined instruction (first activation instruction) is input from the key input unit 103 to activate the PTT application, and the missed call history display process is automatically executed in the activated PTT application.
That is, when the PTT application is activated in response to the first activation instruction, the control unit 110 automatically reads the missed call history from the application area AR2 in the activated PTT application and displays it on the display unit 107.
For example, when displaying a missed call notification such as “PTT incoming” on the screen of the display unit 107, the control unit 110 displays a button representing a specific key of the key input unit 103 on the same screen (for example, FIG. 5). “OK” button in the screen L3 of FIG. When this screen is displayed, when the specific key is pressed by the user, the control unit 110 activates the PTT application, and automatically displays a missed call history screen in the activated PTT application.

On the other hand, in the second method, after a PTT application is activated by inputting a predetermined activation instruction (second activation instruction) from the key input unit 103, a predetermined instruction is further input to the key input unit in the activated PTT application. By inputting from 103, a missed call history display process is executed.
That is, the control unit 110 activates the missed call history from the application area AR2 when a predetermined instruction is further input to the key input unit 103 after starting the PTT application in response to the second start instruction input to the key input unit. The data is read out and displayed on the display unit 107.
For example, when a predetermined key (menu key) of the key input unit 103 is pressed while the standby screen is displayed, the control unit 110 displays a menu screen for selecting various functions on the display unit 107. When the key input unit 103 is operated so as to select the PTT application from the menu screen, the control unit 110 determines this as the above-described second activation instruction and activates the PTT application. When the control unit 110 receives the second start instruction and starts the PTT application, the control unit 110 displays a menu screen for selecting a more detailed function related to PTT communication on the display unit 107. When the key input unit 103 is operated so as to display the missed call history from the menu screen, the control unit 110 reads the missed call history from the application area AR2 and displays it on the display unit 107.

  When the PTT application is activated and the missed call history is displayed by the method as described above, the control unit 110 changes the value of the flag data fg stored in the application area AR2 from “1” to “0”. When the value of the flag data fg is not “1” when the PTT application ends and returns to the standby application, the control unit 110 determines that there is no PTT missed call, and the absence in the display unit 107 Stop displaying incoming notifications.

  The control part 110 mentioned above has the group communication control part 111 and the alerting | reporting control part 112 as a block relevant to PTT communication, for example.

  The group communication control unit 111 is a block for performing processing related to group communication. For example, the group communication control unit 111 performs processing related to the start and end of PTT communication in the automatic response mode described above. That is, when the communication unit 102 receives a PTT communication start notification in the automatic response mode, the communication unit 102 automatically starts PTT communication.

  The notification control unit 112 performs processing related to notification of a missed incoming call of the PTT. That is, when the group communication control unit 111 automatically starts PTT communication in the automatic response mode, information (communication log) regarding the sender of data transmitted and received during the PTT communication, and the key input unit 103 during the PTT communication. The information (key operation log) related to the instruction input from is stored in the storage unit 108. When the information indicating participation in the group communication is not stored in the storage unit 108 when the group communication is completed, a missed call notification is displayed on the display unit 107.

  Here, the operation of the communication apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of starting the PTT application from the standby state.

When the communication apparatus is turned on, control unit 110 activates a standby application (step ST100).
The control unit 110 checks the value of the flag data fg stored in the external data storage area AR1 in the activated standby application (step ST101). When the value of the flag data fg is “1”, the control unit 110 determines that an unanswered PTT start notification has been received, and displays a missed call notification on the screen of the display unit 107 (step ST103). On the other hand, if the value of the flag data fg is “0”, the missed call notification is erased from the screen of the display unit 107 (step ST104).

When the communication unit 102 receives a PTT communication start notification during execution of the standby application (step ST105), the control unit 110 sets the standby application to the suspended state and starts the PTT application (step ST200).
When an operation for displaying the PTT incoming history is performed on the key input unit 102 during execution of the standby application (step ST106), the control unit 110 activates the PTT application and displays the PTT incoming history. It displays on the screen of the display part 107 (step ST300). When the missed call history is displayed on this screen, the control unit 110 sets the value of the flag data fg stored in the external data storage area AR1 to “0”.
When the display of the PTT incoming history is completed, the control unit 110 ends the PTT application, and activates the standby application set in the suspended state again.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the communication apparatus when the PTT application is automatically activated in response to reception of the PTT communication start notification.

  When the communication unit 102 receives the PTT communication start notification, the control unit 110 automatically activates the PTT application and executes a PTT incoming notification operation (step ST201). For example, a message for informing the arrival of PTT is displayed on the screen of the display unit 107 or a sound is generated in the speaker 105 to notify that the start notification of PTT communication has been received.

Next, control unit 110 determines whether the operation mode is the automatic response mode or the manual response mode (step ST202).
In the manual response mode, control unit 110 monitors whether or not a predetermined key (PTT communication start button) provided on key input unit 103 has been pressed (step ST203). If the start button is not pressed within a predetermined time, the control unit 110 determines that a participation instruction for PTT communication has not been input (step ST204), and sets the flag data fg in the external data storage area AR1 to “1” (step ST204). ST211), the PTT application is terminated.

  On the other hand, in the automatic response mode, control unit 110 executes a PTT communication start process regardless of whether or not there is an operation on key input unit 103 (step ST205). That is, a response to participate in the PTT communication is transmitted to the communication management apparatus 200, and the PTT communication management site is logged in based on the information included in the received notification of the start of the PTT communication. Start.

  During execution of the PTT communication process (step ST206), the control unit 110 monitors transmission / reception of information related to PTT communication and operations on the key input unit 103, and stores the logs (communication log, key operation log). 108 is stored.

  Further, the control unit 110 monitors whether an operation on the key input unit 103 or information transmission / reception in the communication unit 102 is performed within a predetermined time (step ST207), and no key operation or information transmission / reception is performed for a predetermined time or more. If it is determined, the PTT communication end process is executed (step ST208). The PTT communication process is also ended when a PTT communication end notification is received from the communication management apparatus 200 or when a PTT communication end instruction is input through the key input unit 103.

When communication processing ends, control section 110 determines whether information indicating that information transmission from the own apparatus has been included in the communication log of storage section 108 (step ST209). If the information transmission information from the own device is not included, the control unit 110 determines whether information indicating that a key operation related to PTT communication has been performed is included in the key operation log of the storage unit 108. (Step ST210). When the key operation information related to PTT communication is not included, the control unit 110 sets the flag data fg of the external data storage area AR1 to “1” (step ST211), and ends the PTT application.
When information on information transmission from the own device is included in the communication log, or when key operation information related to PTT communication is included in the key operation log, the control unit 110 changes the value of the flag data fg. Quit the PTT app without doing so.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of screen transition of the display unit 107 in the automatic response mode.
When the communication unit 102 receives a PTT start notification during standby (screen L1), the PTT application is automatically activated to start PTT communication. In the PTT communication, for example, as shown on the screen L2, the sender name and the posted content are displayed on the screen of the display unit 107.

When the PTT communication ends, the control unit 110 determines whether information indicating participation in the PTT communication is included in the communication log or the key operation log in the storage unit 108. As a result of this determination, if information indicating participation is not included, a missed call notification (“with PTT communication”) is displayed on the standby screen L3 after the end of the PTT application.
The missed call notification is not deleted even if an interrupt process is generated by another application program that is not a PTT application, and continues to be displayed on the standby screen.
On the other hand, when a predetermined key of the key input unit 203 corresponding to the display of “OK” on the screen L3 is pressed, the PTT application is activated and the missed call history is displayed. When the display returns to the standby screen after this display, the missed call notification (“with PTT communication”) is deleted from the screen of the display unit 107.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the PTT communication automatically started in response to the start notification is completed, information transmission from the own device in the communication unit 102 or instruction input in the key input unit 103 is performed. Based on the presence / absence of this, it is possible to appropriately notify the user that an unanswered PTT communication start notification has been received (there is a PTT missed call).
That is, when a record indicating information transmission from the own device is not included in the communication log, or when a record indicating an instruction input in the key input unit 103 is not included in the key operation log, the user does not participate in the PTT communication. Since it can be determined that the user is not involved and that the user has not recognized that the PTT communication has started, in such a case, the fact that there is a missed call of the PTT is notified (for example, displayed on the display unit 107) ) Can effectively avoid a situation in which the user is completely unaware of the presence of a missed call of PTT. In addition, when a record indicating information transmission from the own device is included in the communication log, or when a record indicating input of an instruction in the key input unit 103 is included in the key operation log, the user performs PTT communication. Since it can be determined that the user is aware that the PTT communication has been started, it is possible to avoid unnecessary notification by avoiding notification of a missed call in such a case. .

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described so far, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which a message such as “PTT incoming” is displayed on the screen of the display unit 107 when notifying a missed call is given, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a missed call may be notified by sound generated in the speaker 105, vibration generated by a vibration unit (not shown), light generated by a light emission unit (not shown), or the like.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, the determination process (steps ST209 and ST210) based on the communication log and the key operation log is performed after the PTT communication process (step ST206) is completed, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the PTT communication is terminated by the user's operation at the key input unit 103, it can be determined that the user clearly recognizes the PTT communication. Therefore, the control unit 110 does not perform the determination process (steps ST209 and ST210). The PTT application may be terminated.

  The communication log and key operation log may be recorded only in the automatic response mode, or may be recorded in another operation mode.

  In the above-described embodiment, PTT is given as an example of group communication, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to other various group communications.

  All of the functions of the components of the communication apparatus described above may be realized by software, or at least a part thereof may be realized by hardware. For example, the processing in the control unit 110 and the data processing in the communication unit 102 and the audio processing unit 104 may be realized on a computer by one or a plurality of programs, or at least a part thereof may be realized by hardware. good.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the communication apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation | movement which starts a PTT application from a standby state. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example of a communication apparatus when a PTT application starts automatically according to reception of the start notification of PTT communication. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen transition of the display part in automatic response mode.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Antenna, 102 ... Communication part, 103 ... Key input part, 104 ... Sound processing part, 105 ... Speaker, 106 ... Microphone, 107 ... Display part, 108 ... Memory | storage part, 110 ... Control part, 111 ... Group communication control part 112 ... Notification control unit, 100, 100-1 to 100-5 ... Communication terminal, 200 ... Communication management device, 300 ... Communication network

Claims (15)

A communication unit that performs group communication, an input unit that inputs an instruction, a notification unit, and a group communication by the communication unit via a predetermined server device based on the start notification when the communication unit receives a group communication start notification. In a communication device including a control unit that performs communication,
When the group communication started based on the received start notification is completed, the control unit, when there is no information transmission from the own device by the communication unit or input of an instruction in the input unit during the started group communication Is notified by the notification unit. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit causes the notification unit to notify that the start notification has been received but a response instruction to the start notification has not been input in the input unit. . When the communication unit receives the start notification, the control unit can automatically start the group communication by the communication unit even if there is no instruction input in the input unit. The communication apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. A storage unit,
The control unit stores communication information transmitted / received in the communication unit during the group communication in the storage unit, and when the group communication is completed, from the own device based on the communication information stored in the storage unit. The presence or absence of information transmission is determined. The communication apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The communication according to claim 4, wherein the control unit determines that there is no information transmission from the own device when the information transmitted from the own device is not included in the communication information stored in the storage unit. apparatus. The communication information includes a sender name indicating a sender of information during group communication,
The storage unit stores a user name of the own device,
The communication unit according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the control unit determines that there is no information transmission from the own device when the user name is not included in a sender name in the communication information. apparatus. The data representing the sender name in the communication information, the data length is limited to a predetermined value or less,
When the data length of the user name stored in the storage unit is longer than the predetermined value, the control unit determines whether or not a sender name that matches the user name in front is included in the communication information. The communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein it is determined whether or not the user name is included in the communication information. A storage unit,
The control unit causes the storage unit to store information related to an instruction input in the input unit with respect to the group communication being executed, and when the group communication ends, the group is based on the information stored in the storage unit. The communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether an instruction is input to the input unit regarding communication. When the information stored in the storage unit includes a response instruction to a start notification of group communication or information regarding an instruction input during group communication, the control unit includes the input unit regarding the group communication. The communication apparatus according to claim 8, wherein it is determined that an instruction is input to the communication apparatus. The control unit automatically terminates the group communication when a predetermined condition is established during group communication, and the terminated group communication is automatically started, and the communication unit relates to the group communication. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the notification is performed by the notification unit when there is no information transmission from the own device or an instruction input at the input unit. The predetermined condition is at least one of a case where an end notification of group communication is received in the communication unit and a case where transmission / reception of information related to group communication is not performed for a predetermined time or more in the communication unit. The communication device according to claim 10. When the plurality of group communications automatically started in response to the start notification are completed, the control unit transmits information from the own device in the communication unit or at least the input unit regarding at least one of the plurality of group communications. The communication apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the notification is performed by the notification unit when there is no input in the instruction. A communication unit for group communication;
An input unit for inputting instructions;
A storage unit for storing information;
A notification unit;
A group communication control unit that automatically starts group communication by the communication unit upon receipt of a group communication start notification in the communication unit;
When the group communication control unit automatically starts group communication, information on a sender of data transmitted and received during the group communication and / or information about an instruction input from the input unit during the group communication When the group communication that is stored in the storage unit and automatically started is terminated, when the information indicating participation in the group communication is not stored in the storage unit, the notification of the start notification is received from the notification unit. A communication device comprising: a notification control unit that performs notification. A server device that communicates with a plurality of communication devices including the communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 13 and manages group communication,
When the other party is designated by one of the communication devices and the start of group communication is requested, the group communication start notification is transmitted to the designated partner communication device, and the start notification is If there is a response for participation from any of the communication devices, the group communication is started, and when ending the currently held group communication, an end notification is transmitted to the designated communication device of the other party. A server device as a feature. A communication control method in a communication apparatus comprising a communication unit and an instruction input unit, wherein when the communication unit receives a group communication start notification, the communication unit performs group communication via the predetermined server device based on the start notification. There,
Regarding the group communication started based on the start notification, when the group communication ends without information transmission from the own device in the communication unit or an instruction input in the instruction input unit, the reception of the start notification is notified. A communication control method.

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