JP4356266B2 - Line management system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a line management system that eliminates a communication failure between a conventional telephone switching network and a packet switching communication network, particularly an Internet telephone network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventional line management methods include the following. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional Internet telephone network. This Internet telephone network includes a call processing device (media gateway controller) 1 and line connection devices (media gateways) 2 and 3 separated as hardware devices, and performs communication with general lines. . In the Internet telephone network, communication is performed between the call processing device 1 and the line connection devices 2 and 3 using a control protocol. With this control protocol, a request transmitted from the call processing device 1 activates communication line use / release processing on the line connection devices 2 and 3 and changes the line state. Further, when a communication line release process is performed due to a failure detected on the line connection apparatuses 2 and 3, the line managed on the call processing apparatus 1 by a request transmitted from the line connection apparatuses 2 and 3. The state is changed.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the Internet telephone network, since the control protocol is transmitted as a UDP packet on the Internet protocol, it is not always transmitted reliably. That is, the request cannot be reliably transmitted from the call processing device 1 to the line connection devices 2 and 3 or from the line connection devices 2 and 3 to the call processing device 1, and the line states are inconsistent between the two devices. There was a risk of becoming. In addition, since the call processing device 1 and the line connection devices 2 and 3 are separated and operated as hardware devices, a serious failure occurs on one device, without notification using a control protocol. Even when the line state is changed, such as when the line is released, the line state may be inconsistent between the two apparatuses.
[0004]
In this way, if the line status managed separately between both devices does not match, there is a possibility that communication using the Internet telephone network on the corresponding line may not be possible and that state will continue for a long time There was a point.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a line management system according to a first invention comprises a call processing apparatus and a line connection apparatus separated from each other, and a line in a packet-switched communication network using packet-switched communication. in line management system for managing the state control link the line connection device, to control the voice communication link of the line unit in the packet switched communication network system about the self voice communication links in the packet switched communication network system a storage area to retrieve manages the communication line state of the line unit via, and a matching process function of collating the current state of communication line communication line state and that the line connection device itself managed by itself to be managed It is characterized by having.
[0006]
With the above configuration, the call processing device collates the communication line state of the line connection device managed in its own storage area with the current communication line state managed by the line connection device itself by the collation processing function. If they do not match due to this collation, they are matched to ensure a normal communication function.
[0007]
A line management system according to a second aspect of the present invention is the line management system according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a line state management table for managing a communication line state of its own is created in the storage area of the line connection device, and the call processing A line state management table for managing the communication line state of the line connection device is created for each line connection device in the storage area of the device.
[0008]
With the above configuration, during the verification process, the line status management table of the line connection device is compared with the line status management table of the call processing device corresponding to the line connection device to determine whether the communication line status matches. Judging.
[0009]
A communication line state according to a third aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the line management system according to the first or second aspect, the packet-switched communication network is an Internet telephone network.
[0010]
With the above configuration, it is possible to ensure reliable communication by allowing a transmission failure of the control protocol that may occur in the Internet telephone network.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an Internet telephone network as a packet-switched communication network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0012]
In the Internet telephone network of the present embodiment, a call processing device 12 and a plurality (three in FIG. 1) of line connection devices 13, 14, and 15 are separated from each other in the IP network 11 that constitutes the Internet telephone network. It is connected.
[0013]
The call processing device 12 manages the line states of the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15. Between the call processing device 12 and the first line connection device 13, the second line connection device 14, and the third line connection device 15, control links 16, 17, and 18 using a control protocol are respectively provided. Has been established. As a result, the call processing device 12 controls the communication lines possessed by the line connection devices 13, 14, 15 via the control links 16, 17, 18.
[0014]
The call processing device 12 is composed of an electronic circuit equipped with a CPU, a memory, etc. (all not shown), and a line state for managing the state of the communication line of each line connection device 13, 14, 15 in the memory. A management table 20 is provided. One line status management table 20 is provided for each line connection device 13, 14, 15. Here, three line state management tables 20 corresponding to the three line connection devices 13, 14, 15 are provided in the memory. Further, the call processing device 12 incorporates a verification processing function for verifying the communication line state managed by the call processing device 12 itself and the current communication line state managed by the line connection devices 13, 14 and 15 themselves. . Specifically, the function shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is incorporated.
[0015]
Each of the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15 is a device that connects the IP network 11 and an external telephone exchange network and performs line use / release processing. Each line connection device 13, 14, 15 changes the line state in response to a request from the call processing device 12. That is, when the call processing device 12 makes a line state change request to each of the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15 via the control links 16, 17, and 18, each line connection device 13, 14, and 15 responds accordingly. Change the line status.
[0016]
The first line connection device 13 is connected via a line 22 to a conventional telephone exchange network side switch 23 managed by a telephone company. The second line connection device 14 is connected via a line 24 to a PBX device 25 that constitutes a conventional telephone network in a company. The third line connection device 15 is connected to a conventional telephone 27 via a line 26.
[0017]
Voice communication links 30, 31, and 32 are established between the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15, so that voice information can be communicated with any of the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15. Yes. That is, each line connection device 13, 14, 15 transmits / receives voice information converted into a packet format on the IP network 11 through the voice communication links 30, 31, 32, and thereby communicates with each other device. Perform call processing.
[0018]
Further, each line connection device 13, 14, 15 includes a line state management table 34, 35, 36, respectively. Each line state management table 34, 35, 36 manages the operation state of the communication line of each line connection device 13, 14, 15 provided with the line state management table 34, 35, 36. When the line status of each line connection device 13, 14, 15 changes, it is recorded in the line status management tables 34, 35, 36 each time.
[0019]
The operation status of the communication line managed by each of the line status management tables 34, 35, 36 is the operation of the communication line recorded in the line status management table 20 of the call processing device 12 by the collation processing function of the call processing device 12. Checked against the situation.
[0020]
[Operation]
Next, the collating process in the call processing device 12 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the collating process in the call processing device 12.
[0021]
A communication line matching process is started on the call processing device 12 by a command input on the call processing device 12. Commands are entered by the administrator periodically or as needed.
[0022]
First, by the above command input, the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15 to which the communication line to be verified belongs are selected from the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15 managed on the call processing device 12 ( Step S1). Next, one communication line registered in the line state management table 20 in the call processing device 12 corresponding to the selected line connection device 13, 14, 15 is selected (step S2).
[0023]
Next, an inquiry request for the communication line status of the line connection devices 13, 14, 15 is made (step S3). That is, for the communication line selected in step S2, the communication line of the line connection devices 13, 14, 15 from the call processing device 12 via the control links 16, 17, 18 (the communication line selected in step S2). To obtain the line status recorded in the line status management tables 34, 35, and 36 for managing the corresponding communication line.
[0024]
Next, the line state on the line state management tables 34, 35, and 36 acquired in step S3 is compared with the line state on the line state management table 20 of the call processing device 12 (step S4). Here, if the two line states match, it is not necessary to match, so the process proceeds to step S9, and the subsequent processing is executed. If they do not match, that is, if either the call processing device 12 side or the line connection devices 13, 14, 15 side is in an unused state, the process proceeds to step S5, and the subsequent processing is executed.
[0025]
In step S5, in the line status comparison, a device marked as a line unused state is determined, and the process branches accordingly. If the line status returned by the line connection devices 13, 14, 15 is unused, the process proceeds to step S6, and the subsequent processing is executed. If the line state is unused on the line state management table 20 on the call processing device 12 side, the process proceeds to step S7, and the subsequent processing is executed.
[0026]
In step S6, the operation state of the corresponding communication line is set to unused in the line state management table 20 in the call processing device 12, and the processing after step S9 is executed.
[0027]
In step S 7, a line release request is transmitted from the call processing device 12 to the line connection devices 13, 14, 15 via the control links 16, 17, 18, and the call processing device 12 on the line state management table 20 Are matched with the line states of the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15.
[0028]
In step S8, a response (response to the line release request transmitted in step S7) sent from the line connection devices 13, 14, 15 to the call processing device 12 is received via the control links 16, 17, 18. Confirm that the line status is consistent.
[0029]
In step S9, it is confirmed whether or not all communication lines in the line state management table 20 managed on the call processing device 12 have been collated. As a result, if it is determined that there is still an unverified communication line, the process returns to step S2 and the matching process is continued for the unprocessed communication line.
[0030]
If it is determined that verification has been completed for all communication lines, it is determined whether verification processing has been completed for all line connection devices 13, 14, 15 managed on the call processing device 12 (step S10). ). As a result, if there are still unmatched line connection devices 13, 14, and 15, the process returns to step S2, and the matching process is continued for the unprocessed line connection devices 13, 14, and 15.
[0031]
When it is determined that the verification has been completed for all the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15, the verification process is terminated.
[0032]
[effect]
As described above, mismatch due to loss of control protocol request or response packet on the Internet telephone network (the communication line status recorded in the line status management table 20 of the call processing device 12 and the line connection devices 13, 14, In case of a mismatch in the actual communication line status in 15), the communication line status is matched by the verification process, so that the unusable state of the corresponding line can be suppressed in a short time, and a normal communication function is secured. can do.
[0033]
In addition, the call processing device 12 or the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15 are faulty, and the communication line state mismatch is caused by restarting without transmitting a line release request or notification based on the control protocol to the other side (the call control device If the recognized communication line state and the actual communication line state in the line connection devices 13, 14, and 15) occur, the matching of the communication line state by collation processing is performed, thereby using the corresponding line. The disabled state can be suppressed in a short time, and a normal communication function can be secured.
[0034]
[Modification]
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the collation process is started when the command is executed. However, the collation process may be periodically performed using a periodic timer or the like instead of the command execution. Also in this case, the same operations and effects as the above embodiment can be achieved.
[0035]
(2) In the above embodiment, the collation processing realized on the IP network has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the IP network, but also in a system realized by another packet-switched communication network. Can be applied. Also in this case, the same operations and effects as the above embodiment can be achieved.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the line management system according to the present invention can provide the following effects.
[0037]
(1) The line connection device includes a storage area for managing its own communication line state, and the call processing device includes a storage area for managing the communication line state of the line connection apparatus, and a communication line state for its own management. A collation processing function for collating the current communication line state managed by the line connection device itself, and the communication line state of the line connection device managed in its own storage area by the collation processing function and the line connection device itself Compared with the current communication line state managed by the network, if they do not match, they are matched, so that the unusable state of the corresponding line can be suppressed in a short time, and a normal communication function can be ensured.
[0038]
(2) A line state management table for managing the communication line state of its own is created in the storage area of the line connection apparatus, and the line state management for managing the communication line state of the line connection apparatus in the storage area of the call processing apparatus. Since the table was created for each line connection device, the line state management table of the line connection device and the line state management table of the call processing device corresponding to the line connection device matched the communication line state. It can be determined whether or not. As a result, by matching when they do not match, the unusable state of the corresponding line can be suppressed in a short time, and a normal communication function can be ensured.
[0039]
(3) By configuring the packet-switched communication network with an Internet telephone network, it is possible to ensure reliable communication by allowing a control protocol transmission failure that may occur in the Internet telephone network.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an Internet telephone network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional Internet telephone network.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing functions in the call processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention;
[Explanation of symbols]
11: IP network 12: call processing devices 13, 14, 15: line connection devices 16, 17, 18: control link 20: line state management tables 22, 24, 26: line 23: exchange 25: PBX device 27: telephone 30, 31, 32: Voice communication links 34, 35, 36: Line state management table

Claims (3)

In a line management system for providing a call processing device and a line connection device in a state where they are separated from each other and managing a line state in a packet-switched communication network using packet-switched communication,
The line connection device comprises a storage area for managing a communication line state relating to its own voice communication link in the packet-switched communication network ,
A storage area in which the call processing device acquires and manages the communication line state of the line connection device via a control link that controls the voice communication link of the line connection device in the packet-switched communication network; A line management system comprising a collation processing function for collating a communication line state to be checked with a current communication line state managed by the line connection device itself.   2. The line management system according to claim 1, wherein a line state management table for managing a communication line state of itself is created in a storage area of the line connection apparatus, and the line connection apparatus is stored in the storage area of the call processing apparatus. A line management system, wherein a line state management table for managing communication line states is created for each of the line connection devices.   3. The line management system according to claim 1, wherein the packet-switched communication network is an Internet telephone network.

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