JP2020107960A - Relay device and system switching method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a relay device having a redundant configuration capable of promptly detecting the occurrence of a defect in voice communication between telephone terminals and switching between an active system and a standby system.SOLUTION: A relay device that relays the transmission and reception of audio signals between telephone terminals includes a first audio processing unit and a second audio processing unit one of which is set as an active system and the other of which is set as a standby system, and each of which executes audio processing for relaying an audio signal, and a switching control unit that switches between the active system and the standby system of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit, and each of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit includes a tone detection unit that detects a tone signal emitted during a call between call-connected telephone terminals, and when the tone signal of a specific pattern is detected by the tone detection unit, the switching control unit switches the active system and the standby system of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit while maintaining the call connection.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a relay device and a system switching method.

In a communication system such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) that performs voice communication via an IP (Internet Protocol) network, noise (hereinafter, referred to as voice noise) may occur during call voice. The occurrence of voice noise becomes an obstacle to voice communication.

As a device for detecting audio noise, an audio noise detection device has been proposed which detects noise generated by dividing audio data at video frame periods and inserting a sample of a known value at the boundary of the division (for example, , Patent Document 1). In this audio noise detection device, a known value is detected at the boundary portion, and the sound volume is determined for each frame based on samples other than the frame boundary. Then, counting is performed in a frame in which the determined sound volume exceeds a predetermined value and a known value is detected, and noise is detected based on the count value.

WO2017/099123

In order to improve reliability in a communication network, a communication system is made redundant. For example, in a communication system such as VoIP, a configuration is known in which a relay device that relays voice communication is provided with an operating interface unit and a standby interface unit. In such a relay device, when a failure occurs in the active interface unit, the connection is switched from the active interface unit to the standby interface unit.

When a failure occurs in the interface section, voice noise may occur during a call voice. However, in such a communication system, it is difficult for a relay device or the like that performs voice processing to automatically detect voice noise. The above-described conventional audio noise detection device detects noise generated when a sample of a known value is inserted into a boundary portion of divided audio data. Therefore, in normal voice communication without such a precondition, voice noise cannot be detected by the same method.

Therefore, when a communication failure such as voice noise occurs, the maintenance personnel who maintain the communication system and the relay device cannot detect it promptly, and the operation system/standby system can be switched smoothly. There was a problem that I could not do it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problem, and provides a relay device having a redundant configuration capable of promptly detecting the occurrence of a defect in voice communication between telephone terminals and switching between an active system and a standby system. The purpose is to provide.

A relay device according to the present invention is a relay device that relays transmission/reception of a voice signal between telephone terminals, one of which is set as an operating system and the other of which is set as a standby system, and performs voice processing for relaying the voice signal. A first audio processing unit and a second audio processing unit that are respectively executed; and a switching control unit that switches an operating system and a standby system of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit, Each of the first voice processing unit and the second voice processing unit includes a tone detection unit that detects a tone signal emitted during a call between the telephone terminals connected to the call, and the switching control unit includes the tone control unit. When a tone signal of a specific pattern is detected by the detection unit, the operation system and the standby system of the first voice processing unit and the second voice processing unit are switched while maintaining the call connection. ..

A system switching method according to the present invention includes a first audio processing unit and a second audio processing unit, one of which is set as an active system and the other of which is set as a standby system, the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit. And a tone signal detecting unit included in each of the first voice processing unit and the second voice processing unit, and between the telephone terminals of the voice signal. In the system switching method executed by a relay device that relays the transmission and reception of the audio signal, one audio processing unit, which is set as an active system, of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit, processes the audio signal. A step of executing a voice process for relaying; a step of the tone signal detecting section detecting a tone signal emitted during a call between the telephone terminals connected to the call; and the switching control section, a specific pattern. Switching the active system and the standby system of the first voice processing unit and the second voice processing unit while maintaining the call connection based on the detection of the tone signal.

According to the present invention, it is possible to promptly detect the occurrence of a defect in voice communication between telephone terminals and switch between the active system and the standby system.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system including a media gateway device of Example 1 and a call path of voice communication. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing routine of noise detection processing in the communication system of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system including a media gateway device of Example 2 and a call path of voice communication. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing routine of noise detection processing in the communication system of Example 2.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of each embodiment and the accompanying drawings, substantially the same or equivalent parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication system of this embodiment. The communication system of this embodiment includes a media gateway device 100 as a relay device that relays voice communication via an IP (Internet Protocol) network and a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Networks) line. Although a plurality of telephone terminals are connected to the IP network, one of them is shown as a telephone terminal T1 in FIG. Similarly, a plurality of telephone terminals are connected to the PSTN line, one of which is shown as a telephone terminal T2 in FIG.

The media gateway device 100 is connected to the PSTN line. The media gateway device 100 is also connected to the IP network via the switching hub SH. The switching hub SH is a switching hub such as an Ethernet (registered trademark) switch, and is sent when voice data is simultaneously transmitted from a plurality of telephone terminals (not shown) connected to an IP network, for example. The destination of the voice data is sorted by reading the destination MAC address in the packet.

The media gateway device 100 includes a controller unit 11, a first media gateway unit 12, a second media gateway unit 13, and a TDM interface unit 14. The first media gateway unit 12 and the second media gateway unit 13 are voice processing units that perform voice processing for relaying transmission and reception of voice signals between telephone terminals. One of the first media gateway unit 12 and the second media gateway unit 13 is set as an active (ACTIVE) media gateway unit, and the other is set as a standby (STANDBY) media gateway unit. In FIG. 1, the case where the first media gateway unit 12 is set to the active system and the second media gateway unit 13 is set to the standby system is shown as an example.

The controller unit 11 is a control unit that controls each unit of the media gateway device 100. The controller unit 11 performs switching between the operating system/standby system of the first media gateway unit 12 and the second media gateway unit 13, switching of the selector of the TDM interface unit 14, and setting of other functional units. In the following description, the switching between the active system and the standby system of the first media gateway unit 12 and the second media gateway unit 13 is also simply referred to as "system switching".

The first media gateway unit 12 includes a digital voice signal (hereinafter, simply referred to as voice data) transmitted from the telephone terminal T1 connected to the IP network and a voice signal from the telephone terminal T2 connected to the PSTN. Do the conversion. The first media gateway unit 12 includes an IP interface unit 21, a VoIP processing unit 22, a tone detection unit 23, and a TDM processing unit 24.

The IP interface unit 21 is a terminating device that terminates the IP network. The IP interface unit 21 is connected to the IP network via the switching hub SH. Further, the IP interface unit 21 is connected to the VoIP processing unit 22.

The VoIP processing unit 22 has a function of performing codec conversion of voice data. For example, the VoIP processing unit 22 performs codec conversion of RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) and TDM (Time Division Multiplexing).

The tone detection unit 23 has a function of detecting a DTMF (Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency) tone signal contained in 64 kbps voice data transmitted and received between terminals and determining the type thereof. That is, the tone detection unit 23 determines the type of the tone button (that is, the “*” button and the push button that is subsequently pressed) pressed on the telephone terminal T1 or T2. The tone detection unit 23 is configured to be able to detect that voice noise is heard at the telephone terminal T1 or T2 based on such a function.

Specifically, a caller who uses the telephone terminal T1 or T2 to press a tone button in a predetermined pattern (hereinafter, referred to as a specific pattern) when hearing voice noise. In the tone detection unit 23, a tone signal pattern corresponding to the pressing of the tone button in a specific pattern is registered as a pattern indicating the listening of voice noise.

For example, in the present embodiment, the caller who hears the voice noise continuously presses "*" and "2" of the buttons 0 to 9, *, and # of the telephone which is the telephone terminal. The tone detection unit 23 detects a tone signal from the voice data, and detects the tone signal of the tone signal when the detected tone signal continuously presses "*" and "2" (for example, at intervals of less than 1 second). By determining whether or not it matches the pattern, it is detected that the voice noise is heard at the telephone terminal T1 or T2.

The TDM processing unit 24 is connected to the PSTN line via the TDM interface unit 14, and performs conversion (interface conversion) for adapting the interface for termination of the PSTN line and transmission/reception of 64 kbps voice data.

The second media gateway unit 13 has the same configuration and function as the first media gateway unit 12. The second media gateway unit 13 includes an IP interface unit 31, a VoIP processing unit 32, a tone detection unit 33, and a TDM processing unit 34. The IP interface unit 31 corresponds to the IP interface unit 21, the VoIP processing unit 32 corresponds to the VoIP processing unit 22, the tone detection unit 33 corresponds to the tone detection unit 23, and the TDM processing unit 34 corresponds to the TDM processing unit 24, respectively.

The TDM interface unit 14 is connected between the first media gateway unit 12 or the second media gateway unit 13 and the PSTN line. The TDM interface unit 14 has a selector 41 and an interface unit 42.

The selector 41 switches the connection destination of the TDM interface unit 14 to either one of the first media gateway unit 12 and the second media gateway unit 13 under the control of the controller unit 11. The interface unit 42 is connected to the PSTN line and performs physical interface conversion such as electricity and light.

As shown by a thick solid line in FIG. 1, a call path is set up between the telephone terminals T1 and T2 so as to pass through the media gateway unit 12 which is an operating system, and a telephone call is made between the terminals. The voice from the telephone terminal T1 is supplied to the media gateway device 100 via the IP network and the switching hub SH. Inside the media gateway device 100, the selector 41 of the TDM interface unit 14 and the VoIP processing unit 22, the tone detection unit 23, and the TDM processing unit 24 of the first media gateway unit 12, which is the operating system, are passed through. The telephone terminal T2 is reached from the interface unit 42 via the PSTN line. The voice from the telephone terminal T2 follows the reverse route and reaches the telephone terminal T1.

Next, the processing routine of the noise detection processing executed by the communication system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. It is assumed here that the telephone terminals T1 and T2 are already in the call connection state. In addition, as described above, when a caller who makes a call using the telephone terminal T1 or T2 hears voice noise, "*" and "of the buttons 0 to 9, *, and # of the telephone, which is the telephone terminal, are selected. 2" continuously at intervals of less than 1 second.

The tone detection unit 23 detects a tone signal from the 64 kbps voice data transmitted and received through the first media gateway unit 12 (STEP 101).

The tone detection unit 23 determines whether or not the detected tone signal matches the specific pattern (STEP 102). Specifically, the tone detection unit 23 determines whether or not a tone signal having a pattern corresponding to the continuous depression of the push buttons “*” and “2” is detected. When it is determined that the tone signal does not match the pattern (STEP 102: No), the process returns to STEP 101 and the tone signal is detected again.

When it is determined that the tone signal matches the pattern (STEP 102: Yes), the tone detection unit 23 notifies the controller unit 11 of the determination result (STEP 103).

The controller unit 11 switches the system according to the notification from the tone detection unit 23 while maintaining the call connection of the telephone terminals T1 and T2, and sets the second media gateway unit 13 to the operation system and the first media gateway unit 12 Is set as a standby system (STEP 104).

As described above, the media gateway device 100 of the present embodiment detects the occurrence of voice noise based on the tone signal included in the voice data from the telephone terminal T1 or T2, and switches the active system/standby system. With such a configuration, it is possible to quickly detect a voice communication defect such as voice noise and switch the system.

Next, a communication system according to the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the communication system of this embodiment. The communication system of the present embodiment differs from the communication system of the first embodiment in that it has a maintenance server 200 and switches the active/standby system of the media gateway device 100 according to the control of the maintenance server 200.

The maintenance server 200 is a server device that maintains the communication system of this embodiment. The maintenance server 200 transmits/receives information data to/from the controller unit 11 of the media gateway device 100. For example, the maintenance server 200 receives from the controller unit 11 a trap notification indicating that voice noise has been heard at the telephone terminal T1 or T2.

In addition, the maintenance server 200 determines whether or not to switch the active system/standby system in the media gateway device 100 in response to the reception of the trap notification, and when it determines that the switching is necessary, instructs the system switching. The switching instruction signal to perform is transmitted to the controller unit 11 of the media gateway device 100.

For example, the maintenance server 200 has a storage unit (not shown) that stores the trap notification received from the controller unit 11, and the number of times of receiving the trap notification indicating that the audio noise is heard is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. In this case, it is determined that system switching is necessary, and a switching instruction signal is transmitted to the media gateway device 100.

Next, a processing routine of noise detection processing executed by the communication system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As in the case of the first embodiment, when a caller who makes a call using the telephone terminal T1 or T2 hears voice noise, "*" among the buttons 0 to 9, *, and # of the telephone which is the telephone terminal. And “2” are continuously pressed at intervals of less than 1 second.

The tone detection unit 23 detects a tone signal from the 64 kbps voice data transmitted and received through the first media gateway unit 12 (STEP 201).

The tone detection unit 23 determines whether the detected tone signal matches the specific pattern (STEP 202). Specifically, the tone detection unit 23 determines whether or not a tone signal having a pattern corresponding to the continuous depression of the push buttons “*” and “2” is detected. When it is determined that the tone signal does not match the specific pattern (STEP202: No), the process returns to STEP201 and the tone signal is detected again.

When it is determined that the tone signal matches the specific pattern (STEP202: Yes), the tone detection unit 23 notifies the determination result to the controller unit 11 (STEP203).

Based on the determination result notified from the tone detection unit 23, the controller unit 11 transmits a trap notification indicating that voice noise is heard at the telephone terminal T1 or T2 to the maintenance server 200 (STEP204).

When the maintenance server 200 receives the trap notification and the cumulative number of receptions exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the maintenance server 200 determines that system switching in the media gateway device 100 is necessary, and sends a switching instruction signal to the media gateway device 100. Send to.

The controller unit 11 determines whether or not a switching instruction signal has been received from the maintenance server 200 within a predetermined period after transmitting the trap notification (STEP205). When it is determined that the switching instruction signal has not been received (STEP205: No), the process returns to STEP201 and the tone signal is detected again.

When it is determined that the switching instruction signal has been received (STEP 205: Yes), the controller unit 11 switches the system according to the switching instruction signal while maintaining the call connection of the telephone terminals T1 and T2, and the second media gateway. The unit 13 is set as the active system and the first media gateway unit 12 is set as the standby system (STEP 206).

As described above, the media gateway device 100 of the present embodiment detects the occurrence of voice noise based on the tone signal from the telephone terminal T1 or T2, and notifies the maintenance server 200 of it. With such a configuration, a maintenance person who operates the maintenance server 200 can be made aware of the occurrence of voice noise.

Further, the media gateway device 100 of the present embodiment switches between the active system and the standby system in response to the switching instruction signal from the maintenance server 200 when the number of times voice noise is detected exceeds a predetermined threshold value. According to this configuration, the necessity of system switching is determined based on the number of times the voice noise is detected, and therefore, only when there is a high probability that a failure has occurred in the media gateway unit of the operating system, the operating system/standby is possible. It is possible to switch the system.

The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the one described in the above example. For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the caller hears the voice noise, the push buttons "*" and "2" are continuously pressed, and the tone detection unit 23 detects the tone signal of the corresponding pattern. The case has been described as an example. However, the pattern indicating the listening of voice noise is not limited to this. That is, it is sufficient that the caller presses the tone button in a predetermined specific pattern and the tone detection unit 23 detects the tone signal of the pattern corresponding to this.

Further, in the second embodiment, the controller unit 11 sends a trap notification indicating that noise is detected by voice to the maintenance server 200, and based on the switching control signal from the maintenance server 200, the first media gateway unit The case where the active/standby system of the 12 and the second media gateway unit 13 is switched has been described. However, it is not always necessary to automatically switch the system based on the switching instruction signal from the maintenance server 200. For example, the maintenance person who knows that the maintenance server 200 has received the trap notification may operate the controller unit 10 of the media gateway device 100 to switch the system at an arbitrary timing.

Further, in the above-described first embodiment, the case has been described in which the system switching is performed in response to the detection of the tone signal of the specific pattern. However, as in the second embodiment, the system may be switched when the number of detections of the tone signal of the specific pattern becomes equal to or more than a predetermined threshold.

In the second embodiment, the maintenance server 200 transmits the switching instruction signal to the media gateway device 100, triggered by the number of times of the trap notification indicating that the tone signal of the specific pattern has been detected is equal to or more than the threshold value. The case of executing the above switching has been described. However, as in the first embodiment, the maintenance server 200 transmits a switching instruction signal to the media gateway device 100 each time a trap notification indicating that a tone signal of a specific pattern has been detected is made to perform system switching. It may be configured.

Further, in the above-described first and second embodiments, the case where the telephone terminal T1 is connected to the IP network and the telephone terminal T2 is connected to the PSTN line has been described as an example. However, the connection form of each telephone terminal to the communication network is not limited to this. For example, both the telephone terminals T1 and T2 may both be connected to the IP network. Further, both the telephone terminals T1 and T2 may both be connected to the PSTN line. In these cases, instead of the media gateway device 100 of each of the above-described embodiments, a relay device that relays transmission and reception of a voice signal between telephone terminals has a similar function of detecting a tone signal and switching the system based on the detection. It should be.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case has been described in which the caller who uses the telephone terminal presses the tone button in a specific pattern when voice noise is detected. However, the tone button may be pressed in a similar pattern even when the caller detects a communication fault other than voice noise, such as a silent part in the call voice. Even in such a case, as in the case of voice noise, the tone detection unit 23 detects the tone signal, so that it is possible to more flexibly detect the occurrence of a defect in voice communication and switch the system.

100 media gateway device 11 controller unit 12 first media gateway unit 13 second media gateway unit 14 interface unit 21 IP interface unit 22 VoIP processing unit 23 tone detection unit 24 TDM processing unit 31 IP interface unit 32 VoIP processing unit 33 tone detection unit 34 TDM processing unit 41 Selector 42 Interface unit SH Switching hub T1 Telephone terminal T2 Telephone terminal 200 Maintenance server

Claims (5)

A relay device for relaying transmission/reception of a voice signal between telephone terminals,
A first audio processing unit and a second audio processing unit, one of which is set as an active system and the other of which is set as a standby system, each performing audio processing for relaying the audio signal;
A switching control unit that switches between an active system and a standby system of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit;
Have
Each of the first voice processing unit and the second voice processing unit includes a tone detection unit that detects a tone signal emitted during a call between the telephone terminals connected by call.
When the tone signal of the specific pattern is detected by the tone detection unit, the switching control unit maintains an operation system and a standby system of the first voice processing unit and the second voice processing unit while maintaining the call connection. A relay device characterized by performing switching. The switching control unit is communicatively connected to a server device located outside the relay device, and transmits a detection notification indicating that the tone signal of the specific pattern is detected by the tone detection unit to the server device. The relay device according to claim 1, wherein: The switching control unit receives a switching control signal from the server device, and switches the operating system and the standby system of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit according to the switching control signal. The relay device according to claim 2. The voice processing unit of the first voice processing unit and the second voice processing unit, which is set as an operating system, is a VoIP between a telephone terminal connected to an IP network and a telephone terminal connected to a public switched telephone network. Performs conversion of voice data transmitted and received by communication as the voice processing,
The tone detection unit detects a tone signal of the specific pattern included in the voice data of the VoIP communication,
The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the relay device is a relay device. A first audio processing unit and a second audio processing unit, one of which is set as an active system and the other of which is set as a standby system, and switching between the active system and the standby system of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit. A relay device that has a switching control unit that performs the switching and a tone signal detection unit that is included in each of the first voice processing unit and the second voice processing unit, and that relays transmission and reception of voice signals between telephone terminals is executed. It is a system switching method to
One of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit, which is set as an operating system, executes an audio process for relaying the audio signal;
The tone signal detecting section detects a tone signal emitted during a call between the telephone terminals connected to the call;
A step in which the switching control unit switches an active system and a standby system of the first audio processing unit and the second audio processing unit while maintaining the call connection based on detection of a tone signal of a specific pattern;
A system switching method comprising:

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