JP3476982B2 - Communication line control method - 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 line control method that can be used for line control of communication performed using a telephone line of a multimedia terminal or a CATV network, for example.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional communication system between a host and a terminal using a circuit switching network. For the communication between terminals 1 to n connected to the circuit switching network and the host, the data transfer is started by the line management device that receives the line use request from the terminal or the host and secures the line connecting them. To be done. For example, the line management apparatus 903, which has received the line use request from the terminal 1 902, assigns the line not used at that time to the terminal 1 902 in the processing unit 904 and permits the communication with the host 901. To do. On the other hand, if all the lines are in use despite receiving the line use request from the terminal 1 902, the line management device 903 determines that the line of the terminal 1 902 is used until an unused line occurs. Wait for a usage request or confirm that all lines are in use by terminal 1
By notifying 902, a process for rejecting the line use is executed. The line once secured for communication by the above operation procedure is permanently guaranteed to be used by the line management device 903 unless a terminal or host issues a line disconnection request.

[0003]

However, as described above, in the conventional communication system using the circuit switching network, once a terminal reserves the use of one line, communication is performed unless a request for disconnecting the line is issued. Occupy the line with or without data. Therefore, if the terminal occupies all the lines that can be connected to the line management device, it becomes impossible to connect to a new line connection request, and the terminal that is using the line cannot use the line. Had to wait until the line was disconnected, and there was a problem that many connectable lines had to be prepared for communication that requires real time.

In consideration of the above-mentioned problems of the conventional communication system by the circuit switching network, the present invention is a communication line capable of connecting to more terminals than the conventional one even with the same number of lines. The purpose is to provide a control method.

[0005]

[0006]

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a line management device connecting a host and a network is used, and when reception data from the network side and transmission data to the network side do not occur for a predetermined time or more, If the line on the network side is temporarily disconnected without ending the session and there is a connection request from the terminal side or transmission data from the host side, the temporarily disconnected line can be regarded as an unused line and can be connected. characterized in that a handling cormorants communication channel control method as the line, to be stored when the previous SL attempt to connect the line which had been temporarily cut again, the transmission data from when the host can not connect to the instant buffer Is a communication line control method.

The second aspect of the present invention is to monitor the utilization status of the line on the network side and control the time until it is determined that there is no received data from the network side and no transmitted data to the network side. The communication line control method according to the first aspect of the present invention is characterized.

In the third aspect of the present invention, a new line connection request and a line reconnection request from the terminal side which is temporarily disconnected, or transmission data generation from the host side to the terminal which is temporarily disconnected are generated. When the reconnection request due to the new connection conflicts with the new connection request, the reconnection request of the temporarily disconnected line is preferentially connected, the priority of the new connection is lowered, and the number of connected terminals reaches the maximum number of connections. In the communication line control method according to the first aspect of the present invention, the control is performed so that a new connection is not performed.

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

In the first aspect of the present invention, for example, a host and a network are connected.
Line management device stores the generated last time the transmission data to the reception data Contact and network side from the network side, when the transmission data to the reception data and the network side from the network side does not occur for a predetermined time or more, a session Does not terminate, the line on the network side is temporarily disconnected, and when there is a connection request from the terminal side or transmission data from the host side, the temporarily disconnected line is regarded as an unused line and connection is possible. deal with. or,
For example, when the line that has been temporarily disconnected cannot be immediately connected when the line is reconnected, the transmission data from the host is stored in the buffer.

Further , in the second aspect of the present invention, for example, the utilization of the line on the network side is monitored, and the time until it is determined that there is no received data from the network side or transmitted data to the network side is controlled.

In the third aspect of the present invention, for example, when a new line is connected, if a line connection request from the terminal side or generation of transmission data from the host side competes, the line temporarily disconnected Prioritize reconnection.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a communication line control method of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the entire system in a communication line control method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a host device,
102 is a terminal device, and 103 is a line management device. 10
Reference numerals 4 to 106 are control blocks in the line management apparatus 103, 104 is a protocol processing unit for converting the transmission / reception data structure between the host side line and the terminal side line and transmitting data, and 105 is a line connection or disconnection. A communication state monitoring unit that monitors whether the communication is in progress and creates / updates the communication state registration table, and a communication control unit 106 that controls connection / disconnection of the line. FIG. 2 is an example of the communication state registration table. 3, 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the operation of the line management device 103.

Next, with respect to the communication line control method of the first embodiment, the processing contents of the line management device will be described with reference to FIGS. (1) Upon receiving the data, the protocol processing unit 104 determines whether the data is transmitted from the host device to the terminal device or from the terminal device to the host device (step S102 in FIG. 3). (2) In the case of data transmission from the host device to the terminal device, if it is a connection request, the destination is determined (step S114), and the communication control unit 106 connects the line to the corresponding terminal (step S115). ). Communication status monitor 10
The terminal 5 registers the terminal number, the channel identifier, and the access time in the communication state registration table, and turns on the flag indicating whether the line is connected (step S116). (3) If it is a disconnection request, the destination is determined (step S111), and the communication control unit 106 disconnects the line to the corresponding terminal (step S112). Communication status monitor 10
5 deletes the item relating to the terminal from the communication state registration table (step S113). (4) If the data is neither a connection request nor a disconnection request and is normal data, the destination is determined (step S105),
The communication status monitoring unit 105 refers to the communication status registration table and checks whether or not the flag of the corresponding terminal is ON (step S106). If the flag is ON, the access time of the communication status registration table is updated ( Step S109).
The protocol processing unit 104 transmits the data (step S110). (5) If the flag is OFF, the communication control unit 106 reconnects the line (step S107), and the communication state monitoring unit 10
5 turns on the flag of the corresponding terminal in the communication status registration table
(Step S108), and the access time is further updated (step S109). The protocol processing unit 104 transmits the data (step S110). Here, the flag being OFF indicates that the line being used by the corresponding terminal is temporarily disconnected. The conditions for turning off the flag will be described later (11).
Will be explained in detail. (6) In the case of data transmission from the terminal device to the host device, if it is a connection request, the transmission source determination is performed (step S126), and the communication control unit 106 connects the line with the corresponding terminal (step S127). ). Communication status monitor 10
The terminal 5 registers the terminal number, the channel identifier, and the access time in the communication state registration table, and turns on the flag indicating whether or not the line is being connected (step S128). (7) If it is a disconnection request, the transmission source is determined (step S129), and the communication control unit 106 disconnects the line with the corresponding terminal (step S130). Communication status monitor 10
5 deletes the item related to the terminal from the communication state registration table (step S131). (8) If it is a reconnection request, the originator is determined (step S132), and the communication control unit 106 reconnects the line with the corresponding terminal (step S133). The communication status monitoring unit 105 turns ON the flag of that terminal in the communication status registration table.
(Step S134), and the access time is further updated (step S135). (9) Neither connection request, disconnection request, nor reconnection request,
If the data is normal data, the transmission source is determined (step S124), the communication state monitoring unit 105 updates the access time of the communication state registration table (step S124),
The protocol processing unit 104 transmits the data (step S125). (10) The communication status monitoring unit 105 checks the access time of the terminal registered in the communication status registration table every predetermined fixed time t1 (step S201 in FIG. 5) (step S202), and then checks the fixed time. During t2 or more, it is determined whether or not there is a terminal that is not transmitting / receiving data (step S203). (11) If there is a terminal that has not transmitted or received data for a certain period of time, the communication status monitoring unit 105 turns off the flag of the corresponding terminal in the communication status registration table (step S204), and the protocol processing unit 104 Notify the relevant terminal that the line is temporarily disconnected (step S205),
The communication control unit 106 temporarily disconnects the line (step S2).
06).

By the above operation, the line can be temporarily disconnected and the host device can be temporarily disconnected for the terminal device which is connected to the line and can communicate with the host device but is not actually transmitting / receiving data. Since it is possible to transmit data to the terminal device without recognizing that, it is possible to increase the apparent total number of connected lines without allowing unnecessary line occupation. (Second Embodiment) FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the entire system in a communication line control method according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, 501 is a host device,
502 is a terminal device and 503 is a line management device. Fifty
Reference numerals 4 to 506 are control blocks in the line management device 503, and 504 is a protocol processing unit for converting the transmission / reception data structure between the host side line and the terminal side line to transmit data, and 505 is a line connection or disconnection. A communication state monitoring unit that monitors whether the communication is in progress and creates / updates the communication state registration table, and a communication control unit 506 that controls connection / disconnection of the line. A storage unit 507 is a buffer for temporarily storing data. 7, 8 and 5
3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the line management device 503. (1) Upon receiving the data, the protocol processing unit 504 determines whether the data is transmitted from the host device to the terminal device or from the terminal device to the host device (step S302 in FIG. 7). (2) In the case of data transmission from the host device to the terminal device, if it is a connection request, the destination is determined (step S314), and the communication control unit 506 connects the line to the corresponding terminal (step S315). ). Communication status monitor 50
5 registers the terminal number, the channel identifier, and the access time in the communication state registration table, and turns on the flag indicating whether or not the line is being connected (step S316). (3) If it is a disconnection request, the destination is determined (step S311), and the communication control unit 506 disconnects the line to the corresponding terminal (step S312). Communication status monitor 50
5 deletes the item relating to the terminal from the communication state registration table (step S313). (4) If the data is neither a connection request nor a disconnection request and is normal data, the destination is determined (step S305),
The communication status monitoring unit 505 refers to the communication status registration table and checks whether or not the flag of the corresponding terminal is ON (step S306). If the flag is ON, the access time of the communication status registration table is updated ( Step S309).
The protocol processing unit 504 transmits the data (step S310). (5) If the flag is OFF, it is checked whether there is a free line (step S340). If there is a free line, the communication control unit 506 reconnects the line (step S3).
07), the communication status monitoring unit 505 turns on the flag of the corresponding terminal in the communication status registration table (step S30).
8) Further, the access time is updated (step S30).
9). The protocol processing unit 504 transmits the data (step S310). (6) If there is no available line, the protocol processing unit saves the data from the host device in the storage unit 507 (step S341). After that, as soon as a free line is created, the communication control unit 506 reconnects the line (step S343), the communication state management unit 505 turns on the flag of the corresponding terminal in the communication state registration table (step S344), and Update access time (step S34)
5). The protocol processing unit 504 takes out the data saved from the storage unit 507 and transmits it (step S34).
6).

The operation in the case of data transmission from the terminal device to the host device and the operation of temporarily disconnecting the line are the same as those in the first embodiment.
The description is omitted.

By the above operation, when data is transmitted from the host device to the line that is temporarily disconnected, when the line cannot be immediately connected, the data is dropped or an error is notified from the line management device to the host device. It will never be done. (Third Embodiment) A block diagram of a system in a communication line control method according to the third embodiment is the same as the block diagram according to the first embodiment, and therefore its explanation is omitted. 3, 4 and 9 are flowcharts showing the operation of the line management apparatus 103.

The operation relating to the data transmission shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is the same as the operation in the first embodiment, and therefore its explanation is omitted. The operation of temporarily disconnecting the line shown in FIG. 9 will be described below. (1) The communication status monitoring unit 105 monitors the number of line connections by counting the number of terminals whose flag is ON in the communication status registration table, which is ON, for each predetermined fixed time T1. Value T2 that is inversely proportional to the usage rate
Is calculated (step S402). (2) The access time of the terminal registered in the communication state registration table is checked (step S403), and it is determined whether or not there is a terminal that has not transmitted / received data during T2 or more (step S404). (3) If there is a terminal that has not transmitted / received data for T2 or more, the communication status monitoring unit 105 turns off the flag of the corresponding terminal in the communication status registration table (step S4).
05), the protocol processing unit 104 notifies the relevant terminal that the line is temporarily disconnected (step S406), and the communication control unit 106 temporarily disconnects the line (step S40).
7).

By the above operation, when the line to the terminal which is not transmitting / receiving data is temporarily disconnected, the time until the determination of the temporary disconnection is changed according to the line usage rate, so that it is useless when there are many idle lines. There is no need to perform a temporary disconnection / reconnection process. (Fourth Embodiment) In the above-described embodiments, the basic control method of the line management device has been described in which the apparent total number of connected lines is increased by temporarily disconnecting the lines. In an actual line management device, it is necessary to process communication control commands issued from a plurality of terminals in parallel, and one command that can be used when a plurality of line connection / reconnection commands are issued at the same time. There may be cases where there is competition for line acquisition. In this case, a communication command is issued for a line that has been temporarily disconnected, and it is necessary to process the reconnection command with priority in order to perform smooth communication. Further, since it is necessary to process the line of temporary disconnection within a fixed time in response to the reconnection command, it is necessary to avoid holding too many temporary disconnection lines at the same time.

10 and 11 are flowcharts showing the operation of the line management device in the above case. 10 and 11 are different from FIGS. 3 and 4 in the case where data from the host device to the terminal device or data from the terminal device to the host device is a connection request (when the determination in step S103 or step S120 is YES). It is a control method. The processing contents of the line management apparatus will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, when the data from the host device to the terminal device is a connection request (Yes in step S103).
The control method in the case of ES) will be described.

First, it is determined whether a connectable line exists at that time. If it does not exist, it waits until a line becomes available (step S103a).
After confirming the existence of usable lines, it is judged whether or not there is a space that can be newly registered in the communication state registration table (step S103b). By setting an upper limit on the number that can be registered in the communication state registration table, it is possible to limit the number of connected terminals that apparently increases. If all the communication state registration tables are in the registered state, it means that a new connection further than this hinders smooth communication, and therefore the process returns to step S103a again. If the communication state registration table can be newly registered, then it is checked whether or not a reconnection request is simultaneously issued for communication in another terminal at that time (step S103c).
When the reconnection request is generated, the reconnection is prioritized and the process returns to step S103a. If the reconnection request has not occurred, it means that the connection request can be dealt with, and the same processing as in the first embodiment (step S1) will be described below.
14 and subsequent processes).

Also when the data from the terminal device to the host device is a connection request (when the determination in step S120 is YES), step S120 shown in FIG.
The processing similar to the above from step a to step S120c is executed.

By using the above-mentioned processing method, it is possible to realize a communication system for efficiently processing a communication control command randomly generated between a plurality of terminals.

As described above, for a line in which data transmission / reception is not actually performed, use of another terminal is permitted to realize effective use of the line, so that the number of lines is relatively small compared to the conventional one. It is possible to provide a communication system with real-time property to the terminal.

That is, according to the above embodiment, when the line management device connecting the host and the network has no received data from the network side and no transmitted data to the network side, unnecessary line occupation is avoided,
It is possible to apparently increase the number of connected lines and improve the line utilization efficiency. Further, even if the necessity of reconnection occurs during the temporary disconnection, the applications of the host and the terminal do not need to be aware that the line is disconnected. Furthermore, by prioritizing the race conditions of the line connections, it is possible to suppress the apparent increase in the number of line connections and the occurrence of waiting time when reconnecting the lines.

That is, the above embodiment aims at facilitating line connection and economically transmitting in a multimedia terminal. (1) Temporary disconnection / reconnection of a line by a line management device. (2) The transmission data is buffer-stored by the line management device while waiting for line connection. (3) Changed the criteria for judging no communication according to the usage of the line. (4) Arbitration control of new line connection and temporary disconnection line. Do.

In order to achieve the above object, when the line management device connecting the host and the network has no received data from the network side or transmitted data to the network side, (1) the session is not terminated and the network is not terminated. The line on the side is temporarily disconnected, and when the line connection request from the terminal side or the transmission data from the host side is generated, the line temporarily disconnected is reconnected to continue the session. Further, when the line that has been temporarily disconnected cannot be immediately connected when the connection is retried (2), the transmission data from the host side is stored in the buffer. further,
(3) Monitor the usage of the network side and control the time until it is judged that there is no received data from the network side or transmitted data to the network side. Connect a new line instead of the existing line. However, (4) the maximum number of apparent lines is determined to prevent an unlimited increase in the number of line connections. When a line connection request from the terminal side or generation of transmission data from the host side conflicts, priority is given to reconnection of the line that has been temporarily disconnected.

[0031]

As described above, the present invention has the advantage that even if the number of lines is the same, it is possible to connect lines to a greater number of terminals than in the prior art.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for realizing a communication control method according to a first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a communication state registration table according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a communication control method according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a communication control method according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing line disconnection according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram for realizing a communication control method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a communication control method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a communication control method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing line disconnection according to the third embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a communication control method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a communication control method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a system configuration diagram for realizing a conventional communication control method.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 host device 102 terminal device 103 line management device 104 Protocol processing unit 105 Communication status monitor 106 communication control unit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masataka Osaka 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-6-268642 (JP, A) JP-A-5 -68044 (JP, A) JP-A-58-59648 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12 / 00-12 / 66

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. When a received data from the network side and a transmitted data to the network side do not occur for a predetermined time or more by using a line management device connecting the host and the network, the session is not terminated and the network side line is connected. temporarily cutting, met, handling cormorants communication channel control method the was temporarily cut line as possible connection line deemed unused lines when there is the occurrence of transmission data from the line connection request or the host side from the terminal side Te, when the pre-Symbol attempt to connect the line which had been temporarily cut again, the communication channel control method characterized by storing transmit data from when the host can not connect to the immediate buffer. 2. A method for monitoring the utilization status of the line on the network side and controlling the time until it is determined that there is no received data from the network side and no transmitted data to the network side.
1. The communication line control method described in 1 . 3. A new line connection request and a line reconnection request from the terminal side that is temporarily disconnected, or a reconnection request due to transmission data generation from the host side to the terminal that is temporarily disconnected are new. If there is a conflict with the connection request, the reconnection request of the temporarily disconnected line is preferentially connected, the priority of the new connection is lowered, and if the number of connected terminals reaches the maximum number of connections, the new connection is communication line control method according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls so as not performed.