JP3079689B2 - Communication connection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication connecting apparatus having a communication partner and a communication means selection display and a communication state display which are visually and easily understood by a user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a telephone for selecting a communication partner using a dial, and there has been a letter for writing an address and posting the address.
In addition, there was a mail system that realized a pseudo-letter function on a computer, and an electronic dialog system that was realized by connecting a computer and a telephone. Some of these systems have a graphical user interface that allows you to select the other party with an icon, and the icon that represents the other party and the command menu that represents the communication means are displayed at a distance on the screen, and can be selected in a menu format. We were able to.

[0003]

However, in communication means such as telephones and letters, it takes time to search for a telephone number and address of a communication partner, dial, and write an address when performing communication. In addition, there is also a problem with the telephone that the other party cannot connect because the other party is busy even when the dial is turned (busy). On the other hand, in the method of the mail system or the electronic dialogue system, the telephone number and the address as the communication partner can be treated uniformly. In the above-mentioned device having a graphical user interface in which a partner can be selected by an icon,
The icon representing the communication partner and the command menu representing the communication means are displayed at separate positions on the screen, and can be selected in a menu format. However, with respect to the telephone, the above-mentioned busy problem remains. In addition, although selecting a communication partner and selecting a communication means are a series of operations, it is sometimes inconvenient to be displayed as a menu at a remote position. In addition, there is also a disadvantage that a caller is called one-sidedly, irrespective of the receiver's wishes, especially in a telephone. In the present invention, in view of the problem of the conventional method, by displaying the communication state of the communication partner on the screen of the communication connection device, to give the user information to prevent a problem during talking at the time of a communication request,
By displaying an icon indicating a communication means or a communication state on an icon representing a communication partner or at a position in contact with the icon, selecting a communication partner and selecting a communication means reduce a user's work load as a series of operations. By reducing the number of calls, the incoming call icon is displayed on the caller's face icon on the screen of the communication partner or at the position where the contact is made, thereby ensuring the freedom of the receiver not to receive the communication.

[0004]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides an input means for inputting by designating an icon, an interpreting means for interpreting the input as input data, and a storage means for storing selection status data. 1 storage means, second storage means for storing communication status data of members, and first input which receives input data from the interpretation means and selection status data obtained by accessing the first storage means. Determining means for inputting the input data from the first determining means and the communication state data of the member obtained by accessing the second storing means, and rewriting the stored data in the first storing means. A first processing unit, a communication connection unit for performing a physical connection of communication by using input data from the first processing unit as an input, and inputting input data from the first processing unit. Transmitting means for outputting communication data to the network; receiving means for receiving communication data from the network; second determining means for receiving the data received from the receiving means as input; Second processing means having means for rewriting the contents of the second storage means with communication data as input, third storage means for storing display data of icons, first processing means and second processing means. Third processing means for inputting the input data of the names of the first icon and the second icon from the processing means, and the data of the icon obtained by accessing the third storage means, and the third processing means Means for calculating the display position coordinates of the second icon by inputting the data of the first icon and the second icon from the computer, and a screen by inputting the data of the icon input from the calculating means. Communication connection and means for the force.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an icon indicating that a communication partner is communicating with a certain communication means is displayed on the communication connection device screen of the user on the icon representing the communication partner or a position where the icon is in contact with the icon. Can be displayed. Further, when the user selects a communication partner, an icon representing a communication means available for the communication partner can be displayed on the icon representing the communication partner or at a position in contact with the icon. When the user has selected the communication partner and the communication means, the user can issue a communication request to the communication partner. At that time, the communication is performed on the icon representing the user on the communication connection device screen of the communication partner or at a position in contact with the icon. An icon representing the request can be displayed. When the communication partner accepts the communication request, the communication function can be connected.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The configuration of one unit of the present connection device will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The present invention is an apparatus in which one communication unit is installed on a network for one communication person in units of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and communication is connected between the communication persons. The following table shows the main data structure of data exchanged between blocks and the data structure of data stored in each storage unit in the block and reference data used to refer to data in the storage unit.

[0007]

[Table 1]

[0008]

[Table 2]

The input unit 101 is a device for inputting position coordinates required by a user to specify an icon and outputting input coordinate data 1010 to an input interpreting unit 102, and is, for example, a mouse or a keyboard. Data 1010 is the coordinates of the pointer at the time of input. The input interpretation unit 102 is the input unit 1
When input coordinate data 1010 is input from 01, input content data 1020 and 102 which are contents indicated by the input.
1 is an apparatus that outputs an input determination unit 103 and input content data 1022 to an input processing unit 106. The input content data is an input content, and the input content is any of a communication partner name, a communication means name, and a communication received (this has data of a member name and a communication means name). The data becomes 1020, 1021, and 1022.

[0010] The selection status storage unit 104 is a device for storing selection status data indicating the status of selection of a communication partner and communication means by the user, and has input means for receiving a signal 1030 and input means for receiving selection status data 1060. Upon receiving the signal, the selection status data 1040 is input by the input determination unit 103
And a means for receiving the data 1060 and rewriting the stored contents. The selection status data is as shown in Table 2 and has three states, "empty" and "
Partner name "and" partner name, means name ".

[0011] The member status storage unit 105 stores member status data which is information of communication performed by the member with other members, and has input means for receiving the member name 1063 and input means for receiving the member status data 1141. Output means for receiving the member name and outputting the member state data 1064 of the member name to the input processing unit 106;
It is a storage device having means for receiving the data 1141 and rewriting the storage contents. The member status data is data in which, for a certain member name, the communication partner name and communication means name of the communication which the member is currently performing are arranged.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a main part of the embodiment. FIG. 2A shows a detailed block diagram of the input determination unit 103. Reference numeral 103 denotes a determination unit 201 and a determination unit 202. The input unit 201 receives input content data 1020 from the input interpretation unit 102, and the output unit sends a signal 2011 to the selection status storage unit 104. Input means for receiving situation data 2010 and input processing unit 1
An output means for sending the member name in the data 1021 as data 1031 to 06 is provided.

The determination unit 202 includes an input unit that receives input content data 1021 from the input interpretation unit 102, an output unit that sends a signal 2021 to the selection status storage unit 104, and an input unit that receives selection status data 2020 from the input unit 104. The input processing unit 106 sends the communication partner name in the selection status data 2020 and the communication means name in the data 1021 to the data 103.
It has an output means for sending as 2. 2011 and 2021 are put together into a signal 1030 and sent to 104, and the data 1040 is sent as 2010 and 2020 to the judgment unit which issued the signal.

The input processing unit 106 is divided into a processing unit 203, a processing unit 204, and a processing unit 205 as shown in FIG. The processing unit 203 includes an input unit that receives the data 1031 from the input determination unit 103, an output unit that sends the display data 2032 to the output processing unit 107, an output unit that sends the member name 2031 to the member information storage unit 105,
5 is a processing device having input means for receiving the member status data 2030 from the server 5.

The processing unit 204 includes an input unit that receives data 1032 from the input determining unit 103 and an output processing unit 107.
Output means for sending display data 2042 to the member, output means for sending a member name 2041 to the member status storage unit 105,
The processing device has an input unit that receives the member status data 2040 from the communication unit 105 and an output unit that sends the communication data 2042 to the transmission unit 111.

The processing unit 205 includes an input unit that receives data 1022 from the input interpretation unit 102, an output unit that sends a member name 2051 to the member information storage unit 105,
This is a processing device having an input unit for receiving the member status data 2050 from the client unit 05 and an output unit for transmitting the communication data 2052 to the transmission unit 111. The data 2031, 2041, 2
051 are combined into 1063, and data 1064 is added to data 2030,
Returned as 2040, 2050. Input determination unit 1
03 and the data are received from the input interpretation unit 102, the processing is started.

The transmission unit 111 includes processing units 204 to 1061 and processing units 205 to 1061 of the input processing unit 106.
And an output unit for outputting, to a network, communication data 1110 obtained by protocol-converting the communication data.

As shown in Table 1, communication data is data having a sender, a transmission partner, a communication means, and a communication type. There are three types of communication: communication request, communication acceptance, and communication termination.

The icon data storage unit 108 stores icon data. When the icon name is input as data 1070, the icon data 108
0 is a storage device that outputs 0 to the output processing unit 107.

The output position calculator 109 receives the icon data 1071 of the first icon and the second icon,
The screen output position coordinates of the first icon and the second icon are calculated, and the output position coordinates, the output size, and the bitmap image of the first icon and the second icon are output to the output unit 110.
Is a calculation processing device for outputting to a computer.

The output unit 110 receives the output position coordinates of the icon, the output size, and the bitmap image,
It is a display device that displays icons. Output processing unit 107
Has input means for receiving the display data 1080 as the first icon name and the second icon name, and output means for sending the icon name 1071 obtained from the display data 1080 to the icon data storage unit 108. Has input means for receiving data 1080 from 108,
This is a processing device having an output unit for sending the icon data as data 1071 to the output position calculation unit 109.

The receiving unit 112 receives the communication data 1120 flowing on the network, converts the protocol, and
The communication data 1121 is output to the reception determining unit 113. The reception determination unit 113 is a determination unit that determines the content of the communication data 1121 input from the reception unit and branches the processing. It has an output unit that sends data 1130 and 1131 to the processing unit 206 and the processing unit 207 of the reception processing unit 114 according to the transmission destination name and the communication type of 1121.

The reception processing unit 114 is composed of a processing unit 206 and a processing unit 207 as shown in FIG.
The processing unit 206 is a processing device that receives data from the reception determining unit 113, processes the data, and outputs the data to the output processing unit. The processing unit 207 includes the reception determining unit 1
13 is a processing device having an output means for receiving data from the member 13, processing the data, and sending the member information data to the member status storage unit.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below. First, the screen display will be described. Output processing unit 107
When receiving display data containing the first icon name and the second icon name, the icon name is sent to 108 as data 1070 and the icon data 1080 of each icon is received.
Get. As shown in Table 2 of the icon data, the first
For an icon, it is data having an icon output position, a size, a display rule, and a bitmap, and for a second icon, a display rule, a size,
This is data having a bitmap image. Next, the icon data is sent to the output position calculator 109 as data 1071. The output position calculation unit 109 calculates display coordinate data 1090 of the second icon from the display position of the first icon and the display rule of the second icon. For example, the second
If the display rule of the icon is a relative coordinate with respect to the first icon, the display position of the second coordinate is obtained by the coordinate conversion.
Display rules are not limited to relative coordinates. The display position of the first icon data in the data 1071 and the second icon obtained in this calculation process, the size of the second icon in the 1071,
Output unit 1 using bitmap image as data 1090
Send to 10. 110 displays an icon of a bitmap given in a predetermined size at a display position determined by the data 1090. That is, the first icon and the second icon are displayed on the screen in a manner according to the display rule of the second icon. This is hereinafter referred to as screen display processing.

When the coordinates input by the user are designated by the user 101, the data is sent to 102, and the input contents selected by the user are transmitted to the communication partner name, communication means, or communication (member name). , And communication means name data), and according to the input content, are sent as input content data 1020 and 1021 to the determination unit 201 and determination unit 202 and input content data 1022 to the processing unit 205, respectively. Next, the operation of the input determination unit will be described. Upon receiving the data, the determination unit 201 and the determination unit 202 send a signal to 104, and select status data 10
Obtain 40. The determination unit 201 ignores the input when the selection status data is not “empty”, and sends the member name of the data 1021 as data 1031 to the processing unit 203 of 106 when the selection status data is “empty”. The determination unit 202 ignores the input when the selection status data is not “member name”, and when the selection status data is “member name”, the member name of the data 1040 and the data 10
The communication unit name of 21 is sent to the processing unit 204 of 106 as data 1032.

Next, the operation of the input processing unit 106 will be described.
Upon receiving the member name of 1031, the processing unit 203 creates and outputs selection status data 1060 "member name" using the member name. Reference numeral 104 rewrites the stored selection status data with the selection status data input from 1060. Next, the member 106 sends the member name as data 1063 to 105 to obtain member state data of the member.

From the member status data, a communication means not currently used by the member is selected, and the selected communication means is used as a second icon name and the member face icon is used as a first icon name to generate display data 1062 and output it to the output processing section 107. I do. A screen display process is performed, and an icon of a possible communication means is displayed on or in contact with the member face icon as the communication partner, and the user can select a communication means to be performed.

The processing unit 204 of the data 106
The member name in the list is sent to 105 as data 1063 to obtain the member status data of this member. If the communication means in the data 1032 exists in the member status data, the input is ignored. If not, data 1032
Then, the selection status data 1060 “partner member name, communication means name” is created and output to 104, and the selection status data stored in 104 is rewritten.

Next, communication data 1061 is created as a communication request using the user name, the communication partner name and the communication means name in the data 1032, and the communication type, and sent to 111. Further, data 1062 is created using the member name as the first icon and the communication means name as the second icon, and is output to the output processing unit. The output display process is performed, and a possible communication means icon is displayed on the communication partner face icon on the screen or at the contact position. Send the member name and communication means name.

The processing unit 205 of 106 stores the user name, the communication partner name and the communication means name in the data 1022 as data 1150.
As the user name and data 102
The communication data 1061 is created by setting the communication type to “communication type” in the communication partner name and the communication means name in 2 and sent to 111. 111
Converts the data sent as 1061 into a protocol and sends it to the network.

Next, the receiving process will be described. Receiver 1
Reference numeral 12 copies communication data on the network and sends it to communication 113 as communication data 1121. In 113, when the communication partner name in the communication data is a user name and the communication type is a communication request, the communication data is
To the processing unit 206 in 114. When the communication type in the communication data is under communication, the communication data is sent to the processing unit 207 of 114 as data 1131. When communication data 1130 is received by processing unit 206, display data 1140 in which the face icon of the source name in the communication data is the first icon and the communication reception icon of the communication means name is the second icon is sent to 107. The above-mentioned screen display processing is performed, a receiving unit icon is displayed on the face icon of the caller on the screen or at a position where the caller is in contact with the caller, indicating that a communication request has been received from the caller by the communication unit. Processing unit 20
When the communication data 1131 is received in step 7, the display data 1140 in which the face icon of the source name in the communication data is the first icon and the communication icon of the communication means name is the second icon is sent to 107, and the screen display processing is performed. Then, the communication icon of the communication means is displayed on the face icon of both the caller and the transmission destination on the screen or at the position where the contact is made, and it is displayed that the two members are communicating. Next, member status data is created from the source name, destination name, and communication means name in this communication data and sent as 1141, and the member status of the destination name and destination name members in the member information storage unit 105 is corrected. Updating of the member communication state in response to the communication data is performed in the following procedure. The communication means in the communication data is newly added to the member status data of the transmission source and the transmission destination member in the communication data. When the communication ends, the communication state describing this communication is deleted. FIG. 3 shows a screen display diagram.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, there are provided input means for performing input by designating an icon, interpreting means for interpreting the input as input data, first storage means for storing selection status data, and member Second storage means for storing the communication state data of the first, second input means, input data from the interpretation means, and first determination means for inputting selection status data obtained by accessing the first storage means; The input data from the first determination means and the communication state data of the member obtained by accessing the second storage means are input to the first storage means.
First means for rewriting the data stored in the storage means
Processing means, and communication connection means for performing physical connection of communication by using input data from the first processing means as input,
Transmitting means for inputting input data from the first processing means and outputting communication data to a network; receiving means for receiving communication data from the network; and a second means for receiving data from the receiving means as input. Determining means, second processing means having means for rewriting the contents of the second storage means using communication data from the second determining means as input, and third storage for storing icon display data Means, input data of names of the first icon and the second icon from the first processing means and the second processing means, and icon data obtained by accessing the third storage means. (3) processing means, calculating means for calculating the display position coordinates of the second icon by inputting the data of the first icon and the second icon from the third processing means, and inputting from the calculating means. By providing a communication connection device including means for outputting screen data by inputting icon data to be input, an icon indicating that a communication partner is communicating with a certain communication means is displayed on the screen of the user's communication connection device. It can be displayed on the icon representing the communication partner or at a position in contact with the icon, thereby enabling the user to avoid the above-described in-progress inconvenience.

Further, when the user selects a communication partner,
An icon representing the communication means available to the communication partner can be displayed on the icon representing the communication partner or at a position in contact with the icon, so that selecting the communication partner and selecting the communication means can be performed. This can be performed as a series of operations, and an appropriate communication means can be quickly selected. When the user has selected the communication partner and the communication means, the user can issue a communication request to the communication partner. At that time, the communication is performed on the icon representing the user on the communication connection device screen of the communication partner or at a position in contact with the icon. An icon representing the request can be displayed, and the communication partner can know that the communication request has been received and who the caller is, and can judge whether communication is appropriate or not. When the communication partner responds to the communication request, the communication function can be connected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication connection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a detailed diagram of an input determining unit in the embodiment; FIG. 2B is a detailed diagram of an input processing unit in the embodiment; FIG.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a display screen in the embodiment. FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a communication means icon displayed on a member face icon. FIG. 3C is a diagram showing a communication request icon displayed at a position in contact with the member face icon. Communication icon display figure on the icon

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 101 input unit 102 input interpretation unit 103 input determination unit 104 selection status storage unit 105 member status storage unit 106 input processing unit 107 output processing unit 108 icon data storage unit 109 output position calculation unit 110 output unit 111 transmission unit 112 reception unit 113 reception Judgment unit 114 Reception processing unit 115 Communication function connection unit 201 Judgment unit 202 Judgment unit 203 Processing unit 204 Processing unit 205 Processing unit 206 Processing unit 207 Processing unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuaki Yamaguchi 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akino Inoue 1006 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Etsumi Kanaya 1006 Oji Kadoma Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. JP-A-63-105564 (JP, A) JP-A-1-128664 (JP, A) JP-A-3-44168 (JP, A) JP-A-4-322542 (JP, A) JP-A-3-109636 (JP, A) JP-A-2-161852 (JP, A) JP-A-1-261723 (JP, A) JP-A-1-259451 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An input unit for inputting by designating an icon; an interpreting unit for interpreting the input as input data; a first storage unit for storing selection status data; and a second storage unit for storing communication status data of members. Storage means, input data from the interpretation means, and selection status data obtained by accessing the first storage means, and input data from the first determination means. First processing means having means for inputting communication state data of a member obtained by accessing the second storage means and rewriting data stored in the first storage means;
Communication connection means for performing a physical connection of communication using input data from the processing means as input, transmission means for receiving input data from the first processing means as input and outputting communication data to the network, and communication from the network Receiving means for receiving data, second determining means for inputting data received from the receiving means, and rewriting the contents of the second storage means by inputting communication data from the second determining means Second processing means having means, third storage means for storing display data of icons, input of names of first and second icons from the first processing means and second processing means A third processing unit for inputting data and icon data obtained by accessing the third storage unit; and a first icon and a second icon from the third processing unit.
A communication connection device comprising: a calculating unit that calculates display position coordinates of a second icon by inputting icon data; and a unit that outputs a screen by inputting icon data input from the calculating unit.