JP2013012808A - Call controller for nurse call system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a call even to an Internet Protocol (IP) telephone that has failed to receive an INVITE command transmitted first from a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server.SOLUTION: When a response of off-hook is not received from an IP portable telephone 9 within a predetermined short time before session time-out after a call command issuing part 4a has issued a call command so as to establish a session connection between a SIP server 7 and the IP portable telephone 9, a call restoration command issuing part 4c issues a call restoration command so as to temporarily disconnect the session, and the call command issuing part 4a re-issues a call command so as to re-establish the session connection. Consequently, even when the session connection is not successfully established on the basis of the call command issued first, a call to the IP portable telephone 9 is made on the basis of the call command re-issued subsequently.

Description

  The present invention relates to a call control device for a nurse call system, and is particularly suitable for application to a nurse call system adapted to notify a call from a nurse call slave to a portable nurse call master.

  In general, nurse call systems used in hospitals and nursing care facilities are used when patients and care recipients (hereinafter simply referred to as patients) need the support of doctors, nurses, and caregivers (hereinafter simply referred to as nurses). In addition, the system is configured such that a patient can call a nurse by pressing a call button or the like of a nurse call cordless handset.

  In many nurse call systems, a call is made to a nurse call master unit installed in a nurse center, but a call is made to a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) terminal carried by a nurse via a private branch exchange (PBX). A nurse call system is also provided. In recent years, a nurse call system for making a call to an IP (Internet Protocol) telephone has also been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the conventional nurse call system including this Patent Document 1, when the patient calls by pressing the call button of the nurse call slave unit, the call is made and the nurse call master unit or portable nurse call master unit ( (PHS terminal or IP phone). In response to this, the nurse responds with the handset of the nurse call master unit, the PHS terminal carried by the nurse or the IP phone.

  In general, when a system is constructed using an IP phone, a communication protocol called SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is used. A SIP server for controlling IP communication according to SIP is provided. SIP is a protocol developed for establishing a session between a plurality of IP terminals, and it is possible to perform operations such as connection and disconnection of a session using this protocol.

  Normally, a call from an SIP server to an IP phone is performed by an INVITE command. That is, when a call is made from the nurse call slave unit, this is notified to the SIP server. Then, when the SIP server issues an INVITE command, session connection is started and an IP telephone is called. When a call is answered by the IP phone, a call state is established between the nurse call handset and the IP phone via the SIP server. Thereafter, the connection state of the session is maintained during the call.

  Note that IP communication is provided with a session disconnection function (hereinafter referred to as a session timeout) due to a timeout. The session timeout of IP communication is a function provided for releasing resources and security for many IP terminals connected to the network. Since this session time-out function is provided, the session is disconnected due to a time-out if there is no response from the IP telephone within a predetermined time even though the SIP server has called by the INVITE command. If the session is disconnected due to timeout, the IP phone call is also stopped.

  On the other hand, SIP also provides a protocol for preventing a session from being disconnected due to a session timeout. That is, it is possible to prevent the connected session from being disconnected by first issuing the INVITE command by the SIP server and then issuing the re-INVITE command (see, for example, Patent Document 2). By using this re-INVITE command, it is possible to avoid a session timeout and continue calling until there is a response from the IP phone.

JP 2007-174451 A JP 2010-154514 A

  However, if the IP phone fails to receive the INVITE command transmitted first from the SIP server, the session connection is not performed in the first place. In that case, even if a re-INVITE command is subsequently sent from the SIP server, the session remains disconnected. For this reason, there has been a problem that no call is made to the IP phone that failed to receive the INVITE command first.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and makes it possible to make a call even to an IP phone that fails to receive an INVITE command that is first transmitted from the SIP server. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, after a call command is issued to a portable nurse call master and a session is connected, the portable nurse is received within a short predetermined time before a session timeout occurs. If there is no response from the call master unit, a call recovery command is issued to disconnect the session, and the call command is reissued to reconnect the session.

  According to the present invention configured as described above, even if the session connection fails based on the first issued call command, the call command is issued again thereafter. If successful, it is possible to make a call to the portable nurse call master unit that failed to connect the session based on the call command transmitted first. In the present invention, in order to avoid session timeout, the session is once disconnected and reconnected before the session timeout occurs, but since the disconnection time is short, the call to the portable nurse call parent device is It will be carried out substantially continuously.

It is a figure which shows the example of whole structure of the nurse call system by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structural example of the controller by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example (when off-hook within predetermined time) of the nurse call system by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example (when not hooking off within predetermined time) of the nurse call system by this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a nurse call system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the nurse call system of this embodiment includes a hand-type slave unit 1, a wall-embedded slave unit 2, a corridor lamp 3, a control unit 4, a nurse call master unit 5, an IP adapter 6, and a SIP server. 7, a wireless transceiver 8 and an IP mobile phone 9 are provided. The hand slave 1 and the wall-embedded slave 2 correspond to the nurse call slave in the claims, and the IP mobile phone 9 corresponds to the portable nurse call master in the claims.

  The hand-type slave unit 1 is installed beside each patient's bed and includes a call button for instructing a nurse to call. When the patient presses the call button as necessary, the hand-type slave unit 1 outputs a call signal.

  The wall-embedded handset 2 is installed by being embedded in the wall of each bedside of the hospital room. This wall-embedded handset 2 includes a connection terminal to which the hand-type handset 1 is connected. The wall-embedded slave unit 2 is connected to a hallway lamp 3. When receiving the call signal from the hand-type slave unit 1, the wall-embedded slave unit 2 sends a call signal including identification information (for example, the connection terminal number of the wall-embedded slave unit 2) to the corridor lamp 3. Output.

  The corridor lamp 3 is installed in each hospital room. The corridor lamp 3 has a plurality of input ports to which a plurality of wall-embedded slave units 2 are connected, and the wall-embedded child that is the source of the call signal depending on which input port receives the call signal Information (for example, bed number) indicating the machine 2 is specified. Then, the corridor lamp 3 adds the identification information (for example, the room number) of the corridor lamp 3 to the connection terminal number and bed number of the wall-embedded slave unit 2 and the identification information (hereinafter referred to as nurse call slave unit) , Called slave unit identification information), and a call signal including the slave unit identification information is output to the controller 4.

  The controller 4 is connected between the corridor lamp 3 and the nurse call master unit 5, and outputs a call signal supplied from the corridor lamp 3 to the nurse call master unit 5. An IP adapter 6 is also connected to the controller 4. The controller 4 corresponds to the call control device of the present invention. When a call signal is supplied from the corridor lamp 3, the controller 4 adds to the slave unit identification information included in the call signal and A call signal including the identification information of the IP mobile phone 9 (corresponding to a call command of the present invention; hereinafter referred to as a call command) is generated and output to the IP adapter 6. The detailed functional configuration of the controller 4 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The nurse call parent device 5 is installed in a nurse center. The nurse call master unit 5 includes a slave unit identification information (room number and bed number) for identifying the wall-embedded slave unit 2 and a patient using a bed in which the wall-embedded slave unit 2 is located. The patient table in which the information (name, age, etc.) is associated is held in a memory (not shown). The nurse call master unit 5 is a terminal that associates the above-described slave unit identification information with the telephone number information that is identification information of the IP mobile phone 9 possessed by the nurse in charge of the patient corresponding to the slave unit identification information. The table is held in memory.

  When the nurse call master unit 5 receives a call signal from the controller 4, the nurse call master unit 5 outputs a predetermined ringing tone from the speaker to call the nurse. Further, patient information is specified by referring to the patient table based on the slave unit identification information included in the call signal, and the patient information is displayed on the monitor screen together with the room number and the bed number.

  When the nurse call master unit 5 receives a call signal from the controller 4, the nurse call base unit 5 refers to the terminal table based on the slave unit identification information included in the call signal, and calls the IP mobile phone 9 possessed by the nurse in charge. The number information is specified, and the telephone number information is notified to the controller 4. Upon receiving this notification, the control device 4 generates a call command including the phone number information of the IP mobile phone 9 that is the call destination in addition to the child device identification information of the nurse call slave device that is the call source, as described above. And output to the IP adapter 6.

  When the IP adapter 6 receives a call command from the controller 4, the IP adapter 6 converts the call command into an Internet protocol (IP) INVITE command and outputs it to the SIP server 7.

  The SIP server 7 transmits the INVITE command output from the IP adapter 6 to the called IP mobile phone 9. Specifically, the SIP server 7 is connected to a wireless transceiver 8 for communicating with the IP mobile phone 9. When the SIP server 7 receives an INVITE command from the IP adapter 6, the SIP server 7 uses the telephone number information included in the INVITE command via the wireless transmitter / receiver 8 to make a call to the called IP mobile phone 9. Send a nurse call.

  When receiving the INVITE command from the SIP server 7, the IP mobile phone 9 outputs a predetermined ringing tone from the speaker to notify the nurse of the call. When the nurse goes off-hook in response to this call, a response signal is transmitted to the SIP server 7 via the wireless transceiver 8 and further transferred to the IP adapter 6. Then, the IP adapter 6 that has received this response signal makes a connection request to the controller 4, thereby establishing a call state and making a call between the hand-type slave unit 1 and the IP mobile phone 9. It becomes possible.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the controller 4 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the controller 4 includes a call command issuing unit 4a, a response determining unit 4b, and a call recovery command issuing unit 4c as functional configurations.

  The call command issuing unit 4a issues a call command to the IP mobile phone 9 in response to a notification that a call has been made by the hand-type slave unit 1 (that is, a call signal output from the corridor lamp 3). . That is, the call command issuing unit 4a obtains the telephone number information of the call destination IP mobile phone 9 from the nurse call parent device 5, issues a call command including the telephone number information, and outputs the call command to the IP adapter 6. At this time, the response determination unit 4b is notified that the call command has been issued.

  As described above, when a call command is output from the controller 4 to the IP adapter 6, the call command is converted into an INVITE command by the IP adapter 6 and transmitted to the IP mobile phone 9 via the SIP server 7. As a result, a call is made to the IP mobile phone 9. When this INVITE command is transmitted from the SIP server 7 to the IP mobile phone 9, a session is connected between the SIP server 7 and the IP mobile phone 9.

  The response determination unit 4b has a timeout period (for example, 3 seconds) for disconnecting the session after the session is connected between the SIP server 7 and the IP mobile phone 9 by issuing the call command by the call command issuing unit 4a. It is determined whether or not there is an off-hook response from the IP mobile phone 9 within a shorter predetermined time (for example, 2.5 seconds). Specifically, the response determination unit 4b receives a call command issue notification from the call command issuing unit 4a as a connection request supplied from the IP adapter 6 as a response when the IP mobile phone 9 is off-hooked. It is determined whether or not it has been sent within a predetermined time. Then, the determination result is notified to the call recovery command issuing unit 4c.

  The call recovery command issuing unit 4c issues a call recovery command for the IP mobile phone 9 and outputs it to the IP adapter 6 when the response determination unit 4b determines that there is no off-hook response within a predetermined time. The call recovery command issuing unit 4c notifies the call command issuing unit 4a that the call recovery command has been issued.

  When a call recovery command is output from the controller 4 to the IP adapter 6, the call recovery command is converted into a CANCEL command by the IP adapter 6 and transmitted to the IP mobile phone 9 via the SIP server 7. When the CANCEL command is transmitted from the SIP server 7 to the IP mobile phone 9 in this way, the session between the SIP server 7 and the IP mobile phone 9 is disconnected.

  When the call command issuing unit 4a receives a notification that the call recovery command has been issued from the call recovery command issuing unit 4c, the call command issuing unit 4a reissues the call command for the IP mobile phone 9 after the session is disconnected by issuing the call recovery command. Issue and output to the IP adapter 6. Also in this case, the call command is converted into an INVITE command by the IP adapter 6 and transmitted to the IP mobile phone 9 via the SIP server 7, thereby calling the IP mobile phone 9.

  Next, the operation of the nurse call system configured as described above according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the nurse call system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 shows an example of operation when an off-hook response is received from the IP mobile phone 9 within a predetermined time after the controller 4 issues a call command. The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 starts when the call button is pressed in the hand-type slave unit 1.

  In FIG. 3, when a certain patient presses the call button of the hand slave 1, the hand slave 1 outputs a call signal (step S 1). This calling signal is supplied to the controller 4 through the wall-embedded slave unit 2 and the hallway lamp 3. At the time when the call signal is supplied to the controller 4, the call signal includes the slave unit identification information (the connection terminal number and bed number of the wall-embedded slave unit 2, the room number of the corridor lamp 3).

  The controller 4 outputs the call signal supplied from the corridor lamp 3 to the nurse call master unit 5. The nurse call parent device 5 that has received the call signal refers to the terminal table based on the child device identification information included in the call signal, and the telephone number information of the IP mobile phone 9 possessed by the nurse in charge of the patient who made the call. Is identified as the callee. Then, the specified telephone number information is notified to the controller 4. Upon receiving the telephone number information, the controller 4 issues a call command including telephone number information in addition to the slave unit identification information included in the call signal input from the corridor lamp 3, and outputs the call command to the IP adapter 6 (step S2). ).

  When receiving a call command from the controller 4, the IP adapter 6 converts the call command into an INVITE command and outputs it to the SIP server 7 (step S3). In response to this, the SIP server 7 connects a session with the IP mobile phone 9 via the wireless transceiver 8 and transmits the INVITE command output from the IP adapter 6 to the called IP mobile phone 9 ( Step S4). The IP mobile phone 9 that has received this INVITE command makes a call by outputting a predetermined ring tone from the speaker (step S5).

  When the nurse who has received this call off-hooks the IP mobile phone 9 within a predetermined time from the issue of the call command by the controller 4 (step S6), a response signal indicating that is sent via the SIP server 7 to the IP adapter 6. Is transmitted to the controller 4 from the IP adapter 6 (step S7). Then, in response to this connection request, the controller 4 returns a call start response to the IP adapter 6, whereby the hand-type slave unit 1 and the IP mobile phone 9 transition to a busy state (step S8). .

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation example when the off-hook response is not made by the IP mobile phone 9 within a predetermined time after the controller 4 issues the call command. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 also starts when the call button is pressed in the hand-type slave unit 1. In addition, the process of step S11-S15 is the same as the process of step S1-S5 of FIG.

  In FIG. 4, when the response determination unit 4b determines that the connection request is not made from the IP adapter 6 to the controller 4 within a predetermined time from the issue of the call command by the call command issuing unit 4a, the call recovery is performed. The command issuing unit 4c issues a call recovery command for the IP mobile phone 9 and outputs it to the IP adapter 6 (step S16). The call recovery command issuing unit 4c notifies the call command issuing unit 4a that the call recovery command has been issued.

  When receiving the call recovery command from the controller 4, the IP adapter 6 converts the call recovery command into a CANCEL command and outputs it to the SIP server 7 (step S17). In response to this, the SIP server 7 transmits the CANCEL command output from the IP adapter 6 to the called IP mobile phone 9 using a session connected to the IP mobile phone 9 (step S18). ). By transmitting the CANCEL command, the session between the SIP server 7 and the IP mobile phone 9 is disconnected.

  Thereafter, the call command issuing unit 4a that has received the notification that the call recovery command has been issued reissues the call command for the IP mobile phone 9 and outputs it to the IP adapter 6 (step S19). Also in this case, the IP adapter 6 converts the call command input from the controller 4 into an INVITE command and outputs it to the SIP server 7 (step S20).

  In response to this, the SIP server 7 reconnects the session with the IP mobile phone 9 via the wireless transceiver 8 and retransmits the INVITE command output from the IP adapter 6 to the called IP mobile phone 9. (Step S21). The IP mobile phone 9 that has received this INVITE command makes a call by outputting a predetermined ring tone from the speaker (step S22).

  In this embodiment, in order to avoid a session timeout, the session is disconnected by issuing a CANCEL command once before the session timeout, and the session is reconnected immediately by reissuing the INVITE command. . Thus, although the session is once disconnected, the disconnection time is short, so that the call to the IP mobile phone 9 is substantially continued. Thus, the nurse has little sense that the call has been interrupted.

  If the nurse who has received this call does not off-hook the IP mobile phone 9 within a predetermined time from the reissuance of the call command by the controller 4, the processes of steps S16 to S22 are executed again. On the other hand, when the nurse off-hooks the IP mobile phone 9 within a predetermined time from the reissuing of the calling command by the controller 4, a connection request similar to step S7 shown in FIG. And the IP mobile phone 9 transition to a busy state.

  As described above in detail, in the present embodiment, after a session is connected by issuing a call command to the IP mobile phone 9, the IP mobile phone 9 goes off-hook within a short predetermined time before a session timeout occurs. If there is no response, the call recovery command is issued to disconnect the session, and the call command is reissued to reconnect the session.

  According to the present embodiment configured as described above, even if the session connection between the SIP server 7 and the IP mobile phone 9 fails based on the first issued call command (INVITE command), the re- Instead of issuing an INVITE command, a call command is issued again. Therefore, if the session connection is successful based on the reissued call command, it is possible to call the IP mobile phone 9 that failed to connect the session based on the call command transmitted first.

  In addition, since the re-INVITE command is provided in a relatively new standard in SIP, the re-INVITE command may not be supported depending on the model of the IP mobile phone 9. In such an unsupported IP mobile phone 9, the call stops due to a session timeout in the conventional mechanism. However, according to this embodiment, since the re-INVITE command is not issued, the interruption of the call can be avoided even in the IP mobile phone 9 that does not support the re-INVITE command.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the controller 4 includes the functions of the call command issuing unit 4a, the response determining unit 4b, and the call recovery command issuing unit 4c has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the IP adapter 6 may be provided with these functions, or the SIP server 7 may be provided. When the IP adapter 6 or the SIP server 7 has the above function, the INVITE command corresponds to the call command of the present invention, and the CANCEL command corresponds to the call recovery command of the present invention.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the structure provided with the IP adapter 6 as one independent hardware, this invention is not limited to this. For example, the function of the IP adapter 6 may be built in the controller 4 or the SIP server 7.

  In addition, each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of implementation in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist or the main features thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hand type cordless handset 2 Wall embedded type cordless handset 3 Corridor lamp 4 Controller 4a Call command issuing part 4b Response judgment part 4c Call recovery command issuing part 5 Nurse call master 6 IP adapter 7 SIP server 8 Radio transceiver 9 IP Mobile phone (portable nurse call parent)

Claims (1)

A call control device for a nurse call system configured to notify a portable nurse call parent device that a call has been made by a nurse call child device,
A call command issuing unit that issues a call command to the portable nurse call master unit in response to a notification that a call has been made in the nurse call slave unit,
A response determination unit for determining whether or not there is a response from the portable nurse call parent device within a predetermined time shorter than a timeout time for disconnecting the session after the session is connected by issuing the call command;
A call recovery command issuing unit that issues a call recovery command when the response determination unit determines that the response has not been received within the predetermined time;
The call control device for a nurse call system, wherein the call command issuing unit reissues the call command after the session is disconnected by issuing the call recovery command.

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