JP2010044673A - Instant message server, and instant message communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an instant message server and an instant message communication method which avoids effect on the distribution of a message to another user and the transmission of a message from another user in a situation of retransmitting a message. <P>SOLUTION: The method includes: a reception process of holding a message sent from a user in a reception buffer; a transmission process of taking out messages one by one from the reception buffer and simultaneously transmitting the messages once to each user; and a retransmission process which on the occurrence of not-reach by the transmission process, holds the name of a not-reach user and the content of a not-reach signal in a not-reach message buffer from the transmission process, retransmits a message by a thread for a pointer address to each not-reach user, steps the pointer address when a retransmission message reaches, and informs the transmission process of the completion of retransmission when the pointer address reaches the end of the not-reach message buffer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an instant message server and an instant message communication method, and is particularly suitable for use as an apparatus and method for transmitting and receiving a message in real time between many people and many people.

  Conventional instant messages have become widespread as means for realizing one-to-one real-time message transmission, but in recent years, message exchange in a one-to-many or many-to-many form has been required.

  Typical protocols for instant messaging include the SIMPLE protocol defined in international recommendations RFC 3428 (Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Extension for Instant Messaging) and RFC 3856 (A Presence Event Package for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)). .

  The SIMPLE protocol is an extension of SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), which is widely used as a call control protocol in IP telephones.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a conventional one-to-one instant message system. In the figure, a user A (1a) and a user B (1b) are client terminals equipped with SIMPLE, and examples thereof include a PC and a mobile phone having a W-LAN function. Each terminal is assigned an ID (SIP-URL) unique in the system such as <001@sample.com>, <002@sample.com>.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of the one-to-one instant message according to FIG. The procedure of the instant message shown in FIG. 8 will be described below.

  S1. User A (1a) registers (REGISTER) location information (IP address) in IM (Instant Message) server 2.

  S2. A 200 OK response is returned from the IM server 2 to the user A (1a).

  S3. User B (1b) registers (REGISTER) location information (IP address) in the IM server 2.

  S4. A 200 OK response is returned from the IM server 2 to the user B (1b).

S5. The instant message is transmitted from the user A (1a) that is the calling terminal to the IM server 2,
S6. The IM server 2 determines the position information from the destination information (SIP-URL) and transmits a message to the user B (1b) that is the receiving side terminal.

  S7. User B (1b) returns a 200 OK response to the IM server 2 as confirmation that the message has been received normally.

  S8. A 200 OK response is returned from the IM server 2 to the user B (1b).

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a conventional many-to-many instant message system. In the figure, user A (1a) to user E (1e), which are calling terminals, are connected to user A (1a) to user E (1e), which are called terminals, via an IM transmission / reception process 3, respectively. This is a configuration for exchanging messages on a 5 to 5 (many to many) basis.

  S1. Message (1) is transmitted from user A (1a).

  S2. Message (6) is transmitted from user B (1b).

S3. The message (1) is distributed from the IM transmission / reception process 3 of the IM server 2 to each of the users B to E. ((2) to (5))
S4. The message (6) is distributed from the IM transmission / reception process 3 of the IM server 2 to each of the users A and C to E. ((7)-(10))
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of the many-to-many instant message according to FIG. In the figure, first, a user A (1a) as a calling terminal registers (REGISTER) location information (IP address) in the IM server 2 and also has users B (1b) to E (1e) as receiving terminals. Also, the location information (IP address) is registered (REGISTER) in the IM server 2.

  Thereafter, a message (MESSAGE) from the user A (1a) is sequentially distributed to each of the user B (1b) to the user E (1e) that are each destination terminal via the IM server 2. This is almost the same as the one-to-one case except that there are a plurality of destinations and communication from the IM server to the receiving terminal increases.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) in the case where communication interruption occurs in message transmission to the user D in FIG.

  S1. Message (1) is transmitted from user A (1a).

  S2. Message (6) is transmitted from user B (1b).

  S3. The IM transmission / reception process 3 of the IM server 2 tries to deliver the message (1) sequentially to each user B (1b) to user E (1e) as (2) → (3) → (4) → (5). Since the communication interruption has occurred, the delivery (4) to the user D (1d) is retransmitted. During the retransmission period of distribution (4), distribution (5) to user E (1e) is not possible.

  S4. During the retransmission period of distribution (4), message distribution from user B (1b) is not possible.

  FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram when communication interruption occurs according to FIG. In the figure, when communication with the user D (1d) is interrupted, the message (MESSAGE) of the delivery (4) is retransmitted between the IM server 2 and the user D (1d), and the retransmission is performed until the time-out is detected. Repeated. When a timeout error is detected, the IM server 2 proceeds to distribution (5) between the users E (1e). Terminals that have timed out will no longer be eligible for instant message delivery.

  FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) in the case where communication interruption occurs in message transmission to the user D in FIG.

  S1. Message (1) is transmitted from user A (1a).

  S2. Message (6) is transmitted from user B (1b).

  S3. Delivery of the message (1) from the IM transmission / reception process 3 of the IM server 2 to each user B (1b) to user E (1e) and each user A (1a), user C (1c) to user E (1e) Attempt to deliver message (6) in parallel.

  S4. Since communication interruption occurred, retransmission of message (1) delivery to user D (1d) (4) and message (6) delivery to user D (1d) (9) are repeatedly generated. .

  S5. Due to network delay or the like, the message (1) sent from the user A (1a) is delivered to the user E (1e) (5), and the message (6) from the user B (1b) is sent to the user E ( Distribution (10) to 1e) may reach user E (1e) first.

  FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram when communication interruption occurs according to FIG. In the figure, when communication with the user D (1d) is interrupted, multiple retransmissions may occur for a subsequent message, and the subsequent message may reach the destination terminal depending on the network status. There is.

As prior literature, contents for processing instant messages of a plurality of users according to priority are disclosed. That is, for each conversation partner, an invention is known in which a message from a conversation partner with a higher priority is distributed and displayed before a message from a conversation partner with a lower priority. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
JP 2005-514701 A

  However, in the prior art (Patent Document 1), a message exchange in a one-to-many form is described, but it is not intended for a message exchange in a many-to-many manner, and occurs due to a communication abnormality or the like. There is no mention of resending.

  The present invention relates to many-to-many instant message communication, message delivery to other users and messages from other users under the resending situation of messages that occur when the server side cannot normally receive a response from the terminal due to communication abnormality etc. An object of the present invention is to provide an instant message server and an instant message communication method that do not affect message transmission.

  A first invention for solving the above-mentioned problem is that an incoming message is displayed on a screen of a terminal in use when a user is connected to a network, and an instant message to which a user who has received the message can immediately reply is displayed. In an instant message server that provides a service, a reception process that holds a message sent from a user in a reception buffer, and a transmission that extracts a message from the reception buffer one by one and broadcasts the message once to each user When the process and the non-delivery by the transmission process occur, the user who is the transmission target holds the unreachable user name and unreachable signal contents from the transmission process target to the non-reach message buffer. The message is retransmitted by the pointer address thread for each user. Feeding the pointer address is incremented with the arrival of a message, and a retransmission process in which the pointer address is notified of the completion of the retransmission to said transmission process to reach the end of the unreached message buffer.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when transmission / reception of an instant message is divided into a reception process, a transmission process, and a retransmission process, and a retransmission to a user occurs, the user who is the object of retransmission is sent from the transmission process. Since the transmission order of messages sent by the transmission process is maintained, the instant message that does not cause a delay in message arrival to a normal user and the message arrival order is guaranteed for each user. Server can be provided.

  2. The instant invention according to claim 1, wherein when the message is not received because the message response from the incoming user is not received, the sending process removes the unreached user from the destination from the sending process thereafter. Message server.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, even when a retransmission to a certain user occurs during the transmission of an instant message, the user who is the subject of retransmission is separated from the target of the transmission process, so that it can be communicated to another user who can communicate normally. It is possible to provide an instant message server that does not take time to send messages and messages from other users.

  3. The instant message server according to claim 1, wherein the retransmission process divides and holds the message to be retransmitted into a pointer indicating the destination user and a buffer indicating the message content.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, when a new failure to reach another user occurs during retransmission, there is no need to buffer a copy of the signal for each sender, and the number of retransmission messages increases. An instant message server capable of reducing the buffer capacity can be provided.

The fourth invention provides an instant message communication that provides an instant message service in which a message received when a user is connected to a network is displayed on the screen of the terminal in use and the user who receives the message can immediately reply. In the method, a message sent from a user is held in a reception buffer, a message is taken out from the reception buffer one by one, a message is broadcast to each user once, and the broadcast transmission is performed. In the case where a failure has occurred in the step, the unreachable user name and unreachable signal contents are stored in the unreachable message buffer, the message is retransmitted by the pointer address thread for each unreachable user, and the arrival of the retransmission message To increment the pointer address, and the pointer address And a step of notifying the completion of the retransmission reaches the end of Jibaffa to the transmission process.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when an unsuccessful instant message for a certain user occurs, the unreachable destination user is removed from the message transmission target. In this case, the user to be retransmitted is shifted from the transmission process to the retransmission process, and the transmission order of the messages sent by the transmission process is maintained, so that there is no delay in message arrival to the normal user, and each It is possible to provide an instant message communication method in which the message arrival order to the user is guaranteed.

As described above, according to the instant message server and instant message communication method of the present invention,
(1) Even when retransmission to a user in the middle occurs, the user who is the object of retransmission is disconnected from the target of the transmission process. Therefore, it does not take time to send messages to other users who can communicate normally and messages from other users.
(2) The transmission process extracts messages one by one from the reception buffer, and the order of the messages sent by the transmission process is maintained. In addition, since messages sent by the retransmission process are sent sequentially by threads generated for each user, the message arrival order for each user is guaranteed.
(3) Since the message transmission of the thread generated for each user is performed sequentially, the message from another user is not retransmitted in parallel during the retransmission. For this reason, processing load and network load can be reduced.
(4) If a new failure to reach another user occurs during retransmission, there is no need to buffer a copy of the signal for each sender, and if there are many retransmission messages, the capacity of the message buffer is reduced. It is possible.

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

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a many-to-many instant message server according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the instant message server divides the process for transmitting and receiving an instant message into a reception process 11, a transmission process 12, and a retransmission process 13, and performs the following processes.

  When a message is sent from the user A (1a) to the user E (1e), the reception process 11 holds the message in the reception buffer 111.

  The transmission process 12 extracts messages one by one from the reception buffer 111 and broadcasts the message to each user once. If even one user does not reach the transmission process 12, the signal content is buffered in the message buffer 131, and the retransmission process 13 is notified of who the user has not reached. At the same time, the destination from the transmission process 12 is removed. At this time, it is not retransmitted, and the transmission process 12 transmits a message to the remaining users once.

  The retransmission process 13 operates in parallel with the transmission process 12, and when a non-delivery by the transmission process 12 occurs, subsequent messages are held in the non-reach message buffer 131. When the retransmission process 13 is notified of the information on the unreached user from the transmission process 12, the retransmission process 13 activates a thread for each unreached user. The thread resends the message indicated by the pointer while referring to the pointer indicating the undelivered message.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of message retransmission in the retransmission process used in the present invention. In the figure, message transmission within a thread is performed sequentially. When the retransmit message arrives (success), the pointer is shifted down by one and the next message is retransmitted. When the pointer reaches the end of the buffer, it notifies the transmission process 12, returns as the destination of the transmission process, and the retransmission thread disappears.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram of a many-to-many instant message according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a specific sequence and a message example in the case of a 5 to 5 instant message (two senders in the drawing) are shown. In the following description, the description of the procedure for registering the location information (IP address) of each terminal (REGISTER) is the same as the description of FIG.

S1. The message (MESSAGE) 1 of the user A (1a) and the message (MESSAGE) 6 of the user B (1b) are once buffered in the reception buffer 111 of the reception process 11, and then sent from the transmission process 12 of the IM server 2 to each of them. When delivering to the destination terminal, the message is transmitted only once to each user regardless of whether each message has arrived or not.

  S2. The user D (1d) whose communication is interrupted is removed from the target of the transmission process 12.

  S3. When non-delivery by the transmission process 12 occurs, the transmission process 12 requests the retransmission process 13 to retransmit the message (MESSAGE) 1 and the message (MESSAGE) 6.

  S4. Subsequent messages (MESSAGE) are buffered in the retransmission process 13.

  S5. When the information on the unreached user is notified, the retransmission process 13 retransmits the message (MESSAGE) for each unreached user.

  S6. When the buffer ends without timing out, the process returns to the transmission process.

  S7. The user D (1d) is returned to the target of the transmission process 12.

  S8. The retransmission process disappears at the buffer end or retransmission timeout.

  FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the reception process used in the present invention. The operation procedure of the reception process of the IM server shown in FIG. 4 will be described below.

  S1. The receiving unit of the receiving process 11 receives a message or the like from the calling user 1.

  S2. It is determined whether the received information is a message (MESSAGE) method or another method.

  S3. If the received information is a message (MESSAGE) method in S2, the message (MESSAGE) is stored at the end of the message (MESSAGE) storage area of the reception buffer 111.

  S4. If the received information is a terminal location registration (REGISTER) method or a subscription request (SUBSCRIBE) method other than the message (MESSAGE) by S2, the terminal location registration (REGISTER) storage area or subscription request (SUBSCRIBE) of the reception buffer 111, respectively. Save the information in the storage area.

  FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the transmission process used in the present invention. The operation procedure of the IM server transmission process shown in FIG. 5 will be described below.

  S1. The transmission process 12 repeatedly reads out messages (MESSAGE) sequentially from the top of the message (MESSAGE) storage area of the reception buffer 111.

  S2. The transmission process 12 starts a thread for each transmission user in which messages (MESSAGE) are continuously written.

  S3. The transmission process 12 transmits a message (MESSAGE) to the corresponding incoming user 1.

  S4. The transmission timer starts.

  S5. A response indicating that the message (MESSAGE) has been received is received.

  S6. It is determined whether or not the transmission timer has timed out (timed out).

  S7. When the transmission time has timed out due to the above S2, the subsequent processing is shifted to the retransmission process 13.

  S8. If the transmission time is within the timeout due to S2, the message (MESSAGE) response from the incoming user 1 is returned to the outgoing user 1.

  S9. It is determined whether or not a message (MESSAGE) response from all incoming users has been returned to the calling user 1, and if the return has not been completed, the process returns to S3.

  S10. The thread is completed when all replies have been made in S9.

  FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the retransmission process used in the present invention. The operation procedure of the retransmission process of the IM server shown in FIG. 6 will be described below.

  S1. The retransmission process 13 accepts unreached user information from the transmission process 12.

  S2. The pointer address of the unreached message buffer 131 is read.

  S3. It is determined whether or not the destination specified by the called user exists at the pointer address of the unreached message buffer.

  S4. If the destination specified by the called user in S3 is present at the pointer address of the unreached message buffer, the message is added to the end of the pointer address.

  S5. If the destination specified by the called user in S3 does not exist at the pointer address of the unreached message buffer, a pointer address is newly added to the unreached message buffer.

  S6. A thread for the added pointer address is started.

  S7. A retransmission (only the head of the pointer) is sent to the called user 1.

  S8. The thread resends the message pointed to by referring to the pointer pointing to the unreached message, determines whether or not the retransmission message has arrived (successful), and if the thread has not reached (successful), the process proceeds to S7 Return to.

  S9. Delete the retransmit message that has arrived (successful) from the buffer and lower the pointer by one.

  S10. The presence / absence of the pointer tip is determined. If there is still a pointer tip, the process returns to S7.

  S11. If there is no pointer destination in S10, the transmission process 12 is notified of completion.

  S12. The resend thread disappears.

The following additional notes are further disclosed with respect to the embodiment including the above examples.
(Appendix 1)
In an instant message server that provides an instant message service that displays a message received when a user is connected to the network on the screen of the terminal in use, and the user who receives the message can immediately reply,
A receiving process for holding a message sent from the user in a receiving buffer;
A sending process that retrieves messages one by one from the receiving buffer and broadcasts the message once to each user;
When undelivered by the sending process occurs, the unreached user name and unreached signal content from the sending process are held in the unreached message buffer, and the message is retransmitted by the pointer address thread for each unreached user, A retransmission process that increments the pointer address upon arrival of a retransmission message and notifies the transmission process of completion of retransmission when the pointer address reaches the end of the unreachable message buffer;
An instant message server characterized by comprising:
(Appendix 2)
The reception buffer in the reception process includes a message reception storage area for temporarily storing a message, a registration storage area for registering the location of the user terminal, and a subscription request storage area for instant message from the user terminal. The instant messaging server described.
(Appendix 3)
2. The instant message server according to claim 1, wherein, when a message response from an incoming user is not received and an unsuccessful occurrence occurs, the sending process removes the unreached user from the destination from the subsequent sending process.
(Appendix 4)
The instant message server according to claim 1, wherein the retransmission process divides and holds a message to be retransmitted into a pointer indicating the destination user and a buffer indicating the message content.
(Appendix 5)
In an instant message communication method for providing an instant message service in which a message received when a user is connected to a network is displayed on a screen of a terminal in use and the user who receives the message can immediately reply,
Holding a message sent from a user in a reception buffer;
Retrieving one message at a time from the receiving buffer and broadcasting the message once to each user;
A step of holding an unreached user name and an unreached signal content in an unreached message buffer and retransmitting a message by a pointer address thread for each unreached user when an unreached occurrence occurs in the broadcast transmission step; ,
Incrementing the pointer address upon arrival of a retransmission message, and notifying the transmission side of completion of retransmission when the pointer address reaches the end of the unreachable message buffer;
An instant message communication method comprising:
(Appendix 6)
6. The instant message communication according to appendix 5, wherein the reception buffer has a message reception storage area for temporarily storing a message, a registration storage area for registering a position of the user terminal, and a subscription request storage area for an instant message from the user terminal. Method.
(Appendix 7)
6. The broadcast sending step is characterized in that when a message response from an incoming user is not received and an unsuccessful occurrence occurs, the broadcast destination is removed from the transmission destination and a message is sent to the remaining users once at a time. Instant message communication method.
(Appendix 8)
6. The instant message communication method according to appendix 5, wherein the unreached message buffer divides and holds a message to be retransmitted into a pointer indicating a destination user and a buffer indicating message contents.

  The present invention displays a message received when the user is connected to the network on the screen of the terminal in use, and in an instant message that is a service that the user who receives the message can reply immediately, during message transmission, When retransmission to a certain user occurs, it does not take time to send a message to another user who can communicate normally and a message from the other user, and is used particularly in a many-to-many instant message server using the SIMPLE protocol. it can.

It is a block diagram of a many-to-many instant message server in one embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the message resending of the resending process used by this invention. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram of a many-to-many instant message in an embodiment of the present invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the reception process used by this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the transmission process used by this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the resending process used by this invention. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional one-to-one instant message system. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram of a one-to-one instant message according to FIG. 7. 1 is a configuration diagram of a many-to-many instant message system according to the prior art. FIG. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of a many-to-many instant message according to FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram (No. 1) in the case where communication interruption occurs in message transmission to the user D in FIG. 9. FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram when communication interruption occurs according to FIG. 11. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) in the case where communication interruption occurs in message transmission to the user D in FIG. 9. FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram when communication interruption occurs according to FIG. 13.

Explanation of symbols

1 user
2 Instant message server (IM server)
3 Instant message transmission / reception process (IM transmission / reception process)
11 reception process 111 reception buffer 12 transmission process 13 retransmission process 131 unreachable message buffer

Claims (4)

In an instant message server that provides an instant message service that displays a message received when a user is connected to the network on the screen of the terminal in use, and the user who receives the message can immediately reply,
A receiving process for holding a message sent from the user in a receiving buffer;
A sending process that retrieves messages one by one from the receiving buffer and broadcasts the message once to each user;
When undelivered by the sending process occurs, the unreached user name and unreached signal content from the sending process are held in the unreached message buffer, and the message is retransmitted by the pointer address thread for each unreached user, A retransmission process that increments the pointer address upon arrival of a retransmission message and notifies the transmission process of completion of retransmission when the pointer address reaches the end of the unreachable message buffer;
An instant message server characterized by comprising:   2. The instant message server according to claim 1, wherein the sending process removes the unreached user from the destination from the sending process after the message response from the incoming user is not received and the unsuccessful occurrence occurs.   2. The instant message server according to claim 1, wherein the retransmission process divides and holds a message to be retransmitted into a pointer indicating a destination user and a buffer indicating a message content. In an instant message communication method for providing an instant message service in which a message received when a user is connected to a network is displayed on a screen of a terminal in use and the user who receives the message can immediately reply,
Holding a message sent from a user in a reception buffer;
Retrieving one message at a time from the receiving buffer and broadcasting the message once to each user;
A step of holding an unreached user name and an unreached signal content in an unreached message buffer and retransmitting a message by a pointer address thread for each unreached user when an unreached occurrence occurs in the broadcast transmission step; ,
Stepping the pointer address upon arrival of a retransmission message, notifying the transmission process of completion of retransmission when the pointer address reaches the end of the unreachable message buffer;
An instant message communication method comprising:

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