JP3616296B2 - Network communication method and network communication system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an incoming call notification control method of a relay terminal for an incoming call from outside the area in a specific area on a network to which a plurality of communication terminals having communication means and a relay terminal are connected.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a technique for notifying a plurality of other terminals of an incoming call to a specific terminal and responding with an arbitrary terminal, a typical system is a telephone base unit / slave unit system. When there is an incoming call to the parent device, the parent device calls the child devices all at once and establishes a connection with the calling terminal via the parent device for the child devices that have responded. At this time, there is a handset priority call function that prioritizes calls to a specific handset for a certain period of time by the handset operation, and a distribution function that determines the call handset based on the source telephone number information notified at the time of incoming call is there.
[0003]
FIG. 12 shows the flow of processing in the prior art for performing a call between the master unit and the slave unit at the time of incoming call. When an incoming call is received by the parent device in S202, it is first checked in S204 whether or not a priority child device is registered. The priority slave unit registration is normally set in advance by an operation on the slave unit side. If the priority slave unit is registered, the slave unit is called in S206 and a response is waited for. If there is a response from the slave unit in S212, a response is made to the calling side telephone in S214, and a call between the slave unit that has been preferentially called and the outside is started. If a predetermined time has passed without any response from the slave unit in S208, and if no priority call for a specific slave unit is set in S204, all the slave units and the master unit are simultaneously called in S210. Establishing a connection between the master unit or slave unit that responded first and the external telephone. As described above, in response to an incoming call to the master unit, a plurality of slave units can be notified of the incoming call, and the set slave unit can be called preferentially.
[0004]
In a communication system in which a plurality of communication terminals having different transmission data processing capabilities are connected, as a call transfer technique for transferring an incoming call to a specific communication terminal to a communication terminal having a high response possibility, an incoming mail is transferred to a pager. There is a system. For example, when a mail arrives at a specific address, the forward function of the mail server is used to notify the pager that is always carried by the user that a new mail has been received. As a result, the user checks the received mail with an appropriate access means.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Recently, there is a multimedia communication system that enables incoming calls from a plurality of media having different communication capabilities such as transmission data and communication protocols. For example, various data such as voice data such as telephones, image data such as faxes, character data such as e-mail, and compressed video data are received by a terminal capable of receiving such media. .
[0006]
In such a multimedia communication system, it is determined which terminal can receive the received data, and the received data is received by the terminal that can receive the data.
[0007]
The prior art for transferring the mail to the pager is to register in advance in the mail server that the user will forward the mail to the pager when a mail arrives at a specific address. If it is known in advance to which terminal the incoming media call is to be transferred, such a technique can be used.
[0008]
However, when there are a plurality of incoming terminals and incoming calls of various media are made, it becomes difficult for the user to determine which incoming terminal can respond.
[0009]
On the other hand, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-227303, for incoming calls to a busy communication terminal, an incoming call transfer terminal is combined by combining the empty state information of other terminals within the exchange jurisdiction, media consistency, and priority information. Has been decided.
[0010]
In the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-227303, a terminal having a high priority is automatically selected from a plurality of incoming terminals according to the medium of the received data. However, the user cannot determine which terminal is receiving the call.
[0011]
Therefore, according to the present invention, in order to display a terminal that can respond at the same time as displaying an incoming call on a terminal with high user recognition accuracy, the user can immediately determine which terminal can respond. It becomes possible.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, a relay terminal that serves as an interface when communicating with an external network and includes an address table that stores at least identification information of each communication terminal in the network and a receivable data type, and the relay In network communication comprising a plurality of communication terminals managed by a terminal and provided with a display unit, a relay terminal determines at least an incoming data type based on an incoming call from an external network, and based on the address table in the network Among the communication terminals, a respondable terminal capable of responding is determined, an incoming call notification terminal is selected from the communication terminals in the network, and information on the answerable terminal is included in the incoming call notification terminal from the relay terminal. A call notification signal is transmitted.
[0013]
With such a configuration according to the present invention, when a relay terminal receives an incoming call addressed to a communication terminal in a specific area, a terminal capable of responding is extracted from the communication terminals in the specific area, and arrives at each communication terminal. By providing the information together with the call, the user can quickly determine the communication terminal that should respond. In addition, since the incoming call notification message control is performed regardless of the processing capacity of the transmission data at the time of incoming call, even a terminal that has different processing capabilities and cannot respond to the incoming call can confirm the incoming call. it can.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the following examples. The present invention is not limited to the present embodiment.
[0015]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a communication system to which an embodiment of an incoming call notification control method of the present invention is applied. In the communication system of FIG. 1, a home gateway (hereinafter referred to as HGW) 101 and a specific area network 102 to which the HGW 101 belongs are connected to an IP network that performs communication using IP packets. An HGW 101 and a plurality of communication terminal devices 103 to 107 are connected to the specific area network 102. The communication terminals 103 to 107 are, for example, CD players, TVs, telephones, PDAs, and the like, and have different hardware configurations and data processing capabilities such as voice and images that can be transmitted.
[0016]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the HGW 101 of the present invention. 201 is a CPU that controls the operation of the entire HGW 101, 202 is a program memory that stores a control program for operating the CPU 201, and 203 is a storage device that stores data necessary for operating the CPU 201 It is.
[0017]
A program memory 202 is a rewritable or read-only memory such as a flash memory, a ROM, a semiconductor memory, etc., and a response for selecting a respondable terminal in addition to a general control program (not shown) necessary for carrying out the present invention. A possible terminal determination program 210 is stored.
[0018]
The storage device 203 is a rewritable storage medium that stores, for example, an address table 211 that manages the IP addresses and the like of communication terminals connected in a specific area, used in this embodiment. Typical examples include a built-in storage medium such as flash memory and RAM, or an external storage medium separable from the main body represented by CD-R and DVD.
[0019]
A communication control unit 204 is connected to a network and performs control necessary for data communication. An input unit 205 is used to input a character string and an operator instruction. The input unit 204 includes a keyboard, a pen tablet, a scanner that reads an image, and the like. . A display unit 206 displays an address table 211, a message from the system to the operator, and the like, and includes a liquid crystal display, a CRT display, or the like.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the overall operation of the HGW 101 in this embodiment. In S2, when the communication control unit 204 receives an incoming call from an external terminal, transmission data identification information (transmission data type) is acquired from the incoming call message in S4. Next, in S6, the respondable terminal determination unit 210 selects a communication terminal that can respond and selects an incoming call notification terminal based on the transmission data identification information and the address table 211.
[0021]
In the address table 211 shown in FIG. 4, an ID for identifying each of the communication terminals 103 to 107, an IP address indicating the position of each terminal, a model name indicating the name of each terminal, a main user, and each terminal transmit Unique identification information such as possible data capability information (type of receivable data) 401 and terminal state information 402 indicating whether each terminal can receive an incoming call are registered. As the terminal status information 402, for example, information such as an operating status or whether communication is currently being performed is used. Such information may be input by an operator's operation at the input unit 205, or data received from the network at the communication control unit 204 may be used. Here, the response capable terminal determination is performed based on the data capability information, and the incoming call notification terminal is determined based on the terminal state information.
[0022]
The determination of an incoming call notification terminal may be performed based on the terminal state information, or may be notified to all terminals that can be notified, for example.
[0023]
When the respondable terminal determination and the incoming communication terminal selection processing are completed in S6, an incoming call notification message as shown in FIG. 5 is transmitted to the communication terminal selected as the incoming call notification terminal in S6, and a response is made. Wait for. If a packet is received at S10 and the packet is an incoming call response message from the communication terminal, a connection establishment notification message is distributed from the HGW 101 to the incoming call notification terminal at S16, and an external call is issued at S18. A call response is transmitted to the call terminal to establish a call between the communication terminal and the external call terminal. If it is not an incoming call response message, normal packet processing is performed in S14, and reception of a packet is waited in S10.
[0024]
The above describes the operation of receiving an incoming call in the HGW 101. FIG. 6 illustrates the flow of messages when the HGW 101 receives an incoming call from the external calling terminal 600 in the entire communication system shown in FIG. .
[0025]
First, when the HGW 101 receives an incoming call 601 from the calling terminal 600, a respondable terminal determination process is performed in S6, and an incoming call notification message 602 is transmitted to the selected communication terminals 103, 104, and 105 by multicast.
[0026]
When an incoming call response message 603 is transmitted from the communication terminal 104 among the received communication terminals, the HGW 101 transmits a connection establishment notification message 604 to the communication terminals 103, 104, and 105 by multicast, and also to the calling terminal 600. A call response 605 is returned.
[0027]
Through the above processing, a connection between the external calling terminal 600 and the communication terminal 104 is established. Note that call control is performed between the calling terminal 600 and the HGW 101 using a call setting standard protocol such as TTC compliant Q931.
[0028]
FIG. 5 shows an example of information elements included in the incoming call notification message according to the present invention. The destination IP address 501 is the IP address of each communication terminal that sends an incoming call notification message. The destination information (IP address) 502 and the destination information (user) 503 are received by the HGW 101 from the calling terminal. This is the original destination IP address of the incoming call. If either or both of the IP address 502 and the user 503 are transmitted as the destination information, on the incoming call notification terminal side, which terminal was originally applied to and to whom the incoming call was directed Can be confirmed. In addition, by adding the respondable terminal list 504 determined by the respondable terminal determination, it is possible to indicate to the user which terminal can respond.
[0029]
FIG. 7 is a display example of the communication terminal that has received the incoming call notification message shown in FIG. The source information 701, the original destination information 702 acquired from the destination information 502 and 503, and the terminal list 703 that can respond are displayed. Originally, even when an incoming call addressed to the user ccc (communication terminal 105) is notified to a terminal used by a user other than ccc, the transmission source information 701 and the original destination information 702 are displayed. Thus, it is possible to immediately know who the incoming call is and to prevent a person other than ccc from responding first.
[0030]
7 is a display example of the communication terminal 107, it is originally an incoming call addressed to the communication terminal 105 (TEL1), but by displaying the available terminal list 703, voice data is displayed in the same manner as the communication terminal 105. It is possible to notify the user that the communication terminal 107 capable of communication can respond.
[0031]
In addition, even if the terminal is not in a response ready state, it notifies the incoming call to a communication terminal that cannot respond directly because the transmission data is different, and notifies the user of a list of communication terminals that can be responded together. The person can know the incoming call. For example, the power is not turned on by a certain user, that is, the telephone (TEL1) in which the terminal status information 402 cannot be answered, and the user is currently using it, that is, the terminal status information 402 is available for response. When there is a personal computer, the incoming call is notified to the personal computer, and a message that “can respond with TEL1” is displayed together, so that the user can know the incoming call and respond with TEL1.
[0032]
FIG. 8 is a message sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the second exemplary embodiment. In the communication system of FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the calling terminal 600 that makes a call to the HGW 101 on the network, the HGW 101 that receives an incoming call from the calling terminal 600, and the communication that is connected in the specific area to which the HGW 101 belongs. An operation in a case where an incoming call notification is performed to the communication terminals 105, 106, and 107 among the terminals 103 to 107 will be described.
[0033]
When the HGW 101 receives an incoming call 801 from the calling terminal 600, the HGW 101 performs a responseable terminal determination process for the received incoming call and transmits an incoming call notification message 802 to the communication terminals 105, 106, and 107. .
[0034]
In the communication terminal that has received the incoming call notification, when the response reservation message 803 with the content of “reply by the communication terminal 105” is returned from the communication terminal 106, the HGW 101 transmits the incoming call notification message 802. An incoming call notification cancellation message 804 is transmitted to the terminal (a terminal that can respond), and is canceled so that only the communication terminal reserved for response does not respond.
[0035]
Next, when the incoming call notification message 805 is transmitted again only to the communication terminal 105 designated by the communication terminal 106 in the response reservation message 803, and the incoming call response message 806 is received from the communication terminal 105, The HGW 101 transmits a call response 807 to the external calling terminal 600.
[0036]
As described above, a call between the communication terminal 105 and the external calling terminal 600 can be established. For example, it is assumed that the communication terminals to which the incoming call notification message 801 is distributed in this embodiment are the communication terminal 105 and the communication terminal 107 are telephones and the communication terminal 106 is a PDA, respectively. When the user is in a place where neither the telephone, i.e., the communication terminal 105 nor the communication terminal 107 is present, the PDA, i.e., the communication terminal 106 receives the incoming call notification message 802, and performs the display as shown in FIG. An incoming call can be known by PDA. It is also possible to make a call with an external calling terminal by selecting the communication terminal 105 to be responded from the list of available terminals displayed together and making a reservation for the response, moving to a place where the telephone, that is, the communication terminal 105 is located. .
[0037]
Through the processing as described above, according to the present invention, when an incoming call notification is received by a communication terminal that cannot respond, by designating a terminal that responds, another person responds first by another communication terminal. It is possible to avoid such a situation.
[0038]
FIG. 9 is a message sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the third exemplary embodiment.
In the communication system of FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the calling terminal 600 that makes a call to the HGW 101 on the network, the HGW 101 that receives an incoming call from the calling terminal 600, and the communication that is connected in the specific area to which the HGW 101 belongs. Of the terminals 103 to 105, the operation when the first incoming call notification is sent to the communication terminals 103 and 104 and the second incoming call notification is sent to the communication terminal 105 will be described.
[0039]
When the HGW 101 receives an incoming call 901 from the external calling terminal 600, the HGW 101 transmits an incoming call notification message 902 to the communication terminals 103 and 104. The HGW 101 enters a process for waiting for reception of an incoming call response message. The received message is not a notification terminal that has received the incoming call notification, but an incoming call notification request message 903 from the communication terminal 105 that has not received the incoming call notification. If there is, in order to establish a call between the communication terminal 105 and the external calling terminal 600, first, an incoming call notification cancellation message 904 is transmitted to the communication terminals 103 and 104 to which the incoming call notification message 902 has been distributed. The incoming call notification message 905 is transmitted only to the communication terminal 105. When the incoming call notification 905 is received, since the communication terminal 105 is ready for response in advance, the incoming call response message 906 is immediately transmitted to the HGW 101, and the HGW 101 transmits the call response 907 to the external calling terminal 600.
[0040]
As described above, a call between the communication terminal 105 and the external calling terminal 600 can be established. For example, when the user is using the communication terminal 105 in a place where the communication terminal 103 or the communication terminal 104 to which the incoming call notification message 901 is distributed is nearby, the communication terminal 103 or the communication terminal 104 sends an incoming call notification. Knowing and confirming that the communication terminal 105 is in the list of available terminals, the communication terminal 105 performs a notification operation to respond to the HGW 101 by its own terminal, and makes a call with the external calling terminal 600. Can start. For example, even when the user is not notified of an incoming call to the communication terminal currently working, according to the present invention, a response can be made by the user's operation.
[0041]
FIG. 10 is a message sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the fourth exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In the communication system of FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the calling terminals 600 and 601 that make calls to the HGW 101 on the network, the HGW 101 that receives incoming calls from the calling terminals 600 and 601, and the specific area to which the HGW 101 belongs are connected. Of the communication terminals 103 to 105 that are currently connected, the operation when the communication terminal 103, 104, 105 is notified of an incoming call will be described.
[0042]
Here, it is assumed that a call has already been established between the communication terminal 105 and the calling terminal 601. When the HGW 101 receives the incoming call 1001 from the calling terminal 600, the HGW 101 transmits an incoming call notification message 1002 to the communication terminals 103, 104, and 105. Response method list information 505 as shown in FIG. 5 is added to the incoming call notification message 1002. The response method list information 505 is registered in the HGW 101 in advance. When each communication terminal receives the incoming call notification message 1002, it notifies the user of the incoming call. Here, the communication terminals 103 and 104 perform normal incoming call notification as shown in FIG. 7. However, since the communication terminal 105 is already communicating with the calling terminal 601, it is an incoming call addressed to itself. Can not respond. In such a case, using the response method list information 505 included in the incoming call notification message 1002, the incoming call notification as shown in FIG.
[0043]
When one of the response methods 1101 is designated by the user, the communication terminal 105 transmits a response method designation message 1003 to the HGW 101, and the HGW 101 responds according to the response method designated by the response method designation message 1003. Processing 1005 is performed. This response method can be registered according to the system, for example, by performing proxy reception with the HGW 101 or sending a message such as “Please try again later”.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when a relay terminal receives an incoming call addressed to a communication terminal in a specific area in a network in which a plurality of communication terminals having different transmission data processing capabilities are connected, It is possible to provide an incoming call notification control method for performing an incoming call notification with high user notification accuracy regardless of the call transmission data format. As a result, an incoming call can be notified to a terminal that cannot respond, and the user can appropriately and quickly determine which terminal should respond by notifying the user of a list of terminals that can respond. be able to.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communication system representing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the HGW 101 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the HGW 101 of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an address table in the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information elements of an incoming call notification message in the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a message sequence in the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of the communication terminal in the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a message sequence in the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a message sequence in the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a message sequence in the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of a communication terminal in the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing of a conventional technique.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 HGW (Home Gateway)
102 specific area network 103-107 communication terminal

Claims (6)

A relay terminal that serves as an interface when communicating with an external network, and includes an address table that stores at least identification information of each communication terminal in the network and a receivable data type;
A network communication method comprising a plurality of communication terminals managed by the relay terminal and provided with a display unit,
In the relay terminal, determining at least an incoming data type based on an incoming call from an external network, and determining a respondable terminal among the communication terminals in the network based on the address table;
Selecting an incoming call notification terminal from among communication terminals in the network;
And a step of transmitting an incoming call notification signal including information on the respondable terminal from the relay terminal to the incoming call notification terminal. In the address table, at least the state of each communication terminal is recorded,
2. The network communication method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of selecting the incoming call notification terminal, selection is performed based on a state of each communication terminal in the address table. 3. The network communication method according to claim 1, wherein, in the step of transmitting the incoming call notification signal, the incoming call notification signal includes information on a caller in addition to information on the respondable terminal. . A relay terminal as an interface for communicating with an external network;
In a network communication system comprising a plurality of communication terminals managed by the relay terminal and provided with a display unit,
The relay terminal is
An address table storing at least identification information of each communication terminal in the network and a receivable data type;
Responsible terminal determination means for determining at least an incoming data type based on an incoming call from an external network, and determining a respondable terminal among communication terminals in the network based on the address table;
An incoming call notification terminal selection means for selecting an incoming call notification terminal from among communication terminals in the network;
A communication control unit for sending an incoming call notification signal including information of the respondable terminal to the incoming call notification terminal;
The communication terminal is
A network communication system comprising means for receiving the incoming call notification signal and displaying information on a terminal capable of responding on a display unit. In the address table, at least the state of each communication terminal is recorded,
5. The network communication system according to claim 4, wherein the incoming call notification terminal selection means performs selection based on a state of each communication terminal in the address table. The relay terminal is capable of acquiring information of a caller at the time of incoming call,
6. The network communication system according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the incoming call notification signal includes information on a transmission source in addition to information on a terminal that can respond.

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