JP5003540B2 - Communication control method and communication system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control method and a communication system using a plurality of telephones in which a handset and a telephone body can be wireless.

  Fixed telephones generally have a handset and a telephone body connected by a spiral cord. In recent years, cordless phones in which voice data is transmitted and received between the handset and the telephone body by short-range wireless communication so that the handset can be detached from the telephone body are increasing. One example of a short-range wireless communication standard used for communication between the handset and the telephone body is Bluetooth (registered trademark) (see Patent Document 1).

  When the telephone body and the handset are connected by wire like a spiral cord, the user can only talk from the telephone body within a range of 2 to 3 m corresponding to the length of the cord. With a telephone using the registered trademark technology, it is possible to talk even if the telephone body is separated from the telephone main body by a distance of about 10 m. Hereinafter, a handset that transmits and receives voice data to and from the telephone main body by short-range wireless communication is referred to as a handset.

  In order to enable near field communication between the handset and the telephone body, a process called pairing for exchanging information necessary for communication is performed in advance. By performing pairing in advance, voice data exchanged between the handset and the telephone body is transmitted / received to / from other telephones via a telephone line connected to the telephone body.

On the other hand, Patent Document 2 discloses an example of a method in which a large number of access points for Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication are installed and handover is possible with a Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication terminal.
JP 2007-96445 A JP 20047072 A

  As described above, since the handset and the telephone body are paired one-on-one, the handset can communicate only with the paired telephone body. Therefore, there is no problem as long as the distance between the paired handset and the telephone body is within the wireless communication range, but if the distance becomes larger than the wireless communication range, the telephone can be used.

  If the user moves during a call and the distance from the telephone body becomes larger than the wireless communication range, the telephone is suddenly disconnected. In this case, although the above-mentioned telephone has the advantage that it can be used even if the handset is far away from the telephone body, the user must be aware of the distance from the telephone body while talking, Inconvenient.

  Further, in the method of Patent Document 2, it is necessary to install a large number of devices as access points, and the cost is increased by the number of access points to be installed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the technology, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a communication control method and a communication system that enable handover by a handset attached to a telephone.

In order to achieve the above object, a communication control method of the present invention includes first and second telephones including handsets that communicate with a main body by wireless communication within a predetermined distance, and the first and second telephones and a network. A communication control method with a server connected via
The server holds communication permission registration information which is information indicating which telephone is permitted to communicate with which telephone by which the first handset, which is the handset of the first telephone,
The first handset starts communication with a third telephone set different from the first and second telephones via the main body of the first telephone set and the network in response to an instruction input by an operator. When the intensity of the radio wave received from the main body of the telephone 1 becomes smaller than a predetermined threshold, a radio wave of a connection request signal including information to request connection is sent to the outside.
When the second telephone, which is the second handset that is its own handset, is not in use, and receives the connection request signal from the first handset by wireless communication, the second telephone is permitted to communicate with the first handset. Sending an inquiry signal containing information to inquire whether or not to the server,
When the server receives the inquiry signal from the second telephone, the server refers to the communication permission registration information and determines whether the first handset is permitted to communicate with the second telephone, Sending an authentication result indicating the result to the second telephone;
If the authentication result received from the server permits communication, the second telephone is connected to the first handset by wireless communication,
The server causes the second telephone to start communication with the third telephone if the authentication result transmitted to the second telephone permits communication, and the main body of the first telephone To disconnect the communication with the third telephone .

The communication control system of the present invention is a communication system in which first and second telephones including a handset that communicates with a main body by wireless communication within a predetermined distance are connected via a network.
A server that holds communication permission registration information that is information indicating which telephone is permitted to communicate with which telephone by which the first handset, which is the handset of the first telephone,
The first handset is
Received from the main body of the first telephone after starting communication with the main body of the first telephone and the third telephone different from the first and second telephones via the network in response to an operator's instruction input When the strength of the radio wave to be transmitted is smaller than a predetermined threshold, a radio wave of a connection request signal including information indicating that a connection is requested is transmitted to the outside, and a connection approval signal including information indicating that the connection is approved is When receiving from the second telephone, the second telephone is connected by wireless communication,
The second telephone is
When the connection request signal is received from the first handset by wireless communication when the second handset which is the own handset is not used, an inquiry is made as to whether or not communication with the first handset is permitted. An inquiry signal including the information of the above is transmitted to the server, an authentication result indicating whether or not the first handset is permitted to communicate with its own device is received from the server, and the authentication result permits communication. If there is, the connection acceptance signal is transmitted to the first handset,
The server
When the inquiry signal is received from the second telephone, the communication permission registration information is referred to, it is determined whether or not the first handset is permitted to communicate with the second telephone, and an authentication indicating the result The result is transmitted to the second telephone, and if the authentication result permits communication, the second telephone starts communication with the third telephone, and the main body of the first telephone The communication with the third telephone is disconnected .

  According to the present invention, even if a handset attached to a telephone exceeds the radio communication range with the telephone, handover can be realized by performing radio communication with another telephone, and the user does not care about the radio communication range. I'm sorry. If existing cordless phones are used, equipment costs can be reduced.

  The communication system of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the communication system of the present embodiment.

  The communication system according to the present embodiment includes telephones 10 a and 10 b and a management server 30. The telephones 10 a and 10 b and the management server 30 are connected via a network 100. A handset 20a is attached to the telephone 10a, and a handset 20b is attached to the telephone 10b. A private branch exchange (PBX) 40 is connected to the network 100.

  The PBX 40 is an exchange for the Internet protocol (IP), and the telephones 10a and 10b are IP telephones. Each of the handsets 20a and 20b and the telephones 10a and 10b is assigned a different identifier (ID) to identify the device. Hereinafter, the handset ID is referred to as a handset ID, and the telephone ID is referred to as a telephone ID. These IDs are addresses for specifying the destination or source of the IP packet.

  In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the telephone and the handset can communicate according to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard as short-range wireless communication. Further, although the case where the number of telephones is two will be described, the same applies to the case where there are three or more telephones. Below, the structure of a telephone and a handset is demonstrated.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the telephone and the handset in the present embodiment. Since the telephones 10a and 10b have the same configuration, the configuration of the telephone 10a will be described and the description of the telephone 10b will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the telephone 10a includes a communication unit 11 for communicating via the network 100, a wireless communication unit 12 for performing wireless communication with the handset, and a control unit 15 for controlling each unit. It is the composition which has. The communication unit 11 includes an audio data communication unit 111 that transmits and receives audio data packets to and from the PBX 40, and a management data communication unit 113 to communicate management data packets with the management server 30.

  The packet of audio data has a header including information on the IDs of the transmission source and the transmission destination, and audio information. The management data packet has a header and information necessary for controlling communication connection or switching.

  The control unit 15 is provided with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) that executes predetermined processing according to a program, and a memory (not shown) for storing the program. In this memory, the telephone ID of the own device and the handset ID of the attached handset are registered in advance. Furthermore, pairing information, which is information necessary for pairing with a communication partner, is registered in this memory. As the pairing information, for example, there is a link key for enabling communication only with an authenticated partner.

  Here, the operation of the control unit 15 when the CPU executes the program will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The control unit 15 periodically activates the wireless communication unit 12 so that radio waves can be received (step 1001). When a connection request signal including a handset ID and connection request information is received via the wireless communication unit 12 (step 1002) , it is confirmed whether or not the handset ID included in the signal matches the handset ID registered in the memory. (Step 100 3 ). If these IDs match, a connection acceptance signal including information indicating that the telephone ID and the connection have been accepted is transmitted to the handset 20a via the wireless communication unit 12. Then, communication with the handset 20a is established by transmitting the pairing information to the handset 20a (step 1006).

On the other hand, at step 100 3, unless the two handsets ID do not match, the control unit 15, in order to examine whether it is communication permission with the handset of the handset ID included in the connection request signal, the handset ID, An inquiry signal including the telephone ID and information for inquiring whether or not communication is permitted is transmitted to the management server 30 via the management data communication unit 113 (step 1004). If the authentication result received from the management server 30 is information indicating that communication is permitted, a connection acceptance signal is transmitted to the handset via the wireless communication unit 12, the pairing information is shared, and communication with the handset 20a is established. (Step 1006). On the other hand, if the authentication result is information indicating that communication is not permitted, no response is made (step 1005) and the processing returns to step 1001.

  Further, when the control unit 15 establishes communication with the handset and establishes communication with the other party's telephone (not shown) for the purpose of communication via the network 100, the handset ID of the handset, the telephone ID of the own device, and the communication destination The communication connection information including the information of the telephone ID is transmitted to the management server 30 via the management data communication unit 113 as management information. Further, when receiving a communication disconnection instruction from the management server 30, the control unit 15 stops communication with the communicating handset. On the other hand, when a telephone ID of a telephone (not shown) and a connection instruction signal for instructing communication connection with the telephone are received from the management server 30 via the management data communication unit 113, communication with the telephone is established.

  The control unit 15 transmits a control signal to the PBX 40 as a normal function of the IP telephone, and controls a call according to an instruction from the PBX 40. This control is a feature of the present invention. Since it is not related, detailed description is omitted.

  Next, the configuration of the handset will be described. Since the handsets 20a and 20b have the same configuration as the telephone, the configuration of the handset 20a will be described and the description of the handset 20b will be omitted.

  FIG. 2B is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the handset in the present embodiment. The handset 20a includes a wireless communication unit 22 for performing wireless communication with the telephone body, a control unit 25 that performs communication control, and an operation unit 27 for a user to input instructions. The control unit 25 includes a CPU (not shown) that executes predetermined processing according to a program, and a memory (not shown) for storing the program. Also, pairing information for communication connection with the other party is registered in this memory.

  When the off-hook button of the operation unit 27 is pressed, the control unit 25 transmits a radio wave including a connection request signal to the outside via the wireless communication unit 22. When the connection acceptance signal is received from the telephone, pairing information is exchanged with each other to share the pairing information, and communication with the telephone is established. Here, it is assumed that the telephone with established communication is the telephone 10a. After the communication is established, the strength of the radio wave received from the telephone 10a is monitored, and when the strength of the radio wave becomes smaller than the threshold value, the radio wave including the connection request signal is transmitted to the outside. This threshold value is a criterion for determining whether or not it is necessary to newly search for a communication connection destination telephone, and is registered in advance in a memory (not shown) in the control unit 25.

  When the control unit 25 receives the connection approval signal from the telephone 10b in response to the newly transmitted connection request signal, the control unit 25 confirms that the telephone ID included in the connection approval signal is different from that of the currently communicating telephone 10a, and performs pairing. After sharing the information with the telephone 10b, communication is established with the telephone 10b. Thereafter, when the communication connection with the telephone 10a is disconnected, only the telephone 10b is communicated.

  The control unit 25 also performs control for transmitting and receiving voice data packets to and from the telephone 10a. Since the control is the same as that of Bluetooth (registered trademark), detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, the configuration of the management server 30 will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the management server in the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the management server 30 includes a communication unit 31 for communicating with the telephones 10a and 10b via the network 100, a storage unit 33 for storing information relating to communication permission of the telephone and the handset, and the telephone. And a control unit 35 that replies to inquiries from 10a and 10b. The control unit 35 is provided with a CPU (not shown) that executes predetermined processing according to a program and a memory (not shown) for storing the program.

  The storage unit 33 stores communication permission registration information, which is information indicating whether communication is permitted for the handset and the telephone. If the handset 20a is permitted to communicate with each of the telephone 10a and the telephone 10b, the communication permission registration information registers the handset ID of the handset 20a and the telephone ID of each of the telephones 10a and 10b as a pair. Has been. Thus, a plurality of telephone IDs are registered together corresponding to one handset ID so that one handset can communicate with a plurality of telephones.

  Here, the necessity of the communication permission registration information will be described.

  Devices having a Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication function are not limited to telephones and handsets, but there are many types such as headphones for music and hands-free for mobile phones. When the handset sends a connection request signal, a device other than the telephone may respond to it. By registering in advance in the communication permission registration information the ID of a device that may be connected to the handset, it is possible to prevent the handset from being erroneously connected to a device other than the telephone. There are also telephones that need to secure a telephone line for more important calls, such as telephones that accept external lines. It would be a problem if such a telephone is used for communication with a handset other than the accessory. In such a case, the telephone ID may not be described in the communication permission registration information.

  Note that the registration format of the communication permission registration information has been described above by way of example, and other formats may be used as long as it is known which handset is allowed to communicate with which telephone.

  The storage unit 33 stores communication connection registration information for managing which telephone is connected to which telephone through which telephone. For example, when the handset 20a communicates with the telephone 10a and the telephone 10a is connected to the telephone 10b, communication connection registration information is obtained as communication connection information in which the IDs of the handset 20a, the telephone 10a, and the telephone 10b are combined. Registered in

  When the control unit 35 receives the inquiry signal from the telephone via the communication unit 31, the control unit 35 refers to the communication permission registration information stored in the storage unit 33, and registers the telephone ID and handset ID included in the inquiry signal as a pair. It is determined whether or not it has been done. As a result of the reference, if the two IDs are registered as one set, an authentication result indicating that communication is permitted is transmitted to the telephone via the communication unit 31. On the other hand, if the two IDs are not registered in one set, an authentication result indicating that communication is not permitted is transmitted to the telephone via the communication unit 31.

  Here, when the control unit 35 receives a plurality of inquiry signals for the same handset and refers to the communication permission registration information, the control unit 35 can return an authentication result indicating that the communication is permitted to each of the plurality of telephones. It may be possible. In this case, the control unit 35 selects any one of the plurality of telephones, and transmits an authentication result indicating that communication is permitted to the telephones. As a selection method, there is a method of selecting the telephone that sent the inquiry signal earliest.

  In addition, the control unit 35 performs the following operation. Here, since the description is complicated, the case of three telephones A, B, and C will be described. First, assume that the handset communicates with telephone A, and telephone A is communicating with telephone C. Thereafter, the telephone set B and the telephone set C are connected by moving the handset.

  When the telephone A starts communication with the telephone B, the control unit 35 registers the communication connection information received from the telephone A in the communication connection registration information in the storage unit 33. Here, the IDs of the handset, telephone A and telephone C are registered. Then, when the inquiry signal is received from the telephone set B and the authentication result indicating that the communication is permitted is transmitted to the telephone set B from the result of the communication permission registration information, to which telephone the handset communicates from the handset ID included in the inquiry signal. Check if there was a problem by referring to the communication connection registration information. When the destination telephone C is specified, a connection instruction signal including the telephone ID of the telephone C is transmitted to the telephone B. Thereafter, the ID of the telephone A is rewritten to the ID of the telephone B among the ID information of the handset, the telephone A, and the telephone C registered in the communication connection registration information. Further, it requests the telephone set A to disconnect the communication with the handset.

  As a method for changing the communication connection destination, in this embodiment, software that maintains communication with the stronger radio wave strength by cutting off the weaker radio wave strength while communicating with both the stronger and weaker radio wave strengths. Although described in the case of handover, it may be a hard handover that switches from a communication connection with a weaker radio wave to a stronger radio wave. In the case of soft handover, the PBX 40 receives the same voice data packet from two telephones, but selects either one of the voice data packets from the two telephones to the other telephone (not shown) Send to the address. Further, as a handover technique, the method disclosed in Patent Document 2 may be used.

  Next, the operation of the communication system will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the communication system of this embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the communication system of this embodiment. Here, it is assumed that the handset 20a is permitted to communicate with the telephones 10a and 10b.

  The user operates the handset 20a of the telephone 10a, establishes communication between the handset 20a and another telephone (not shown) via the telephone 10a and the network 100 (step 1101), and starts a call. At that time, the telephone 10a transmits communication connection information to the management server 30 (step 1102). The management server 30 registers the received communication connection information (step 1103). Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, the user moves with the handset 20a, moves away from the telephone 10a, and approaches the telephone 10b. When the handset 20a detects that the radio wave intensity from the telephone 10a has become smaller than the threshold value, it transmits a connection request signal (step 1104).

  When the telephone set 10b receives the connection request signal from the handset 20a, the telephone set 10b checks whether the signal is from the attached handset 20b. If it is found that it is not a connection request signal from the handset 20b, an inquiry signal including the ID of the handset 20a as a handset ID is transmitted to the management server 30 (step 1105).

  When the management server 30 receives the inquiry signal from the telephone 10b, the management server 30 refers to the communication permission registration information (step 1106), and determines whether or not the handset ID and the telephone ID included in the inquiry signal are registered in one set. judge. When it is confirmed that the IDs of the handset 20a, the telephone 10a, and the telephone 10b are registered in one set, an authentication result indicating that communication is permitted is transmitted to the telephone 10b (step 1107).

  When the telephone set 10b receives the authentication result from the management server 30 and recognizes that the content permits communication, the telephone set 10b transmits a connection acceptance signal to the handset 20a (step 1108). Send / receive ring information to / from each other. The handset 20a and the telephone 10b share pairing information (step 1109), and communication is established between them (step 1110).

  On the other hand, after step 1107, the management server 30 refers to the communication connection registration information (step 1111), identifies the destination telephone (not shown) from the handset ID of the handset 20a, and includes the telephone ID of the telephone. An instruction signal is transmitted to the telephone 10b (step 1112). When the telephone set 10b receives the connection instruction signal, the telephone set 10b requests communication connection to the telephone ID included in the signal, and upon receiving the response, communication is established. Subsequently, the management server 30 requests the telephone 10a to disconnect the communication with the handset 20a (step 1113). Even if the telephone 10a disconnects communication with the handset 20a, the handset 20a continues to transmit and receive voice data to and from the other party's telephone (not shown) via the newly connected telephone 10b.

  After step 1104, if the handset 20a cannot receive the connection approval signal from the telephone 10b, it transmits a connection request signal at regular intervals until it can receive the connection approval signal from another telephone.

  As described above, in the communication system of the present embodiment, the handset 20a is likely to move away from the wireless communication range with the telephone 10a while the handset 20a is transmitting and receiving voice data to and from other telephones via the telephone 10a. Then, another phone that can communicate wirelessly with the handset 20a is searched. When another telephone 10b capable of wireless communication is found, the handset 20a can switch the wireless communication connection destination from the telephone 10a to the telephone 10b and continue to transmit and receive audio data via the telephone 10b.

  According to this embodiment, after the handset establishes communication with the telephone body by short-range wireless communication and starts communication with another telephone via the telephone, the handset moves beyond the communication reception range with the telephone. However, data transmission / reception with the communication partner can be maintained. The reason is that before the handset completely leaves the wireless communication range with the telephone, it establishes wireless communication with another new telephone, and data transmission / reception can be continued through the newly established telephone. Even if the handset attached to the telephone exceeds the wireless communication range with the telephone, handover can be realized by performing wireless communication with another telephone, and the user does not have to worry about the wireless communication range.

  Further, since the handset is connected only to a telephone that is permitted to communicate, it is possible to prevent the handset from being connected to a device that is not permitted to communicate.

  In addition, by using a plurality of telephones equipped with a short-range wireless communication function for communication with the handset, it is not necessary to install an antenna dedicated for short-range wireless communication, and the cost of equipment can be suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, the short-range wireless communication device such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) has been described as a handset. However, the present invention can be applied to mobile communication of various devices that perform short-range wireless communication.

It is a figure for demonstrating the communication system of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows one structural example of the telephone set and handset in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the telephone main body in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the management server in this embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the communication system of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the communication system of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10a, 10b Telephone 20a, 20b Handset 30 Management server 100 Network

Claims (8)

A communication control method using first and second telephones including a handset that communicates with a main body by wireless communication within a predetermined distance, and a server connected to the first and second telephones via a network,
The server holds communication permission registration information which is information indicating which telephone is permitted to communicate with which telephone by which the first handset, which is the handset of the first telephone,
The first handset starts communication with a third telephone set different from the first and second telephones via the main body of the first telephone set and the network in response to an instruction input by an operator. When the intensity of the radio wave received from the main body of the telephone 1 becomes smaller than a predetermined threshold, a radio wave of a connection request signal including information to request connection is sent to the outside.
When the second telephone, which is the second handset that is its own handset, is not in use, and receives the connection request signal from the first handset by wireless communication, the second telephone is permitted to communicate with the first handset. Sending an inquiry signal containing information to inquire whether or not to the server,
When the server receives the inquiry signal from the second telephone, the server refers to the communication permission registration information and determines whether the first handset is permitted to communicate with the second telephone, Sending an authentication result indicating the result to the second telephone;
If the authentication result received from the server permits communication, the second telephone is connected to the first handset by wireless communication,
The server causes the second telephone to start communication with the third telephone if the authentication result transmitted to the second telephone permits communication, and the main body of the first telephone A communication control method for disconnecting communication with the third telephone .
  The communication control method according to claim 1, wherein the second telephone is connected to the first handset by wireless communication by exchanging pairing information for enabling wireless communication with the first handset. .   The communication control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the first and second telephones periodically monitors the connection request signal when the handset of the own device is not in use. When the first handset starts communicating with the third telephone, the main body of the first telephone registers information for registering that the first handset is in communication connection with the third telephone. Communication connection information is transmitted to the server,
When the server stores the received communication connection information and transmits the authentication result to the effect that communication is permitted to the second telephone, the server refers to the communication connection information and becomes the communication destination of the first handset. The communication control method according to claim 1, wherein the third telephone is specified. A communication system in which first and second telephones including a handset that communicates with a main body by wireless communication within a predetermined distance are connected via a network,
A server that holds communication permission registration information that is information indicating which telephone is permitted to communicate with which telephone by which the first handset, which is the handset of the first telephone,
The first handset is
Received from the main body of the first telephone after starting communication with the main body of the first telephone and the third telephone different from the first and second telephones via the network in response to an operator's instruction input When the strength of the radio wave to be transmitted is smaller than a predetermined threshold, a radio wave of a connection request signal including information indicating that a connection is requested is transmitted to the outside, and a connection approval signal including information indicating that the connection is approved is When receiving from the second telephone, the second telephone is connected by wireless communication,
The second telephone is
When the connection request signal is received from the first handset by wireless communication when the second handset which is the own handset is not used, an inquiry is made as to whether or not communication with the first handset is permitted. An inquiry signal including the information of the above is transmitted to the server, an authentication result indicating whether or not the first handset is permitted to communicate with its own device is received from the server, and the authentication result permits communication. If there is, the connection acceptance signal is transmitted to the first handset,
The server
When the inquiry signal is received from the second telephone, the communication permission registration information is referred to, it is determined whether or not the first handset is permitted to communicate with the second telephone, and an authentication indicating the result The result is transmitted to the second telephone, and if the authentication result permits communication, the second telephone starts communication with the third telephone, and the main body of the first telephone A communication system for disconnecting communication with the third telephone .
  6. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein said first handset exchanges pairing information for enabling wireless communication with said second telephone when receiving said connection acceptance signal from said second telephone.   The communication system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein each of the first and second telephones periodically monitors the connection request signal when the handset of the own phone is not in use. When the first handset starts communicating with the third telephone, the main body of the first telephone registers information for registering that the first handset is in communication connection with the third telephone. Communication connection information is transmitted to the server,
When the server stores the received communication connection information and transmits the authentication result to the effect that communication is permitted to the second telephone, the server refers to the communication connection information and becomes the communication destination of the first handset. The communication system according to claim 5, wherein the third telephone is specified.

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