JP2624770B2 - Communications system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Purpose of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to, for example, an ISDN-compatible communication system.

(Prior Art) The transition from analog networks to digital networks is being promoted from an international perspective, centered on the CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Advisory Committee). ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), a service of which has recently been started, is a specific example of this. By constructing this network, various communication services for voice, image and data are realized by the same public network.

The recommendation on ISDN in CCITT is called I. series, and I.430, I.441, and I451 specify the basic interface.

According to the basic interface, a billing information notification service is under study.

According to this, an area for transferring the fee notification is secured in a part of a message called “DISCONNECT”, and when communication between the terminals is completed, the network side uses the message to transmit the line usage fee to the terminal from the network side. Is a service that notifies

However, this notification service has a problem in that the charge cannot be known during communication between terminals.

For this reason, it is conceivable to sequentially notify the network side to the terminal of the line usage fee that gradually changes over time during communication. In this case, however, the load on the network side increases, and such a notification is required. As a result, there is a problem that the traffic volume of the line increases.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, the conventional billing information notification service cannot know the line usage fee during communication. For this reason, it is conceivable to sequentially notify the line usage fee that changes over time. However, an increase in the load on the network side and an increase in the traffic volume of the line pose a problem.

Therefore, the present invention does not affect the network side and the line,
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a communication system capable of knowing a line usage fee even during communication.

[Composition of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve such an object, a communication system of the present invention is a communication system in which communication terminals are connected via a switching network. Charging data storage means for storing one unit of charging data corresponding to a destination and a service type; means for receiving control information with destination information inserted from the communication terminal to perform call setting; Means for retrieving the charging data storage means based on the destination information, inserting charging data corresponding to the destination into the call setting control information, and returning the charging data to the caller's communication terminal. Transmission control means for transmitting control information with the destination information inserted to the switching network at the same time and receiving the control information of the call setting returned from the switching network; A time usage unit, a line usage fee for calculating a line usage fee that changes stepwise based on the charging data inserted in the control information received by the transmission control unit, and the communication time measured by the time measurement unit. And a display unit for constantly displaying the line usage fee calculated by the line usage fee calculation unit during communication.

(Operation) In the present invention, since the terminal calculates the subsequent line usage fee based on a set of information notified from the switching network, the line usage is maintained during communication without affecting the network side or the line. You can know the fee.

Embodiment Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an ISDN communication system of this embodiment, in which a plurality of ISDN communication terminals 2a,
Are connected via, for example, an office line 5 of "2B + D".

The switching network 1 includes a digital exchange 3 and this exchange 3
Is connected to a billing data unit 4.

FIG. 2 is an example of an information table which is set according to the position where the terminal is located, in order to calculate the line usage fee in the charging data unit 4.

In the figure, "destination" indicates the subscriber number of the communication terminal on the receiving side or the upper two digits of the terminal number. The “type” is a service type, for example, “1” indicates voice communication, and “2” indicates non-voice communication. "Time" indicates the line usage time per 10 yen.

Charging data section 4 searches for "time" in response to a request from exchange 3, and returns this information.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the ISDN communication terminals 2a, 2b,..., And exchanges control information with, for example, a D channel through a transmission / reception unit 6 for performing communication with the network 1 via the office line 5. A transmission control unit 7 for performing the measurement, a clock unit 8 for measuring time, and a display unit 9 are provided.

Next, the operation of calculating the line usage fee in this embodiment will be described with reference to the operation sequence diagram shown in FIG. In addition,
Since this communication system is ISDN compatible, CCITT
Outgoing and incoming procedures are set based on Recommendation I.451.

Assuming that the communication terminal 2a makes a call to the communication terminal 2b, first, a "call setting" message is sent from the communication terminal 2a to the exchange 3. According to the CCITT recommendation, the "call setup" message contains the service type, the subscriber number or terminal number of the calling terminal and the called terminal. Exchange 3
Is the service type included in the "call setup" message,
The subscriber numbers or terminal numbers of the calling terminal and the called terminal are sent to the billing data unit 4, and a search for "time" is prompted. In response, charging data section 4 retrieves the corresponding "time" from the information table shown in FIG. 2 and returns this information to exchange 3.

When the exchange 3 obtains such "time" information after receiving the "call setup" message, the exchange 3 includes the "time" information in the "call setup acceptance" message and returns it to the communication terminal 2a on the calling side. , Sends a “call setting” message to the communication terminal 2b on the receiving side.

Subsequently, upon receiving the "call setting accepted" message and the "call" message from the receiving communication terminal 2b, the exchange 3 sends a "call" message to the calling communication terminal 2a. Thereafter, when receiving a "response" message from the communication terminal 2b on the receiving side, it sends a "response" message to the communication terminal 2a on the calling side and sends a "acknowledgment" message to the communication terminal 2b on the receiving side.

Hereinafter, communication starts between the communication terminals 2a and 2b via the exchange 3.

When the communication terminal 2a on the calling side receives the "call setting acceptance" message, it sends out the "time" information contained in the "call setting acceptance" message to the timer section 8 via the transmission / reception section 6 and the transmission control section 7. doing. The clock section 8 starts time measurement at the same time as the start of communication, calculates a line usage fee that changes step by step from the time measurement result and the “time” information, and displays this on the display section 9. .

As described above, in the above-described embodiment, if the "time" information is sent from the exchange 3 to the terminal once, the terminal calculates the line usage fee based on the "time" information thereafter. It is possible to know the line usage fee even during communication without increasing the traffic and the amount of traffic on the line.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

For example, in order for the terminal to calculate the line usage fee, information about "time" is transmitted from the exchange to the terminal. However, this information is information on "charge", that is, information on the fee per unit time. Or some parameter.

In the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 4, the information about "time" is included in the "call setting acceptance" message from the exchange to the originating communication terminal. It may be included in a “call” message or a “answer” message.

Further, a service called collect call, in which the called party pays the line fee, includes information on "time" included in a "call setting" message or a "acknowledgment" message from the exchange to the called communication terminal. The same display as the example may be performed.

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the line usage fee can be known even during communication without affecting the network side or the line.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a configuration diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an information table in this embodiment, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a terminal of this embodiment, FIG. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of this embodiment. 1 ... switching network, 2a, 2b ... ISDN communication terminal, 3 ... switch, 4 ...
Billing data section.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A communication system in which communication terminals are connected via a switching network, wherein the switching network comprises: charging data storage means for storing one unit of charging data corresponding to a destination and a service type; Means for receiving the control information in which the information is inserted and performing call setting; searching the charging data storage means based on the destination information of the received control information; and controlling call setting based on the charging data corresponding to the destination. Means for inserting the information into information and returning the information to the originating communication terminal. The communication terminal transmits control information in which destination information has been inserted at the time of originating the call to the switching network and a call returned from the switching network. Transmission control means for receiving the control information of the setting, timer means for measuring the communication time at the start of communication, and charging data inserted in the control information received by the transmission control means, A line usage fee calculating unit that calculates a line usage fee that changes stepwise based on the communication time measured by the clocking unit; and a display that constantly displays the line usage fee calculated by the line usage fee calculation unit during communication. A communication system comprising: