JP4314515B2 - COMMUNICATION DEVICE, LINE STATUS DISPLAY PROGRAM, AND LINE STATUS DISPLAY METHOD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device using an IP (Internet Protocol) network such as a video phone, a video conference system, an IP phone (VoIP), or an Internet radio, in particular, a communication device having a function of monitoring a congestion state of a communication line, The present invention also relates to a line status acquisition program and a line status acquisition method for realizing the monitor function on a computer or home appliance.

  In devices that perform packet communication of audio data and image data, such as videophones, videoconferencing systems, IP phones, and Internet radio, the communication quality has deteriorated due to connection line problems, that is, load on the communication path and congestion. Is a problem. Specifically, the contents of the communication quality failure include voice delay, sound quality deterioration, and loss of image data.

  This is a major problem for services that deliver video and audio in real time, such as videophones, and there is already a technology (QoS) that guarantees bandwidth for specific communications on the network. Then, the bandwidth guarantee is not made sufficiently. However, such a problem on the line side cannot be fundamentally solved by the communication device itself.

  In view of this, a device has been devised that compensates for errors that occur as much as possible when the communication state is not good, thereby reducing user discomfort. This uses RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol) and RTCP (RTP Control Protocol) to measure the delay and loss rate of video / audio data packets on the receiving side and return the results to the transmitting side for communication. The quality is measured, and if the quality is not good, the transmission bit rate is lowered and only important information is sent, and reproduction is performed as completely as possible within the range.

However, there were the following problems.
(1) Measures are taken after a video / audio stream actually flows and a problem occurs.
(2) In general, when a malfunction occurs, a human wants to know why the malfunction has occurred, and feels anxiety that it is completely unknown. Also, in the case of a problem that makes it difficult to determine whether a problem has occurred or not, the user wants to know whether the problem has actually occurred, and feels anxiety that it is completely unknown. However, there is no mechanism for the user to grasp such information.
(3) If the quality of the communication line is very poor and nothing happens even if the transmission bit rate is lowered, it cannot be handled.

Among these, as a technique for solving the problem (2), the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 can be cited. This measures the delay, jitter (data fluctuation due to non-uniform data transfer time), data loss rate, etc. of received packets, and displays the error rate of communication packets as call quality information based on the measurement results. It is. As a result, since the user can visually recognize and recognize the call quality deterioration during communication, it is understood that the sound quality deterioration is not a malfunction of the device itself but an influence of the communication network.
JP 2002-232475 A

  According to the above technique, the information obtained by the user is only the line status in the case of actual communication. However, even when trying to connect to a communication network without QoS, the user cares about how busy the line is. If the line is very congested, in most cases, the user can give up communication, and if so, he wants to know the congestion situation before actually connecting the line. In general, users are free to make their own judgments by always knowing the status of the line that they should be communicating with during the period including the standby and before the start of communication sent to the other party trying to communicate. It seems that you feel that you are using equipment.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication device capable of always displaying the line failure degree, a line status display program for realizing this function on the communication device, and a line. To provide a status display method.

The communication device according to the present invention communicates information with other communication devices via the IP network, and the communication partner undecided state, the communication partner determined state, and each state during communication of this communication device. and line status acquisition means for acquiring channel state information indicating the status of the line at the time, and display means for displaying the line status information, along with a control means for controlling the display means, line condition acquiring means, a communication partner non In the determined state, the packet round-trip time with the communication target selected using at least one of the transmission history, incoming history, outgoing frequency, and incoming frequency of this communication device is measured, and the line is determined based on the measurement result. to obtain status information, control means, the communication partner undecided state, through the duration of the communication partner determined state and during communication, to display the line status information to the display unit, when the communication target is a plurality Median of the plurality of line state power obtained based on the respective measured packet round-trip time for each individual communication target (median value), in which the above line status information.

A line status display program according to the present invention is a computer-readable line that is applied to a communication device having a display means for displaying information while communicating information with another communication device via an IP network. A line status acquisition step for acquiring line status information indicating the status of the line in each status of the communication device in the communication partner undetermined state, the communication partner determined state, and the communication state; The communication partner undetermined state, the communication partner determined state, and the display step of displaying on the display means through each period during communication. Packet round-trip with the communication target selected using at least one of the outgoing call history, incoming call history, outgoing frequency, and incoming frequency If there are multiple communication targets, multiple line statuses obtained based on each of the round-trip times of packets measured for each communication target are obtained. The median (median value) of the frequency is used as the line status information .

In addition, the line status display method according to the present invention communicates information with other communication devices via the IP network, and also displays the line status applied to a communication device having a display means for displaying information. A communication device that obtains line status information indicating a line status in each of a communication partner undecided state, a communication partner determined state, and a communication state; It is displayed on the display means through the communication partner determined state and each period during communication, and in the communication partner undecided state, it is selected using at least one of the outgoing history, incoming history, outgoing frequency and incoming frequency of this communication device. The packet round-trip time with the communication target is measured, line status information is obtained based on the measurement result, and when there are multiple communication targets, the measured packet is measured for each communication target. The Tsu bets plurality of line state power obtained based on the respective round trip times median (median), in which the above line status information.

  In the present invention, “communication of information” means data communication in a broad sense, and includes communication of audio, communication of video (regardless of moving images and still images), communication of other data, and combinations of these information. It is a concept that encompasses all such communications. Here, the “information” includes, in addition to audio / video information performed using, for example, an IP phone, a video phone, a video conference system device, and the like, and various data (character data, etc.) handled in general data communication. “Communication” is communication in a form of receiving a signal after selecting a receiving station, such as communication using a stream type radio receiver, a stream type video receiver, or a download type video receiver. As long as it includes all forms of communication. The “line status” is a concept representative of the line status related to the quality of the communication state, which is typically the usage status of the line, that is, the degree of congestion, but also includes the presence or absence of a fault on the line. The “communication partner undetermined state” refers to a state in which the communication device on the transmission side has not yet specified the communication partner. "Communication partner determination state" refers to the state from when the communication device on the caller side identifies the communication partner and performs the call operation until the actual communication starts. Any of the communication devices corresponds to the communication partner determination state.

  In the communication device, the line status display program, and the line status display method according to the present invention, the usage status of the line is actually displayed on the communication device even during a period other than during communication (communication partner undetermined state, communication partner determined state). Is done.

  According to the communication apparatus, the line status display program, and the line status display method of the present invention, as described below, the line status information is displayed through the communication partner undetermined state, the communication partner determined state, and during communication. Therefore, it becomes possible to always present the line status to the user. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the user's anxiety about communication failure, and to provide an environment in which the device can be used more comfortably by giving a degree of freedom to the user's possible treatment judgment such as canceling communication when the line is congested. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 shows a connection form of a communication device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, an example will be described in which two or more television (TV) telephones 100 are always connected via the IP network 300 and communication is performed between them. Each of the TV telephones 100 is connected to the IP network 300 via the ADSL modem 101, and the relay server 200 is connected to the IP network 300. Such a connection form itself is general. The IP network 300 generally refers to a communication network connected by the Internet Protocol, and typically includes the Internet, but also includes a LAN network that is open only to specific users.

  Here, a predetermined one of the relay servers 200 is designated as the line status confirmation server 200A. As will be described later, the line status confirmation server 200A is designated for the purpose of measuring communication quality, but the server itself and the way of connection are not special, and IP connection is made from the TV phone 100 by a fixed IP address or the like. Anything is possible.

<Configuration of TV Phone 100>
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the TV phone 100. The TV phone 100 includes a microphone 10 for acquiring image and sound on the caller side, a sound input unit 11, a camera 20, an image input unit 21, and a speaker 30 for outputting image and sound transmitted from the other party. , Voice output unit 31, image processing unit 41, display 40, communication control unit 50 for transmitting / receiving information to / from the outside of the device, line state measuring unit 60 for acquiring information related to the degree of congestion of the line, line state calculating unit 70, a storage unit 80, and a central control unit 90 for controlling the operation of the entire device. Among these, detailed description of the same components as those of the conventional videophone is omitted.

  The line state measuring unit 60 measures the packet round-trip time at a predetermined timing when the TV phone 100 is on standby, before starting a call, and during each call. Here, “waiting” means a state in which the communication partner has not yet been determined (communication partner undecided state). “Before starting a call” means that after the caller identifies the other party and performs the call operation, The state until the start of a call (communication partner determination state) is in progress, and the state of being in a call is a state after a call is actually started (communication is performed) after performing a call work. The line state measurement unit 60 sends a packet to the target device selected for measurement via the communication control unit 50 and measures the time required for the round trip. Here, the target device is waiting. Different criteria are selected depending on the state before and during the call. In addition, here, there is a case where the measurement target device is selected from the outgoing call history, the incoming call history, etc., and the storage unit 80 is referred to at that time.

  Note that a ping (Packet Internet Groper) command or the like is used for the packet used here. This command is a general command for network diagnosis, in which a signal (packet) is sent several times to the other party and the presence or absence of the other party's response (echo reply packet) is checked. If there is a response, it can be seen how long it took to reciprocate and the rate at which response packets were received correctly. The packet round-trip time measurement result obtained here is output to the line status calculation unit 70.

  The line state calculation unit 70 performs a calculation based on the measurement result obtained by the line state measurement unit 60 and calculates a line defect degree. Specifically, the measurement result is substituted into a preset function (described in detail below), and the calculation result is used as the line defect degree d. In the present embodiment, the line defect degree d is distinguished from the line defect degrees d1 to d3 depending on the state of waiting, before starting a call, and during a call. Further, the line status calculation unit 70 classifies the line defect degrees d1 to d3 into three stages such as a large defect degree, a medium defect degree, and a small defect degree according to a predetermined threshold value, and three levels of line defect degree data D1 to D3. D3 is output to the central control unit 90.

  The storage unit 80 includes a history information storage unit 80A. In the history information storage unit 80A, the outgoing call history, incoming call history, outgoing call frequency history, and incoming call frequency history of the TV phone 100 are recorded. In other parts of the storage unit 80, for example, information such as an address book generally stored in a communication device is stored.

  The image processing unit 41 receives the line defect degree data D1 to D3 from the central control unit 90, and performs image processing for displaying the received image on the display 40 together with or independently.

<Operation of TV Phone 100>
Next, the operation of the TV phone 100 will be described.

  Here, it is assumed that two TV telephones 100 are connected on a one-to-one basis, and description will be given focusing on one of them. 3 to 5 are flowcharts showing main operations in the TV phone 100. First, the central control unit 90 performs communication control to determine whether the TV phone 100 is in a standby state, before a call is started from when a call is made and before a call is started, and during a call. Judgment is made from information relating to transmission / reception of signals via the unit 50 (step S1).

  The central control unit 90 sends the determination result to the line status measurement unit 60. Based on the received determination result, the line status measurement unit 60 acquires the line defect degrees d1 to d3 in a procedure corresponding to each state during standby, before starting a call, and during a call. Hereinafter, the operation from acquisition to display of the line defect levels d1 to d3 of the TV phone 100 will be described in three states: waiting, before starting a call, and during a call. FIGS. 6A to 6C show how the display 40 displays the line defect levels d1 to d3 in the standby state, before the start of the call, and during the call, respectively.

<Waiting>
For example, one of the following methods is taken to determine the line defect degree d1.

(1) Example of Measuring Round Trip Time with Line Status Confirming Server 200A In this case, the round trip time of a packet from the terminal itself to the line status checking server 200A is measured, and the line defect degree d1 is calculated based on the measured round trip time. .

  The communication device connected to the IP network normally does nothing while waiting, but in this TV telephone 100, the line status measurement unit 60 issues a ping command to the line status confirmation server 200A. The line status measurement unit 60 thus measures the round trip time of the ping command to the line status confirmation server 200A at regular time intervals or at random timing (step S2). The obtained measurement data is input to the line status calculation unit 70.

The line status calculation unit 70 substitutes the measurement data into the evaluation function f1 and sets the obtained calculation result as the line defect degree d1 (step S3). The evaluation function f1 is represented by the following formula as an example.
Here, if the result of N ping round trip times is T = {t1, t2,..., TN},
f1 (T) = C1 ・ V (T) + C2 ・ MAX (T)
However, C1 and C2 are constants, V (T) is the variance of each trial result of the ping round trip time T, and MAX (T) is the maximum value of the trial results ti (i = 1 to N). That is, when the ping round-trip time varies or even when one round trip takes a long time, the value of the evaluation function f1 becomes large and the line defect degree d1 becomes large. The evaluation function f1 may include other evaluation elements, a packet loss rate, and the like, and a function including at least one of the variance V (T), the maximum value MAX (T), and the packet loss rate. It may be.

(2) Example of measuring the round trip time with the other party In this case, pick up some of the other parties who have made a call in the past, measure the round trip time of the packet with that terminal, and use it to determine the line The defect degree d1 is calculated.

  In other words, the line status measurement unit 60 issues a ping command to all of the other parties stored in the storage unit 80 or all of the selected other parties that are obtained as a result of the evaluation function f2 that classifies and selects the other party. And measure the round trip time.

  The evaluation function f2 uses, for example, a call history, a call history, a call frequency history, and a call frequency history as variables. Specifically, the logical sum of the top number of outgoing frequency histories and the top number of incoming call history is taken, and based on the outgoing histories and incoming histories, all of the parties who have made a call within a certain period in the past The address list is extracted, and a list in which the address list is rearranged in the order of the outgoing / incoming frequency (the outgoing frequency order + the lower order of the incoming frequency order) is derived. However, when the obtained list is empty (that is, when there is no other party who has made a call within a certain period of time), a list consisting of only the top one of the outgoing / incoming frequencies may be output (step S4). ).

  The ping command round trip time is measured for the call partner thus selected (step S5). The obtained measurement data is input to the line status calculation unit 70. The line status calculation unit 70 substitutes the measurement data into the evaluation function f3, and uses the obtained calculation result as the line defect degree d1.

An example of the evaluation function f3 will be described. First, the address list is La = {a1, a2,..., AM} (number of addresses; 1 to M), and the ping measurement result (N round-trip times) with the address am is Tm = {tm1, tm2,..., tmN}. At this time, the ping result measured between each address in the address list La is
T = {T1, T2,..., TM}
= {{T11, t12, ..., t1N}, {t21, t22, ..., t2N}, ..., {tM1, tM2, ..., tMN}}
It becomes.

Therefore, the calculation result when substituting each element Tm (1≤m≤M) of {T1, T2,..., TM} into the evaluation function f1 is Lc = {c1, c2, ..., cM}. The median (median) is used as the total line defect degree d1 given by the evaluation function f3 (step S6).
That is, the evaluation function f3 is expressed by the following equation.
f3 (T) = Median (Lc) = Median ({f1 (Tm): 1 ≦ m ≦ M})

  Next, the line status calculation unit 70 further determines the numerical value of the obtained line defect degree d1 if, for example, a value between 0 and a constant A is small, and if the constant A is a constant B (A <B). If the degree of failure is equal to or greater than a constant B, it is classified into one of three stages such as the degree of failure high, and this division is output to the image processing unit 41 as line failure degree data D1 (step S7).

  The image processing unit 41 performs processing for displaying the input line failure degree data D1 on the screen and sends the processed data to the display 40. At this time, the indicator 4A is displayed on the display 40 as shown in FIG. The indicator 4A is composed of, for example, three circular light emitting areas corresponding to the three-stage classification of the line defect degree data D1. These are color-coded into red, yellow, blue, and the like in the order of arrangement, and the line state is expressed as blue being good, yellow being poor, and red being bad. Since it is waiting now, no image is displayed on the screen, and only the indicator 4A is displayed (step S8).

  While waiting, the user looks at the indicator 4A, and if the yellow or red position is lit, the user can determine that the line is congested and take measures such as postponing or canceling the call. Furthermore, if the state continues for a long time, it is possible to infer a line failure or wiring connection failure.

<Before start of call>
A method for calculating the line defect level d2 before the start of a call will be described.

  Since the other party is specified at this time, the line failure degree with the other party is measured. That is, the line status measuring unit 60 issues a ping command to this partner and measures the round trip time (step S9). The obtained measurement data is input to the line status calculation unit 70. The line status calculation unit 70 substitutes the measurement data into the evaluation function f4, and uses the obtained calculation result as the line defect degree d2 (step S10). The evaluation function f4 may be obtained by changing the constant values of C1 and C2 of the evaluation function f1, for example.

  Alternatively, since the TV telephones 100 exchange information based on the call control protocol with each other before the call starts, the round trip time actually taken in each step of call control is used instead of ping (step S11). Alternatively, the line defect degree d2 may be obtained using a function similar to the evaluation function f1 or the evaluation function f4 (step S12).

  The line status calculation unit 70 further converts the obtained numerical value of the line defect degree d2 into line defect degree data D2, and outputs it to the image processing part 41 (step S13).

  The image processing unit 41 performs processing for displaying the input line failure degree data D2 on the screen and sends the processed data to the display 40. At this time, the indicator 4A is displayed on the display 40 as shown in FIG. 6B (step S14). At this point in time, since the call has not yet started, no image is displayed on the screen, and only the indicator 4A is displayed.

  The user can look at the indicator 4A before the start of the call, and if the yellow or red position is lit, the user can determine that the line is congested and take measures such as postponing or canceling the call. . For example, when trying to make a call to a remote party such as overseas, even if the indicator 4A is displayed in blue (line condition is good) while waiting, the actual line condition with the other party's TV phone 100 is actually displayed. If you investigate, it may be a bad case. At that time, the display of the indicator 4A changes from blue to yellow or red. For this reason, the user can immediately respond to the change of the situation, and can avoid the situation where the line trouble is recognized only after the telephone is connected.

  For example, the procedure for transitioning from waiting to before starting a call on the calling side is as follows. First, the user selects a partner to make a call from the address book or the like (or inputs the partner's telephone number or user ID), and temporarily determines this. Next, selection of whether or not to notify the other party of the caller is performed, and the transmission work is performed by an operation such as pressing a call button. As a result, a call partner is determined, and calling to the call partner is started.

  As described above, since the time before the start of the call is after the outgoing call work is performed, both the caller side and the incoming call side transition from the standby state to the state before the call start in synchronization with the outgoing call work timing. The measurement of the line defect level is also switched in synchronization with the transmission work timing on both the transmission side and the reception side. In this case, if it is limited to the calling party, if the other party is tentatively determined even before making the call, the method for measuring the line defect level should be switched to the same method as before the start of the call. May be. As a result, it is possible to advance the timing at which it is possible to know the line status with the other party that is actually making the call (that is, the timing at which the line status can be known with higher accuracy). For example, when the call partner is changed after tentatively determining the call partner, the call partner whose line defect degree is measured at that time may be changed. Further, when the call partner is temporarily determined and then returned to the call partner undecided state, the method for measuring the line defect level may be returned to the standby state at that time.

<During a call>
First, the line status measuring unit 60 obtains an index value indicating the line connection status with the video phone 100 of the other party. If the TV phone 100 uses RTP / RTCP, this is used as before, and packet delay, missing rate, jitter, and the like are used as indices (step S15). Alternatively, as before the start of the call, a ping command is issued at regular time intervals or at random timing, and the round trip time is used as an index (step S16). The obtained index value is output to the line status calculation unit 70.

  The line status calculation unit 70 calculates the line defect degree d3 based on the index value (step S17), further converts the line defect degree d3 into line defect degree data D3 (step S18), and the image processing unit 41. Output to.

  The image processing unit 41 performs a process for displaying the input line failure degree data D3 on the screen and sends it to the display 40. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6C, the display 40 displays the image sent from the other party and the indicator 4A (step S19). Thereby, the user can make a call while confirming the line connection status with the other party by the display of the indicator 4A.

  For example, if the quality of the image / sound is lowered and the indicator 4A is yellow, it can be understood that the cause is a line failure. Furthermore, if the line status is very bad and the video / audio stream is interrupted, if the indicator 4A is displayed in red, the line status is very bad. In this way, it becomes possible to determine the cause of the deterioration of the image and sound, so that the user can avoid feeling more stress than necessary.

  In the above description, the line defect degree d is displayed on the display 40 as the indicator 4A, but may be displayed on the indicator 4B as shown in FIG. FIGS. 7A to 7C correspond to FIGS. 6A to 6C, and sequentially show the display 40 during standby, before starting a call, and during a call. The indicator 4B is a face mark, and is distinguished by three types of facial expressions corresponding to the three-stage classification of the line defect degree d.

  Here, as described above, the TV phone 100 uses different objects to send signals for confirming the line status in accordance with the standby state, before the start of the call, and during the call. This is shown in Table 1.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, while the TV phone 100 is standing by, the TV phone 100 itself, (1) the line status confirmation server 200A, and (2) the TV phone 100 having a communication history, particularly high communication frequency. Since the round trip time of the ping command is measured with the TV phone 100 and the line defect degree d1 is obtained based on the result, the standard of the line condition when the TV telephone 100 will communicate from now on is the line defect degree. Obtained as d1. In the conventional monitoring method of the line status, the monitoring target is specified to the line with the target device during the call, but here the reference line is at the stage where the other party is not yet determined. By acquiring and displaying the state as the line defect degree d1, it is possible to estimate the state of the line in the case of connection approximately appropriately.

  In addition, the line defect degree d2 is obtained and measured by measuring the signal round-trip time with the TV phone 100 to be communicated before the start of the call. When the state is bad, it is possible to give the user room for handling.

  Further, since the line defect degree d3 is obtained and displayed even during a call, the TV phone 100 displays the line status through each state during standby, before starting a call, and during a call. From the viewpoint of the situation, the line status is always presented seamlessly due to a change in the state. Therefore, the user is always provided with information for determining whether to make a call. If the line status is not good during standby, or if the line status changes from good to bad during a call before or during a call, the user can immediately perform processing such as canceling the call. Further, when continuing the call, the user knows the cause of the disturbance of the image and sound, so that the user does not have to feel anxiety about a device failure or the like. As described above, in using the TV phone 100, it is possible to prevent the user from feeling stress as much as possible and to provide a comfortable use environment.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, by selecting the measurement object of the packet round-trip time and the acquisition procedure of the line defect degree d according to each state during standby, before communication start, and during a call, the line status is always changed, Although the case of acquiring and displaying has been described, in the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the line status with the TV phone 100 of a specific partner is always acquired and displayed constantly. Therefore, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

  The specific party may be set by the user as the person who calls frequently, for example, in the address book, or automatically from the ones with the highest incoming / outgoing frequency in the incoming / outgoing history. May be selected (see the evaluation function f2 of the first embodiment). In any case, one or more, for example, about five addresses are designated in advance and stored in the storage unit 80 as an address list.

  In this case, the subject of the line status confirmation is always the specific partner described above without changing depending on the standby state, before starting the call, and during the call (see Table 2).

  Therefore, the line status display here is as shown in FIG. In this figure, (A) is waiting, (B) is before the start of a call, and (C) is in a call. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the indicator 4 </ b> C in the display 40. In this way, the indicator 4C is a list of specific opponents (addresses), and the line status of each is represented by a face mark. This is always displayed on the display 40.

  For this purpose, the line status measuring unit 60 always responds to each individual in the list at a fixed interval or at random timing for a party other than the target of the call even if the call is on standby or before the start of the call or during the call. Measure the round-trip time of the ping command (or the response time of call control before the start of the call) for the address of. The line status calculation unit 70 obtains each line defect degree d based on the measurement result for each address. The line defect degree data D obtained by converting the line defect degree d is sent to the image processing unit 41 and displayed on the display 40 in the form of an indicator 4C.

  As shown in FIGS. 8A to 8C, the display of the indicator 4C allows the user to grasp the line status with a specific partner in the list at any time. This feature is useful, for example, for monitoring frequently called parties. While waiting, if you know the line status with a specific person you will call, you will feel more secure when you make a call. Further, even when a call with a partner outside the list is being made, it is possible to determine whether or not to call a specific partner at the same time as the call.

  As described above, the TV phone 100 according to the present embodiment always checks and displays the line status with a specific partner (the TV phone 100 having a specific address) set in advance. It is possible to monitor the desired line.

  Also, from the user side, the line status with the specific partner is always presented without a joint due to a change in state or the like. Therefore, the user is always provided with information for determining whether or not to make a call to a specific partner, and thus gives a degree of freedom of determination. Therefore, a comfortable use environment can be provided without causing the user to feel stress when using the TV phone 100.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  In the first and second embodiments, personal-to-person communication such as a videophone is mainly assumed. However, in this embodiment, a pairing between an Internet radio distribution station and an individual is performed. A large number of communications are assumed.

  FIG. 10 shows a connection form of the communication device according to the present embodiment. In this figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. Connected to the IP network 300 are a plurality of Internet radio servers 210, 211, 212, etc. functioning as Internet radio station servers, and an Internet radio client 110 provided in a general home. The Internet radio client 110 is connected to the IP network 300 via the ADSL modem 101. The Internet radio server 210 and the like are configured using an information processing device such as a PC or a workstation. The Internet radio client 110 is configured as, for example, a PC that can receive Internet radio or a dedicated device. By selecting a desired one from a plurality of Internet radio servers 210 and the like, the Internet radio client 110 transmits the Internet radio server via the IP network 300. It is possible to receive and listen to audio information such as music and talk that has been distributed.

  The configuration of the Internet radio client 110 can be realized, for example, by removing the microphone 10, the audio input unit 11, the camera 20, and the image input unit 21 from the configuration shown in FIG. Other configurations are the same.

  The specific method for confirming the line status is the same as in the second embodiment. The line status display can be performed with an indicator in the manner shown in FIG. In this case, each line on the screen shown in FIG. 9 displays a face mark indicating the name and line status of each Internet radio station. In the case of Internet radio, there are three types of line status confirmation targets: when not listening, before listening, and when listening. These are the standby in the first and second embodiments, before starting the call, Corresponds during a call. Since the method for confirming the line status is the same as that in the second embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Although the present invention has been described with reference to some embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the embodiment, the line defect level d (d1 to d3) is divided into three stages and displayed, but may be divided into two stages or four or more stages. Also, the display method may be different from the indicators 4A to 4C, such as bar display.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the line status information is always displayed seamlessly like the indicators 4A to 4C, but the main point of the present invention is that the line status is displayed even in a standby state or before the start of a call. Therefore, for example, the line status information may be displayed in response to an external trigger such as a user button operation. Even in such a case, the line status information can be presented whenever the user desires.

  Communication devices to which the present invention is applied include communication devices that perform general data communication in addition to devices that mainly perform audio / video information communication, such as IP phones, video phones, and video conference system devices. Furthermore, the present invention is also applied to a case where such a communication function is realized on a personal computer using VoIP software or the like. The present invention can also be applied to an IP telephone adapter (an apparatus for realizing VoIP connected between a normal telephone and a line). However, in the case of a device that does not inherently have a display such as an IP telephone adapter, it is necessary to provide a display means for displaying the line status information.

  Furthermore, in the TV phone 100 in the embodiment, the line status is displayed on the display 40 that displays the received image, but in addition to this, for example, a liquid crystal display attached to a normal multifunctional phone, A display lamp such as an LED can also be used.

It is a block diagram showing the whole structure of the Internet videophone system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the video telephone shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the video phone shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the video phone shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the video phone shown in FIG. The display shown in FIG. 1 shows the line status. (A) shows a waiting state, (B) shows a state before starting a call, and (C) shows a state during a call. FIG. 7 is another display example of the line status shown in FIG. 6, where (A) shows a waiting state, (B) shows a state before starting a call, and (C) shows a state during a call. In the second embodiment, the display shows the line status, where (A) is a standby state, (B) is a state before the start of a call, and (C) is a state during a call. . It is the figure which expanded and showed the indicator which displays the line condition shown in FIG. It is a block diagram showing the whole structure of the internet radio distribution system in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  4A, 4B, 4C ... indicator, 10 ... microphone, 11 ... audio input unit, 20 ... camera, 21 ... image input unit, 30 ... speaker, 31 ... audio output unit, 40 ... display, 41 ... image processing unit, 50 ... Communication control unit 60 ... Line status measurement unit 70 ... Line status calculation unit 80 ... Storage unit 80A ... History information storage unit 90 ... Central control unit 100 ... Video phone 110-113 ... Internet radio client 200 ... Server, 200A ... Line status confirmation server, 210 to 212 ... Internet radio server, 300 ... IP network, d, d1 to d3 ... Line failure degree, D1 to D3 ... Line failure degree data.

Claims (13)

A communication device that communicates information with other communication devices via an IP (Internet Protocol) network,
Line status acquisition means for acquiring line status information representing the status of the line in each communication device undetermined state, communication partner determined state, and in communication state,
Display means for displaying the line status information;
Control means for controlling the display means,
The line status acquisition means is a packet round-trip time with a communication target selected using at least one of the outgoing history, incoming history, outgoing frequency and incoming frequency of this communication device in the communication partner undecided state And obtain the line status information based on the measurement result,
The control means displays the line status information on the display means through the communication partner undetermined state, the communication partner determined state, and each period during communication ,
When there are a plurality of communication targets, the median (median value) of a plurality of line status frequencies obtained based on the packet round trip times measured for each communication target is used as the line status information.
Communications equipment. The line status acquisition means measures a round trip time of a packet with a communication device of a partner to be communicated in the communication partner determination state, and obtains the line status information based on the measurement result.
Communication device according to 請 Motomeko 1. The line status acquisition means measures a time required for call control with a communication device of a partner to be communicated in a communication partner determination state, and obtains the line status information based on the measurement result.
Communication device according to 請 Motomeko 1. The line status acquisition means acquires, as the line status information, a line status with a specific communication device set in advance through a communication partner undecided state, a communication partner determined state, and during communication.
Communication device according to 請 Motomeko 1. The specific communication device can be arbitrarily set by the user of the communication device.
Communication device according to 請 Motomeko 4. The specific communication device is determined using at least one of the transmission history, the incoming history, the outgoing frequency, and the incoming frequency of the communication device.
Communication device according to 請 Motomeko 4. The line status information is obtained based on at least one of the dispersion and maximum value of the measured packet round-trip time and the packet loss rate.
  The communication apparatus according to claim 1. A computer-readable line status display program applied to a communication device having a display means for displaying information while communicating information with another communication device via an IP (Internet Protocol) network. And
A line status acquisition step for acquiring line status information indicating the status of the line in each communication device undecided state, communication partner determined state, and in communication state;
Causing the computer to execute a display step of displaying the line status information on the display means through the communication partner undetermined state, the communication partner determined state, and each period during communication ;
The line status acquisition step includes a packet round-trip time with a communication target selected using at least one of the transmission history, the incoming history, the outgoing frequency, and the incoming frequency of the communication device in a communication partner undecided state And obtain line status information based on the measurement results.
When there are a plurality of communication targets, the median (median value) of a plurality of line status frequencies obtained based on the packet round trip times measured for each communication target is used as the line status information.
Times line status display program. Furthermore, let the computer execute a state determination step for determining whether the communication partner undecided state, the communication partner determined state, or the state during communication,
The line status acquisition step acquires the line status information according to a procedure according to a determination result in the state determination step.
Line status display program according to 請 Motomeko 8. In the line status acquisition step, line status information is acquired for a line with a specific communication device set in advance through the communication partner undecided state, the communication partner determined state, and each period during communication.
Line status display program according to 請 Motomeko 8. A line status display method applied to a communication device having a display means for displaying information while communicating information with another communication device via an IP (Internet Protocol) network,
In each of the cases where the communication device is in a communication partner undetermined state, a communication partner determined state, and in communication, line status information representing the status of the line is acquired, and the line status information is converted into Display on the display means through the determined state and each period during communication ,
In the communication partner undecided state, measure the round trip time of the packet with the communication target selected using at least one of the outgoing history, incoming history, outgoing frequency and incoming frequency of this communication device. Based on the line status information,
When there are a plurality of communication targets, the median (median value) of a plurality of line status frequencies obtained based on the packet round trip times measured for each communication target is used as the line status information.
Times line status display method. The line status information is acquired by a procedure corresponding to each communication partner undetermined state, communication partner determined state, and during communication.
Line status display method according to 請 Motomeko 11. As the line status information, the status of a line with a specific communication partner set in advance is acquired through a communication partner undetermined state, a communication partner determined state, and during communication.
Line status display method according to 請 Motomeko 11.

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