JP2010035226A - Media conversion system, media conversion method, media conversion program and call control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To interconnect communication terminals with each other by performing media conversion while identifying communication media being adopted to transmission source and destination communication terminals between the communication terminals performing media communication. <P>SOLUTION: A media conversion system includes: a means for storing information on corresponding communication media by network; a means for identifying, when a call control signal is given from a communication terminal, the communication media being adopted for the communication terminal on the basis of a network to which the communication terminal belongs; a data receiving means for receiving data from communication terminals; a means for converting reception data into media data corresponding to communication media being adopted in a second communication terminal, in accordance with the identified communication media, if the reception data are media data transmitted from a first communication terminal to the second communication terminal; and a means for transmitting the converted media data toward the second communication terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a media conversion system, a media conversion method, a media conversion program, and a call control device, and can be applied to, for example, a gateway that connects a plurality of networks to each other.

  There are many types of communication media such as IP phones, videophones, and instant messages that exchange messages by text on the network. When sending or receiving media data, media conversion is performed according to the communication partner. An apparatus for performing has been proposed.

  The communication terminal device described in Patent Document 1, for example, converts a voice signal from a certain call partner into text and displays it to a user, and synthesizes voice from the contents of text input by the user of the device using a keyboard or the like. By transmitting an audio signal to the other party, it is possible to make a call with another party at the same time by voice call or videophone.

  In addition, the media conversion device described in Patent Document 2 is a server for streaming delivery of content such as video via a network, according to the bandwidth of the network to which each client terminal connected to the server is connected. A communication medium having an appropriate bit rate is identified, and the medium is converted and distributed.

JP 2006-210773 A JP 2006-060802 A

  There are cases in which IP telephone carriers and Internet connection providers are connected to each other, and there are communication media to be employed (for example, there are a plurality of voice encoding methods and compression methods even with the same IP phone communication media). When interconnecting different networks, there is a case where a gateway for media conversion is arranged at the boundary of the network, and terminals between the networks are interconnected.

  However, in the devices of Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2, when a terminal transmits or receives media data, the communication media of the conversion source and the conversion destination are identified and media conversion is performed. This method is applied to an intermediate device for interconnecting terminals such as a gateway, and there is a problem that it is impossible to identify and convert the communication media employed by the source and destination terminals.

  Therefore, in the middle of the communication terminals that perform media communication, the communication media employed by the media data transmission source and destination communication terminals are identified, media conversion is performed as necessary, and the communication terminals are interconnected. A media conversion system, a media conversion method, a media conversion program, and a call control device are desired.

The media conversion system of the first aspect of the present invention includes (1) data receiving means for receiving data from a communication terminal, and (2) data received by the data receiving means from the first communication terminal is the first Communication signal employed for media communication in the first communication terminal based on the content of the call control signal when the call control signal is for calling from the communication terminal to the second communication terminal. (3) the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal belong to any one of a plurality of networks, and belong to the same network. The terminal employs the same communication media, and (4) a network-adopted communication media information storage unit that stores information related to the communication media employed in each network. If, (5) the data receiving unit, when the data received from the first communication terminal, a SIP of INVITE signal for calling from the first communication terminal to said second communication terminal identifies the network where the the contents of the INVITE signal second communication terminal belongs, from the information stored in said network employing communications media information storage means, is employed in a network the second communication terminal belongs A second communication medium identifying means for searching for a communication medium that has been detected and identifying the detected communication medium as a communication medium employed in the second communication terminal; and (6) the data receiving means comprises the first communication medium; when the data received from the communication terminal is the INVITE signal to the call from the first communication terminal to said second communication terminal Were identified by the second communication medium identification means, a call for transmitting said a second INVITE signal to call the media communication using the communication medium being employed in the communication terminal, to the second communication terminal And (7) received data received by the data receiving means is media data for media communication transmitted from one of the first communication terminal or the second communication terminal to the other. In this case, according to the communication media identified by the first communication media identification means and the second communication media identification means, the media data is the media data corresponding to the communication media adopted in the destination communication terminal. And (8) the media data converted by the media conversion unit is converted into a destination communication terminal. You further comprising a data transmitting means for transmitting towards the end.

In the media conversion method of the second aspect of the present invention, (1) media data for media communication flowing between communication terminals is converted into media data corresponding to the communication media employed for the destination media communication; In a media conversion method for transmitting to a destination communication terminal, (2) data reception means, first communication media identification means, network adopted communication media information storage means, second communication media identification means, call control means, media conversion And (3) the data receiving means receives data from the communication terminal, and (4) the first communication media identifying means is configured such that the data receiving means is the first communication terminal. When the data received from the first communication terminal is a call control signal for making a call from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, it is based on the content of the call control signal. And (5) the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal belong to any one of a plurality of networks. The communication terminals belonging to the same network have the same communication media employed. (6) The network adoption communication media information storage means stores information relating to the communication media employed in each network. (7) The second communication media identifying means is for the data receiving means to call the data received from the first communication terminal from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal. of in the case of the SIP INVITE signal, it identifies the network that the the contents of the INVITE signal second communication terminal belongs, the network From the information stored in the workpiece adopting the communication medium information storage unit, it searches the communication media which the second communication terminal is employed in a network belongs, the detected communication media, is adopted in the second communication terminal and MEDIA identify that, (8) the call control means, said data receiving means, data received from the first communication terminal, originating from the first communication terminal to said second communication terminal If it is INVITE signal to the call, identified by the second communication medium identification means, an INVITE signal to call the media communication using the communication medium adopted in the second communication terminal And (9) the media conversion means sends the received data received by the data receiving means to the first communication terminal. In the case of media data for media communication transmitted from one of the terminal or the second communication terminal to the other, the first communication media identifying means and the second communication media identifying means identify According to the communication media, the media data is converted into media data corresponding to the communication media adopted in the destination communication terminal. (10) The data transmission means is the media converted by the media conversion means. data, you and transmits toward the destination communication terminal.

A media conversion program according to a third aspect of the present invention includes: (1) data receiving means for receiving data from a communication terminal; and (2) data received from the first communication terminal by the data receiving means. When it is a call control signal for making a call from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, it is employed for media communication in the first communication terminal based on the content of the call control signal. (3) The first communication terminal and the second communication terminal belong to one of a plurality of networks and belong to the same network. The communication terminals employed are the same as the communication media employed, and (4) a network that stores information relating to the communication media employed in each of the networks described above. A communication medium information storage unit, (5) the data receiving means, the data received from the first communication terminal, the first from the communication terminal to call to said second communication terminal SIP INVITE when a signal, that the the contents of the INVITE signal second communication terminal identifies the network belonging, from the information stored in said network employing communications media information storage means, said second communication terminal belongs A second communication medium identifying means for searching for a communication medium employed in the network and identifying the detected communication medium as a communication medium employed in the second communication terminal; (6) the data receiving means; iN of but data received from the first communication terminal, for a call from the first communication terminal to said second communication terminal If it is ITE signals, said identified by the second communication medium identification means, an INVITE signal to call the media communication using the communication medium adopted in the second communication terminal, the second And (7) media communication in which received data received by the data receiving means is transmitted from one of the first communication terminal or the second communication terminal to the other. In the case of media data to be transmitted, the media data is adopted in the destination communication terminal according to the communication media identified by the first communication media identification means and the second communication media identification means. Media converting means for converting into media data corresponding to communication media; and (8) media converted by the media converting means. The data, as a data transmitting means for transmitting to the destination communication terminal, characterized in that to further function.

The call control device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is (1) when the data received from the first communication terminal is a call control signal for making a call from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal. And a first communication medium identifying means for identifying a communication medium employed for media communication in the first communication terminal based on the content of the call control signal, and (2) the first communication terminal And the second communication terminal belongs to one of a plurality of networks, and the communication terminals belonging to the same network have the same communication media, and (3) is adopted in each network. (4) data received from the first communication terminal is stored in the second communication from the first communication terminal; If it is the SIP INVITE signal to the call to end, from the information that the contents of the INVITE signal identifies the network where the second communication terminal belongs, stored in the network employing communications media information storage means Second communication media identification for searching for communication media employed in the network to which the second communication terminal belongs and identifying the detected communication media as communication media employed in the second communication terminal And (5) the second communication medium when the data received from the first communication terminal is an INVITE signal for calling from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal. To call media communication using the communication medium adopted in the second communication terminal identified by the identification means The INVITE signal, the call control means for transmitting to the second communication terminal, (6) an identification result of the first communication medium identification means and said second communication medium identification means, to the outside of the media conversion apparatus it further comprising a communication medium information transmitting means for providing.

  According to the present invention, in the middle of communication terminals that perform media communication, the communication media employed in the communication terminal of the transmission source and the destination of the media data are identified, and the media conversion is performed between the communication terminals as necessary. Can be interconnected.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure inside the media conversion apparatus 10 of 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing, such as a connection relation of the various apparatuses relevant to 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing shown about the information memorize | stored in the media information storage part of 1st Embodiment. It is the flowchart explaining the example of the operation | movement of the media conversion of the received packet in the media conversion apparatus of 1st Embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation of updating a media information storage unit in the call control device according to the first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure inside the media converter of 2nd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing shown about the information memorize | stored in the encoding format information storage part of 2nd Embodiment. It is the sequence diagram explaining the operation | movement of the update of a media information storage part in the call control apparatus of 2nd Embodiment.

(A) First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a media conversion system, a media conversion method, a media conversion program, and a call control device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(A-1) Configuration of First Embodiment FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the connection relationship of various devices related to this embodiment.

  The IP network 20 is a network for IP communication. For example, here, there are two IP networks 20-1 and 20-2, and each employs TCP / IP, which is set up by different telecommunications companies to provide services such as IP telephones and Internet connection to customers. Suppose it is a network.

  The media conversion system 10 is disposed at the boundary between the IP network 20-1 and the IP network 20-2, and performs media conversion necessary for communication between the IP network 20-1 and the IP network 20-2.

  The IP telephone terminal 30 is a telephone terminal for using an IP telephone, and is connected to the IP network 20-1 or the IP network 20-2. Here, there are two IP telephone terminals 30-1 and 30-2, the IP telephone terminal 30-1 is connected to the IP network 20-1, and the IP telephone terminal 30-2 is connected to the IP network 20-2. Shall be connected to

  The PC terminal 40 is a terminal for performing WEB browsing, data transfer, and the like, and is connected to the IP network 20-1 or the IP network 20-2. Here, there are two PC terminals 40-1 and 40-2, the PC terminal 40-1 is connected to the IP network 20-1, and the PC terminal 40-2 is connected to the IP network 20-2. And

  The control signal packet 50 is, for example, SIP (Session Initiation Protocol, IETF RFC3261) or H.264. 323 (ITU-T H.323) or the like is a control protocol packet that controls media communication based on ITU-T H.323. Here, the control signal packet 50 communicates media such as voice between the IP telephone terminals 30, for example. It is assumed that the SIP control signal is used for channel connection.

  The media data signal packet 60 is a packet having media data for media communication between terminals. For example, the media data signal packet 60 is a data signal conforming to a packet format defined for each encoding format. Here, the media data signal packet 60 is, for example, a packet compliant with the standard of RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol, RFC3551). Here, in the IP network 20-1, a signal used for communication between the media conversion system 10 and the IP telephone terminal 30-1 is represented as a media data signal packet 60-1. In the IP network 20-2, a signal used for communication between the media conversion system 10 and the IP telephone terminal 30-2 is represented as a media data signal packet 60-2. In addition, the media data signal packet 60-1 and the media data signal packet 60-2 are of different formats, and the media conversion system 10 performs communication between the IP network 20-1 and the IP network 20-2. It is assumed that the media data signal packet 60-1 and the media data signal packet 60-2 are converted bidirectionally.

  The non-media data signal packet 70 is a packet that is transmitted and received between the IP network 20-1 and the IP network 20-2 via the media conversion system 10, and includes the control signal packet 50 and the media data signal described above. It is assumed that the packet does not correspond to any of the packets 60. Examples of the non-media data signal packet 70 include a file transfer packet that is not controlled by the call control device 12 between the PC terminal 40-1 and the PC terminal 40-2.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the media conversion system 10.

  The media conversion system 10 includes a media conversion device 11 and a call control device 12.

In FIG. 1 described above, the media conversion system is configured to have two devices, a media conversion device and a call control device. However, the media conversion system 10 includes programs such as a CPU, ROM, RAM, EEPROM, and hard disk. And an apparatus having an interface for communicating with another apparatus (not limited to one, but may be configured to be capable of distributed processing of a plurality of apparatuses). It may be constructed by installing a media conversion program, and can be functionally represented by FIG. 1 described above.

  The call control device 12 performs call control between terminals in the IP network 20, and here it is assumed to perform call control between the IP telephone terminals 30.

  The call control device 12 has a media information storage unit 121.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing information stored in the media information storage unit 121.

  The media information storage unit 121 is a storage unit that stores information used for media conversion control in the media conversion system 10, and includes a session identifier 101, session identification information 102, a destination encoding format 103, and a transmission source encoding format 104. have.

  The session identifier 101 is an identifier for identifying media communication by the media data signal packet 60. For example, when identifying one voice call, information having the same identifier is a session related to the same voice call. Indicates that For example, when there is bidirectional communication for one session between the IP telephone terminals 30, the media information storage unit 121 stores one piece of information for one-way communication. As shown in FIG. A common session identifier 101 may be given to the two pieces of information.

  The session identification information 102 is used for identifying the destination side of a session in media communication using the media data signal packet 60, and includes information on a destination IP address 102a and a destination port number 102b. The destination IP address 102a indicates the IP address of the destination, and the destination port number 102b indicates the port number (for example, the port number in the IP / UDP layer) employed for communication with the destination of the session. .

  The destination encoding format 103 indicates the encoding format of the destination of the media packet that flows through the session in media communication using the media data signal packet 60. The transmission source encoding format 104 indicates the encoding format of the transmission source of the media packet flowing through the session. The destination encoding format 103 and the transmission source encoding format 104 are, for example, G. 722.1 (ITU-T G.722.1), G. Information indicating the type of encoding format such as 711 μ-law (ITU-T G.711) may be included.

  When the control signal packet 50 is given from the IP telephone terminal 30, the call control device 12 analyzes the content and updates the content of the media information storage unit 121.

  For example, if the call control device 12 is compatible with SIP, the content of a message (signaling) such as an INVITE message requesting session establishment in SIP is analyzed and adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30. The communication media may be identified, and the contents of the session identifier 101, the session identification information 102, the destination encoding format 103, and the transmission source encoding format 104 may be updated. For example, when the INVITE message is received as the control signal packet 50-1 from the IP telephone terminal 30-1, the IP address of the IP telephone terminal 30-1 and information on the communication medium to be used are acquired from the contents of the INVITE message. May be. When the call control device 12 transmits an INVITE message in which a communication medium not adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30-2 is transmitted as the control signal packet 50-2 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2, the IP telephone terminal 30 -2 returns a message indicating that communication cannot be performed (for example, “Not Acceptable”) and information related to the communication medium adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30-2 to the call control device 12, and the call control device 12 May acquire information related to the communication media employed by the IP telephone terminal 30-2 based on the returned information. Further, the communication port number adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30 for communication may be identified by analyzing the content of a response message (for example, “OK”) to the INVITE message.

  In addition, when the content of the media information storage unit 121 is updated, the call control device 12 gives the updated content to the media conversion device 11.

  Further, when adding information of the call control device 12, the call control device 12 may add information in only one direction for one session, or may add information in both directions at the same time. For example, when adding information with the IP telephone terminal 30-1 as the destination IP address 102a, information with the IP telephone terminal 30-2 as the communication partner as the destination IP address 102a may be added at the same time. In addition, after adding information in only one direction for one session, if the control signal packet 50 is given from the other IP telephone terminal 30 using the same session identifier 101, the registered information The content of the transmission source encoding format 104 may be applied as the destination encoding format 103, and information may be added to the media information storage unit 121.

  The media conversion device 11 converts the received media data signal packet 60 as necessary in the media conversion system 10 and transfers the packet to a transfer destination. The control unit 111, the packet switch unit 112, and the packet input / output unit 113. The media conversion unit 114 is included.

  The packet switch unit 112 has a function of transferring packets between the units in the media conversion device 11.

  The control unit 111 has a function of controlling the operation of each unit of the media conversion device 11. Further, when the information stored in the media information storage unit 121 is given from the call control device 12 to the control unit 111, the control unit 111 transfers the information to the packet input / output unit 113 and the media conversion unit 114.

  The packet input / output unit 113 has a packet transmission / reception function with the IP network 20 in the media conversion device 11. Here, two packet input / output units 113-1 and 113-2 are arranged in the media conversion device 11, and the packet input / output unit 113-1 is connected to the IP network 20-1, and the packet input / output unit It is assumed that 113-2 is connected to the IP network 20-2. When the media conversion device 11 is connected to three or more IP networks 20, the media conversion device 11 may have as many packet input / output units 113 as the number of the IP networks 20. A single packet input / output unit 113 may be configured to accommodate a plurality of IP networks 20.

  Further, the packet input / output unit 113 identifies the type of the received packet and transfers it to each unit in the media conversion device 11 according to the type. The packet input / output unit 113 identifies whether the received packet corresponds to the media data signal packet 60 or the non-media data signal packet 70. The packet input / output unit 113 can identify the type of the received packet, for example, by acquiring information in the media information storage unit 121 from the control unit 111 in advance, and the received packet matches the session identification information 102. For example, the media data signal packet 60 may be identified as corresponding. If the received packet does not correspond to the media data signal packet 60, it may be identified as corresponding to the non-media data signal packet 70.

  If the received packet is the media data signal packet 60, the packet input / output unit 113 transfers the received packet to the media conversion unit 114 via the packet switch unit 112. If the received packet is a non-media data signal packet 70, the received packet is transferred to the packet input / output unit 113 connected to the transfer destination IP network 20 via the packet switch unit 112. The transfer destination packet input / output unit 113 sends the transferred packet as it is to the transfer destination IP network 20. For example, when the packet input / output unit 113-1 receives a packet from the IP network 20-1, the packet is sent to the IP network 20-2 and is a non-media data signal packet 70. The received packet is transferred to the packet input / output unit 113-2. Then, the packet input / output unit 113-2 sends the transferred packet to the IP network 20-2.

  The media conversion unit 114 obtains the information transferred from the call control device 12 via the control unit 111 and stored in the media information storage unit 121 (see FIG. 3 described above) for the packet transferred from the packet input / output unit 113. ) Is converted into a media format suitable for the IP network 20 to which the packet is transferred, and transferred to the packet input / output unit 113 connected to the IP network 20 to which the packet is transferred.

  The media conversion unit 114 confirms whether the transferred packet corresponds to any of the session identification information 102, and performs media conversion according to the format indicated by the corresponding destination encoding format 103 and the transmission source encoding format 104. To the packet input / output unit 113 connected to the destination IP network 20.

(A-2) Operation of First Embodiment Next, the operation of media conversion of a received packet in the media conversion device 10 of the first embodiment having the above configuration will be described.

  Here, a case where media communication is started from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 of the IP network 20-1 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2 of the IP network 20-2 via the media conversion system 10 will be described as an example. .

Further, here, the IP address of the IP telephone terminal 30-1 is 10.0.0.1/24, and the employed communication media is G. It is assumed that the communication port adopted for 711 μ-law and media communication is 10001. The IP telephone terminal 30-2 has an IP address of 20.0.0.1/24. 722.1, and the communication port employed for media communication is 20001. It is assumed that the call control protocol used in the call control device 12 and the IP telephone terminal 30 is SIP. In the initial state, it is assumed that no information is stored in the media information storage unit 121.

(A-2-1) Call Control and Update of Media Information in Call Control Device FIG. 5 shows a call control device 12 when a call is made from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an update operation of the media information storage unit 121.

  First, an INVITE message is given as a control signal packet 50-1 from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 to the call control device 12. Here, the control signal packet 50-1 includes information about the communication medium (G.711 μ-law) and the port number (10001) as communication conditions adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30-1 (S3001).

  Next, the call control device 12 converts the content of the INVITE message of the control signal packet 50-1 given from the IP network 20-1 to the IP address and media communication of the IP telephone terminal 30-1 in step S3001 described above. Information on the port number to be adopted is acquired, and information matching the session identification information 102 (IP address 102a, destination port number 102b) is searched. Here, as described above, the information in the media information storage unit 121 is only one. Since no information is stored, the corresponding information cannot be detected (S3002).

  In step S3002, the media information storage unit 121 has information that matches the session identification information 102 (IP address 102a, destination port number 102b), and the communication medium (destination code) used by the IP telephone terminal 30-2. If information related to the conversion format 103 or the like can be acquired, steps S3003 to S3005, S3008, and S3009 described later may be omitted.

  Next, when the information corresponding to the IP telephone terminal 30-1 does not exist in the media information storage unit 121 in step S3002, the control signal packet 50-1 given from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 in step S3001. The same INVITE message (including information of communication media: G.711 μ-law, port number: 10001) is given from the call control device 12 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2 as the control signal packet 50-2. (S3003).

  Next, when the control signal packet 50-2 is given, in the IP telephone terminal 30-2, the employed communication media is G. Not G.711μ-law but G. 722.1, a message (Not Acceptable) indicating that communication with the IP telephone terminal 30-1 is impossible is returned to the call control device 12 as a control signal packet 50-2. At this time, the control signal packet 50-2 includes the communication media employed by the IP telephone terminal 30-2 as G.264. It is assumed that information indicating that the content is 722.1 is also included (S3004).

  Then, in the call control device 12, when the control signal packet 50-1 in step S3001 and the control signal packet 50-2 in step S3004 are given, the information in the media information storage unit 121 is updated. Is called.

  Here, from the content of the control signal packet 50-1 in step S3001 described above, the IP address (10.0.0.1) of the IP telephone terminal 30-1 and the communication medium (G.711 μ-law) employed for communication are used. And port number (10001) can be acquired. Further, it is possible to acquire information on the communication medium (G.722.1) that the IP telephone terminal 30-2 employs for communication from the contents of the control signal packet 50-2 in step S3004 described above. Here, it is assumed that 1 is assigned as the session identifier 101 by the call control device 12.

  As described above, in the call control device 12, information is acquired regarding the conditions when the IP telephone terminal 30-1 and the IP telephone terminal 30-2 perform media communication, and the IP telephone terminal 30-2 is based on the above information. As information necessary for media conversion at the time of transmitting a packet to (session identifier 101: “1”, destination IP address 102a: “none”, destination port number 102b: “none”, destination encoding format 103: “G .722.1 ”, transmission source encoding format 104:“ G.711 μ-law ”) is generated and stored in the media information storage unit 121 in addition. Similarly, in the call control device 12, as information necessary for media conversion when transmitting a packet to the IP telephone terminal 30-1, (session identifier 101: “1”, destination IP address 102a: “10.0 .0.1 ”, destination port number 102b:“ 10001 ”, destination encoding format 103:“ G.711μ-law ”, transmission source encoding format 104:“ G.722.1 ”), It is additionally stored in the media information storage unit 121. In the information necessary for media conversion when transmitting a packet to the IP telephone terminal 30-2, the destination IP address 102a and the destination port number 102b are updated in step S3008 described later (S3005).

  Next, in the call control device 12, information of the communication medium (G.722.1) adopted for communication by the IP telephone terminal 30-2 is acquired from the information in the media information storage unit 121, and the information is set. The INVITE message is given as a control signal packet 50-2 from the call control device 12 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2 (S3006).

  Next, when the control signal packet 50-2 in step S3006 described above is given to the IP telephone terminal 30-2, the IP telephone terminal 30-2 is given the communication medium employed by the IP telephone terminal 30-2. Since the communication medium set as the communication medium employed in the INVITE message matches, the response message (OK), the IP address information (20.0.0.1) of the IP telephone terminal 30-2 and the medium Information (20001) of the communication port number adopted for communication is given to the call control device 12 from the IP telephone terminal 30-2 as a control signal packet 50-2 (S3007).

  When the control signal packet 50-2 (OK message) is given from the IP telephone terminal 30-2 to the call control device 12 in step S3007, the call control device 12 includes the media information storage unit 121. The information of the destination port number 102b is given to the information (20.0.0.1) in which the destination IP address 102a is given to the information of the session information identifier 101: “1” and the destination IP address 102a: “none”. The updated information (20001) is updated, and the contents of the updated media information storage unit 121 are as shown in FIG. 3 (S3008).

  Then, the information stored in the media information storage unit 121 is given from the call control device 12 to the control unit 111 of the media conversion device 11, and further from the control unit 111 to the packet input / output unit 113 and the media conversion unit 114. (S3009).

  Then, a response message (OK) is given as a control signal packet 50-1 from the call control device 12 to the IP telephone terminal 30-1 (S3010), and further, from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 to the call control device. 12, a message (ACK) for confirming communication is given to IP telephone terminal 30-2, and then media communication between IP telephone terminal 30-1 and IP telephone terminal 30-2 is performed as media conversion. This is performed via the device 11 (S3011, S3012).

(A-2-2) Media Conversion in Media Conversion Device Next, an operation for converting the media data signal packet 60 in the media conversion device 11 will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of media conversion operation of a received packet in the media conversion apparatus 10.

  Here, in step S3009 in FIG. 5 described above, the information in the media information storage unit 121 shown in FIG. 3 is transferred from the call control device 12 to the packet input / output units 113-1 and 113-2 and the media conversion unit 114. An operation when the media data signal packet 60-1 set and transmitted from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2 is given to the media conversion apparatus 11 will be described as an example.

  First, the packet input / output unit 113-1 receives a packet sent from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 to the IP telephone terminal 30-1 (S1000).

  Next, it is determined whether the received packet corresponds to the media data signal packet 60-1 or the non-media data signal packet 70. The type of the received packet is determined based on the above-described information in the media information storage unit 121 shown in FIG. 3 given in step S3009 in FIG. If the received packet matches the session identification information 102, it is determined as a media data signal packet 60-1, and otherwise, it is determined as a non-media data signal packet 70. If it is determined as the media data signal packet 60-1, it is transferred to the media conversion unit 114, and if it is determined as the non-media data signal packet 70, it is transferred to the packet input / output unit 113-2 (S1001).

  In step S1001, the packet received by the packet input / output unit 113-1 is determined as the media data signal packet 60-1, and transferred to the media conversion unit 114. In the media conversion unit 114, the media information storage unit Media conversion is performed according to the information 121 (S1003).

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3 described above, the media information storage unit 121 stores (session identifier 101: “1”, destination IP address 102a: “20.0.0.1”, destination port number 102b: “ 20001 ”, destination encoding format 103:“ G.722.1 ”, transmission source encoding format 104:“ G.711 μ-law ”). Then, if the IP address of the destination of the media data signal packet 60-1 is 20.0.0.0.1 and the destination port number is 20001, the media data signal packet 60-1 includes the session identification of the above information. Since the packet matches the information 102 (destination IP address 102a, destination port number 102b), the G. From 711 μ-law, G. The media is converted to 722.1.

  Next, the packet converted by the media conversion unit 114 is provided as a media data signal packet 60-2 from the media conversion unit 114 to the packet input / output unit 113-2 (S1004), and from the input / output unit 13-2 to the IP. It is sent to the telephone terminal 30-2 (S1005).

  In step S1001, the packet received from the packet input / output unit 113-1 is determined to be the non-media data signal packet 70 and transferred to the packet input / output unit 113-2. The packet 70 is transmitted from the packet input / output unit 113-2 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2 (S1005).

(A-3) Effects of First Embodiment According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.

  The media conversion system 10 identifies information on communication media adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30 based on the content of the control signal packet 50 given from the IP telephone terminal 30 by the call control device 12, and the above-described FIG. The information in the media information storage unit 121 shown is updated, and the information is given to the media converter 11. Then, the media conversion device 11 converts the media data signal packet 60 between the IP telephone terminals 30 according to the information given from the call control device 12. Therefore, even if the communication media adopted by the plurality of IP telephone terminals 30 are different, the media conversion system 10 identifies the communication medium adopted by each IP telephone terminal 30 by arranging the media conversion system 10 between them. Media conversion and mutual media communication.

  Further, the packet input / output unit 113 of the media conversion device 11 identifies whether or not the received packet is a media conversion target packet (media data signal packet 60), and performs a media conversion target packet (media data signal). Since only the packet 60) is delivered to the media conversion unit 114, there is an effect of suppressing the in-device transfer delay of the media conversion target packet (media conversion target packet).

(B) Second Embodiment Hereinafter, a second embodiment of a media conversion system, a media conversion method, a media conversion program, and a call control device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(B-1) Configuration of Second Embodiment The connection relationship of various devices related to this embodiment is almost the same as that of the first embodiment and can be shown in FIG. . Note that the media conversion system of this embodiment is represented as a media conversion system 10A.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the media conversion system 10A, and the same and corresponding parts as those in FIG.

  A media conversion system 10A according to the second embodiment includes a media conversion device 11 and a call control device 12A.

  Since the media conversion device 11 is the same as that of the first embodiment, its description is omitted.

  The call control apparatus 12A further includes an encoding format information storage unit 122, and updates the information in the media information storage unit 121 in consideration of the information in the encoding format information storage unit 122 in the first embodiment. Is different.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing information stored in the encoding format information storage unit 122.

  The encoding format information storage unit 122 includes information on an identifier 201, an IP network address 202, and an encoding format 203. The information stored in the encoding format information storage unit 122 may be set in advance by a network maintainer or the like according to the construction status of the IP network.

  The identifier 201 is an identifier for identifying each piece of information in the encoding format information storage unit 122.

  The IP network address 202 is identification information for identifying one or more IP networks, and is expressed in a network address format defined by the IP protocol.

  The encoding format 203 indicates the encoding format of the media data signal packet 60 allowed by the terminal connected to the IP network address 202.

  When the control signal packet 50 is given from the packet input / output unit 113, the call control device 12A analyzes the content of the control signal packet 50 and determines the session identification information 102 (destination IP address 102a, destination port in FIG. 3 described above). Information corresponding to number 102b) is extracted. Then, the IP network address 202 including the IP address of the next destination (receiving terminal or call control device) of the control signal packet 50 determined by the call control device 12A is searched, and when the corresponding IP network address 202 exists. Updates the information in the media information storage unit 121 with the information in the corresponding encoding format 203 as the destination encoding format 103. In the call control device 12A, the other processes at the time of updating the information in the media information storage unit 121 are the same as those in the call control device 12 of the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

(B-2) Operation of Second Embodiment Next, an operation of updating the media information storage unit 121 in the call control device 12A of the media conversion system 10A of the second embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described. . Note that the operation of converting the media data signal packet 60 in the media conversion device 11 is the same as that in FIG. 4 described above in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  Here, a case where media communication is started from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 of the IP network 20-1 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2 of the IP network 20-2 via the media conversion system 10A will be described as an example. .

  Here, the IP address of the IP telephone terminal 30-1 is 10.0.0.1, and the employed communication media is G. It is assumed that the communication port adopted for 711 μ-law and media communication is 10001. The IP telephone terminal 30-2 has an IP address of 20.0.0.1, and the employed communication media is G. 722.1, and the communication port employed for media communication is 20001. It is assumed that the call control protocol used in the call control device 12 and the IP telephone terminal 30 is SIP. In the initial state, it is assumed that no information is stored in the media information storage unit 121. In the encoding format information storage unit 122, (identifier 201: “1”, IP network address 202: “10.0.0.0/24”, encoding format 203: “G.711 μ-law”) , (Identifier 201: “2”, IP network address 202: “20.0.0.0/24”, encoding format 203: “G.722.1”) And

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation of updating the media information storage unit 121 in the call control device 12A when a call is made from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 to the IP telephone terminal 30-2.

  First, an INVITE message is given as a control signal packet 50-1 from the IP telephone terminal 30-1 to the call control device 12A. Here, it is assumed that the control signal packet 50-1 includes information on the communication medium (G.711 μ-law) and the port number (10001) as communication conditions adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30-1. . (S4001).

  Next, in the call control apparatus 12A, in step S4001 described above, from the content of the INVITE message of the control signal packet 50-1 given from the IP network 20-1, the IP address of the IP telephone terminal 30-1 and the media communication are changed. Information on the port number to be adopted is acquired, and information matching the session identification information 102 (IP address 102a, destination port number 102b) is searched. Here, as described above, the information in the media information storage unit 121 is only one. Since no information is stored, the corresponding information cannot be detected (S4002).

  In step S4002, the media information storage unit 121 has information that matches the session identification information 102 (IP address 102a, destination port number 102b), and the communication media (destination code) used by the IP telephone terminal 30-2. If the conversion format 103 is obtained, steps S4003, S4006, and S4007 described later may be omitted.

  Next, when the information corresponding to the IP telephone terminal 30-1 does not exist in the media information storage unit 121 in step S4002, the call control device 12A receives the control signal packet 50-1 received in step S4001 described above. Based on the contents and the information in the encoding format information storage unit 122, the conditions regarding the communication media adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30-1 and the IP telephone terminal 30-2 for communication are identified, and the information in the media information storage unit 121 is identified. Is updated.

  Here, the IP address (10.0.0.1) of IP telephone terminal 30-1 and the communication medium (G.711μ) employed for communication are determined from the contents of control signal packet 50-1 given in step S4001 described above. -Law) and port number (10001) can be acquired. Further, the IP address (20.0.0.1) of the IP telephone terminal 30-2 that is the call destination is specified based on the contents of the control signal packet 50-1 given in step S4001 described above. The matching information is searched in the IP network address 202 of the conversion format information storage unit 122. Here, the information stored in the encoding format information storage unit 122 is as shown in FIG. 7 as described above, and the IP address (20.0.0.1) of the IP telephone terminal 30-2 is the identifier 201. 1 is included in the IP network address 202 (20.0.0.0/24), the encoding format 203 (G.722.1) of the information is the IP telephone terminal 30. -2 is identified as the communication media format employed. Here, it is assumed that 1 is assigned as the session identifier 101 by the call control device 12A.

  As described above, the call control device 12 acquires information about the conditions for media communication adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30-1 and the IP telephone terminal 30-2, and the IP telephone terminal 30 is based on the above information. As information necessary for media conversion when transmitting a packet to -2, (session identifier 101: “1”, destination IP address 102a: “20.0.0.1”, destination port number 102b: “none”, Information of destination encoding format 103: “G.722.1, transmission source encoding format 104:“ G.711 μ-law ”) is generated, and is additionally stored in the media information storage unit 121. Similarly, in the call control device 12, as information necessary for media conversion when transmitting a packet to the IP telephone terminal 30-1, (session identifier 101: “1”, destination IP address 102a: “10.0 .0.1 ”, destination port number 102b:“ 10001 ”, destination encoding format 103:“ G.711μ-law ”, transmission source encoding format 104:“ G.722.1 ”), It is additionally stored in the media information storage unit 121. In the information necessary for media conversion when transmitting a packet to IP telephone terminal 30-2 described above, destination port number 102b is updated in step S4006 (the same processing as in step S3008 described above) (S4003). ).

  The subsequent operations in steps S4004 to S4010 are the same as steps S3006 to S3012 in FIG.

(B-3) Effects of Second Embodiment According to the second embodiment, the following effects can be achieved.

  In the encoding format information storage unit 122 of the call control device 12A, by specifying the encoding format for each network, the destination terminal adopts the information without acquiring the information from the call destination terminal in the control signal packet 50. Communication media to be identified. That is, in the second embodiment, the processing corresponding to steps S3003 and S3004 in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment can be omitted, so the sequence (processing amount) of the control signal is reduced, and the media conversion system 10 It is possible to reduce the processing delay in the process.

(C) Other Embodiments The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may include modified embodiments as exemplified below.

(C-1) In each of the above embodiments, the media conversion system has been described with reference to an example in which the media conversion is applied to IP phone packets. The present invention may be applied to other media communications, and the type of communications media to be applied is not limited.

(C-2) The media information storage unit 121 of each of the above embodiments has information on the destination encoding format 103 and the transmission source encoding format 104 as information on communication media adopted by the IP telephone terminal 30. However, in addition to this, or in place of this, other information relating to the specification of the communication media may be applied, and the type and number of the information are not limited to the contents of FIG. 3 described above. . Examples of other information relating to the specifications of the communication medium include information relating to the audio compression method and the bit rate. In addition, when the IP telephone terminal 30 is a videophone terminal, it may have information on image specifications.

(C-3) In each of the above embodiments, the media conversion apparatus 10 has been described with respect to an example in which SIP is used as the control signal packet 50. However, the control signal packet 50 is transmitted from a terminal that performs communication for media conversion. What is necessary is just to correspond to the control signal packet 50 to be adopted, and it is not limited to SIP. Other control signals include H.264. 323 or the like.

  In each of the above embodiments, the control signal packets 50 in the IP network 20 to which the media conversion system 10 is connected are all assumed to be SIP. However, a different control signal is adopted for each IP network 20, and call control is performed. The device 12 may correspond to a plurality of control signals.

(C-4) In each of the above embodiments, the media conversion system is disposed at the boundary between the IP network 20-1 and the IP network 20-2, and an example in which media conversion is performed on a packet flowing between the IP networks 20 will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to the case of being arranged between a plurality of IP networks, and may be arranged in a single IP network 20 and applied to media conversion for media communication between terminals.

(C-5) In the second embodiment, the encoding format information storage unit 122 of the call control device 12A specifies the encoding format for each network as shown in FIG. As long as it can be identified which one belongs to any one of them, it is not limited to designating an encoding format for each network. For example, the encoding format information storage unit 122 may specify and manage a range of addresses adopted for each group even in one network.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Media conversion system, 11 ... Media conversion apparatus, 111 ... Control part, 112 ... Packet switch part, 113 ... Packet input / output part, 114 ... Media conversion part, 12 ... Call control apparatus, 121 ... Media information storage part, 50 ... control signal packet, 60 ... media data signal packet, 70 ... non-media data signal packet.

Claims (5)

Data receiving means for receiving data from the communication terminal;
When the data received from the first communication terminal by the data receiving means is a call control signal for making a call from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, the content of the call control signal is A first communication medium identifying means for identifying a communication medium employed for media communication in the first communication terminal,
The first communication terminal and the second communication terminal belong to any one of a plurality of networks, and the communication terminals that belong to the same network have the same communication media,
Network-adopted communication media information storage means for storing information relating to communication media employed in each of the networks;
When the data received by the data receiving means is a SIP INVITE signal for calling from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, the INVITE signal The network to which the second communication terminal belongs is identified from the contents, and the communication media employed in the network to which the second communication terminal belongs is searched from the information stored in the network adopted communication media information storage means . and the detected communication media, and a second communication medium identifying means for identifying a communication media that is employed in the second communication terminal,
When the data received from the first communication terminal by the data receiving means is an INVITE signal for calling from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, the second communication medium Call control means for transmitting to the second communication terminal an INVITE signal for calling the media communication using the communication medium adopted in the second communication terminal identified by the identification means;
When the received data received by the data receiving means is media data for media communication transmitted from one of the first communication terminal or the second communication terminal to the other, the first The media conversion means for converting the media data into media data corresponding to the communication media employed in the destination communication terminal according to the communication media identified by the communication media identification means and the second communication media identification means When,
A media conversion system, further comprising: data transmission means for transmitting the media data converted by the media conversion means to a destination communication terminal. Said data receiving means, the received data only when a media data to be converted in the media conversion means, the media according to claim 1, characterized in that providing the received data to the media conversion means Conversion system. In a media conversion method for converting media data for media communication flowing between communication terminals into media data corresponding to communication media employed in a destination media communication, and transmitting the media data to a destination communication terminal.
Data receiving means, first communication media identification means, network adopted communication media information storage means, second communication media identification means, call control means, media conversion means, data transmission means,
The data receiving means receives data from the communication terminal,
The first communication media identification means is a call control signal for causing the data receiving means to receive data received from the first communication terminal from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal. In some cases, based on the content of the call control signal, the communication medium employed for media communication in the first communication terminal is identified,
The first communication terminal and the second communication terminal belong to any one of a plurality of networks, and the communication terminals that belong to the same network have the same communication media,
The network-adopted communication media information storage means stores information related to communication media employed in each network,
The second communication media identification means is a SIP INVITE for the data receiving means to call the data received from the first communication terminal from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal. when a signal, that the the contents of the INVITE signal second communication terminal identifies the network belonging, from the information stored in said network employing communications media information storage means, said second communication terminal belongs searches the communication media being employed in the network, the detected communication media, to identify a communication media that is employed in the second communication terminal,
The call control means, when the data receiving means is an INVITE signal for making a call from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, when the data received from the first communication terminal is An INVITE signal for calling a media communication using the communication medium adopted in the second communication terminal identified by the second communication medium identifying means is transmitted to the second communication terminal;
When the media conversion means is the media data for media communication transmitted from one of the first communication terminal or the second communication terminal to the other, the received data received by the data receiving means In accordance with the communication media identified by the first communication media identification means and the second communication media identification means, the media data is converted into media data corresponding to the communication media employed in the destination communication terminal. ,Converted,
The media conversion method, wherein the data transmission means transmits the media data converted by the media conversion means to a destination communication terminal. Computer
Data receiving means for receiving data from the communication terminal;
When the data received from the first communication terminal by the data receiving means is a call control signal for making a call from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, the content of the call control signal is Based on the first communication terminal to function as a first communication media identification means for identifying the communication media employed in the media communication,
The first communication terminal and the second communication terminal belong to any one of a plurality of networks, and the communication terminals that belong to the same network have the same communication media,
Network-adopted communication media information storage means for storing information relating to communication media employed in each of the networks;
When the data received by the data receiving means is a SIP INVITE signal for calling from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, the INVITE signal The network to which the second communication terminal belongs is identified from the contents, and the communication media employed in the network to which the second communication terminal belongs is searched from the information stored in the network adopted communication media information storage means . and the detected communication media, and a second communication medium identifying means for identifying a communication media that is employed in the second communication terminal,
When the data received from the first communication terminal by the data receiving means is an INVITE signal for calling from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, the second communication medium Call control means for transmitting to the second communication terminal an INVITE signal for calling media communication using the communication medium adopted in the second communication terminal identified by the identification means; and the data When the received data received by the receiving means is media data for media communication transmitted from one of the first communication terminal or the second communication terminal to the other, the first communication In accordance with the communication media identified by the media identification means and the second communication media identification means, the media data is transmitted through the communication terminal employed in the destination communication terminal. Media conversion means for converting into media data corresponding to the communication media;
A media conversion program for further functioning as data transmission means for transmitting media data converted by the media conversion means to a destination communication terminal. When the data received from the first communication terminal is a call control signal for making a call from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, based on the content of the call control signal, the first 1st communication media identification means which identifies the communication media employ | adopted for media communication in the communication terminal of
The first communication terminal and the second communication terminal belong to any one of a plurality of networks, and the communication terminals that belong to the same network have the same communication media,
Network-adopted communication media information storage means for storing information relating to communication media employed in each of the networks;
When the data received from the first communication terminal is a SIP INVITE signal for making a call from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, the contents of the INVITE signal are used to determine the second identifies the network to which the communication terminal belongs, said a network employing communications media information storage means information stored in said second communication terminal searches the communication media being employed in a network belongs, detected communication media and a second communication medium identifying means for identifying a communication media that is employed in the second communication terminal,
When the data received from the first communication terminal is an INVITE signal for calling from the first communication terminal to the second communication terminal, the data is identified by the second communication media identifying means. Call control means for transmitting to the second communication terminal an INVITE signal for calling a media communication using the communication medium employed in the second communication terminal;
A call control device, further comprising: a communication media information transmission unit that gives an identification result of the first communication media identification unit and the second communication media identification unit to an external media conversion device.

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