JP5112165B2 - Communication device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication apparatus including a monitoring port that can be used for operation verification.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique that can back up the base and continue to operate the IP telephone terminal even if a failure occurs in the IP exchange or the line. With this technology, when a failure occurs in an IP switch or line, the backup switch switches from the standby system to the active system, and all IP telephone terminals in each site log out of the IP switch, and each backs up in its own site. Log in to the switch. As a result, each IP telephone terminal can make an extension call within its own base by controlling the backup exchange in its own base.
JP 2006-254096 G

  By the way, an IP telephone system as described in Patent Document 1 is normally constructed on the same IP network as other network systems (for example, a data search system). For this reason, if it is attempted to monitor data flowing through a concentrator (for example, a hub) on an IP network for operation verification of the IP telephone system, data of a network system other than the IP telephone system can also be monitored. Therefore, it is conceivable that the user of the IP network rejects the IP telephone system operation verification by the IP telephone system maintenance company due to security problems. In this case, it becomes difficult to investigate the cause of a failure or the like occurring in the IP telephone system.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to verify the operation of a network system constructed on the same IP network as this network system without showing data of other network systems. It is to provide a technology that makes possible.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, the communication device is provided with relay means for relaying between a plurality of communication ports, and the communication device main body is connected to the line concentrator on the IP network via the relay means. In addition, a predetermined communication port (monitoring port) preset and registered in the relay unit is provided, and duplicate data of data input to the communication port is output from the monitoring port.

For example, the present invention is a communication device provided with a plurality of communication ports,
A communication device main body connected to any of the plurality of communication ports;
When data is input to any of the plurality of communication ports, the data is relayed to another communication port determined according to the destination of the data, and duplicate data of the data is transferred to a predetermined communication port Relay means for outputting from

  According to the present invention, the communication device constituting the network system to be monitored is adopted as the communication device main body, and the concentrator on the IP network is disconnected from the communication port, so that the monitoring port can Only network system data can be monitored. Therefore, it is possible to verify the operation of this network system without showing data of other network systems.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of an IP telephone system including a communication device 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in the figure, an IP telephone system includes a main TM (telephony manager: main controller) 1, a plurality of IP-TELs (IP telephones) 2, and a communication device 3 according to the present embodiment as a HUB (concentrator) 4. Connected to and configured. The HUB 4 is also connected to devices (servers, clients, etc.) 5 constituting other network systems such as a data search system.

  The main TM1 is an IP exchange in charge of call control of the IP-TEL 2 and the TUM 36 of the communication device 3 described later. The main TM1 performs communication confirmation for periodically transmitting and receiving messages between the IP-TEL2 and the TUM 36 described later. Also, IP telephone service is provided to the logged-in IP-TEL 2 and TUM 36.

  The IP-TEL 2 confirms communication with the main TM 1 to periodically send and receive messages. If the IP-TEL 2 communicates with the main TM 1, the IP-TEL 2 logs into the main TM 1 and uses the IP phone service of the main TM 1. If the communication with the main TM1 is not established, communication with the sub TM 35 of the communication device 3 to be described later is confirmed. If the communication with the sub TM 35 is established, the sub TM 35 is logged in and the IP telephone service of the sub TM 35 is used. .

  The communication device 3 according to the present embodiment has a function as a line concentrator for connecting an analog telephone operable as an extension, a multifunction telephone (TEL) 6 and a public line (PSTN) 7 to the IP telephone system, and It has a function as a backup IP exchange in charge of call control when a failure or the like occurs in the main TM1. Furthermore, the communication device 3 has a monitoring port for verifying the operation of the IP telephone system, and outputs duplicate data of data exchanged in the IP telephone system from this monitoring port.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the communication device 3.

  As shown in the figure, the communication device 3 includes an external connection port 31, an internal connection port 32, a monitoring port 33, an L2SW unit 34, a sub TM 35, a TUM (telephony unit: relay device) 36, A connection detection unit 37.

  Here, a plurality of external connection ports 31 are provided, but at least one external connection port 31 may be used for connecting the HUB 4. Here, two internal connection ports 32 are provided, the sub TM 35 is connected to one internal connection port 32, and the TUM 36 is connected to the other internal connection port 32. May be three or more or one.

  The sub TM 35 is a backup IP exchange in charge of call control of the IP-TEL 2 and the TUM 36 when a failure occurs in the main TM 1. The sub TM 35 performs communication confirmation for periodically transmitting and receiving messages between the IP-TEL 2 and the TUM 36. Also, IP telephone service is provided to the logged-in IP-TEL 2 and TUM 36.

  The TUM 36 accommodates the TEL 6 and the PSTN 7 and connects the TEL 6 and the PSTN 7 to the IP-TEL 2 under the control of the main TM 1 or the sub TM 35. The TUM 36 performs communication confirmation for periodically transmitting and receiving messages to and from the main TM 1. If the TUM 36 communicates with the main TM 1, the TUM 36 logs into the main TM 1 and uses the IP phone service of the main TM 1. On the other hand, if the communication with the main TM1 is not established, the communication with the sub TM 35 is confirmed. If the communication with the sub TM 35 is established, the sub TM 35 is logged in and the IP phone service of the sub TM 35 is used.

  The L2SW unit 34 is a layer 2 switch that relays between the external connection port 31 and the internal connection port 32. Here, the L2SW unit 34 has two operation modes of “normal mode” and “operation verification mode”.

  In the “normal mode”, when data is input to either the external connection port 31 or the internal connection port 32, the L2SW unit 34 determines any external connection port 31 determined according to the destination of the data. Alternatively, this data is relayed to the internal connection port 32.

  In the “operation verification mode”, the L2SW unit 34 invalidates one of the external connection ports 31 that has been set and registered in advance, for example, the external connection port 31 to which the HUB 4 is connected. In addition, when data is input to any of the other external connection port 31 and internal connection port 32, any one of the external connection port 31 or the internal connection port 32 determined according to the destination of the data The data is relayed, and duplicate data of the data is output from the monitoring port 33.

  The connection detection unit 37 monitors the connection state of the monitoring terminal to the monitoring port 33 based on the voltage of the monitoring port 33 and the like. When a monitoring terminal is connected to the monitoring port 33, the L2SW unit 34 operates in the “operation verification mode”. When no monitoring terminal is connected to the monitoring port 33, the L2SW unit 34 Operates in “normal mode”.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining operations of the connection detection unit 37 and the L2SW unit 34 of the communication device 3.

  The connection detection unit 37 monitors the connection state of the monitoring terminal to the monitoring port 33 and notifies the L2SW unit 34 of the monitoring result (S10).

  In response to this, when the monitoring result received from the connection detection unit 37 indicates that the monitoring terminal is not connected to the monitoring port 33 (NO in S11), the L2SW unit 34 changes its operation mode. to decide. If the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is not “normal mode” (NO in S12), the L2SW unit 34 shifts its operation mode from “operation verification mode” to “normal mode” (S13). In the “normal mode”, when data is input to either the external connection port 31 or the internal connection port 32, the L2SW unit 34 sets this data to any external connection port determined according to the destination. 31 or the internal connection port 32.

  On the other hand, when the monitoring result received from the connection detection unit 37 indicates that the monitoring terminal is connected to the monitoring port 33 (YES in S11), the L2SW unit 34 determines its own operation mode. If the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is not the “operation verification mode” (NO in S14), the L2SW unit 34 shifts its operation mode from the “normal mode” to the “operation verification mode” (S15). In the “operation verification mode”, the L2SW unit 34 invalidates the external connection port 31 that is set and registered in advance, for example, the external connection port 31 to which the HUB 4 is connected, and other external connection ports 31. When data is input to any one of the internal connection ports 32, the data is relayed to any external connection port 31 or internal connection port 32 determined according to the destination, and this data is copied. Data is output from the monitoring port 33 to the monitoring terminal 7 (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

  According to the above operation, by automatically switching the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34, as shown below, the IP telephone system without showing data of other network systems such as a communication server and a client connected to the HUB 4 Only operation verification is possible.

  FIG. 4 shows the data flow of the IP telephone system when the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is “normal mode”. In FIG. 4, the configuration of the communication device 3 is shown in a simplified manner (the same applies to FIGS. 5 and 6).

  As shown in the figure, when the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is “normal mode”, the data 100 of the IP telephone system is transmitted between the main TM 1, IP-TEL 2, and communication apparatus 3 that constitute the IP telephone system via the HUB 4. Exchanged. In the “normal mode”, the data 101 of other network systems also flows in the HUB 4. For this reason, when the data flowing through the HUB 4 is monitored for the operation verification of the IP telephone system, The network system data 101 can also be monitored. Therefore, it is conceivable that the user of the IP network rejects the IP telephone system operation verification by the IP telephone system maintenance company due to security problems. In this case, it becomes difficult to investigate the cause of a failure or the like occurring in the IP telephone system.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is automatically switched to the “operation verification mode” in which only the data of the IP telephone system can be monitored by connecting the monitoring terminal to the monitoring port 33. FIG. 5 shows the data flow of the IP telephone system when the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is the “operation verification mode”.

  As shown in the figure, when the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is “operation verification mode”, the L2SW unit 34 invalidates the external connection port 31 connected to the HUB 4. For this reason, the data 101 of other network systems does not flow into the L2SW unit 34. In addition, the L2SW unit 34 transmits the duplicate data of the data 102 input from the sub TM 35 and the TUM 36 to the monitoring terminal 7 connected to the monitoring port 33. Therefore, in the “operation verification mode”, the monitoring terminal 7 can monitor the data 102 of the sub-TM 35 and TUM 36 constituting the IP telephone system without monitoring the data 101 of the other network system.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the data 101 of another network system is monitored by disconnecting the IP-TEL 2 and the main TM 1 from the HUB 4 and connecting them to the other external connection ports 31 of the communication device 3. The monitoring terminal 7 can monitor the data 103 flowing through the IP telephone system. Alternatively, two external connection ports may be provided, one for HUB4 connection and the other for connection of HUB or the like that accommodates IP-TEL2 or main TM1.

  As described above, according to the communication device 3 of the present embodiment, the HUB 4 is disconnected from the external connection port 31, thereby connecting the sub TM 35 connected to the internal connection port 32, or the sub TM 35, TUM 36, and IP-TEL 2. Only the data of can be monitored. This makes it possible to separate the other network system from the IP telephone network (IP telephone system) formed by the communication device 3, and the monitoring port 33 cannot see the data of the other network system. Thus, it is possible to verify the operation of only the IP telephone system. This is because the operation verification of the IP phone system alone is performed at the time of a network failure, so that the work of fault isolation becomes easy and the failure solution and recovery can be performed quickly.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the connection detection unit 37 monitors the connection of the monitoring terminal 7 to the monitoring port 33. If the monitoring terminal 7 is not connected to the monitoring port 33, the “normal mode” is selected. If the L2SW unit 34 operates and the monitoring terminal 7 is connected, the L2SW unit 34 operates in the “operation verification mode”. Therefore, the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 can be switched from the “normal mode” to the “operation verification mode” simply by connecting the monitoring terminal 7 to the monitoring port 33, and the operation verification operation can be facilitated.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Many deformation | transformation are possible within the range of the summary.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the connection detection unit 37 is provided in the communication device 3, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead of providing the connection detection unit 37, an operation mode changeover switch of the L2SW unit 34 may be provided in the communication device 3.

  In the above embodiment, the L2SW unit 34 is operated in either the “normal mode” or the “operation verification mode”, but the present invention is not limited to this. When data is input to either the external connection port 31 or the internal connection port 32, the L2SW unit 34 transfers to the other external connection port 31 and internal connection port 32 that are determined according to the destination of the data. The data may be relayed, and duplicate data of the data may be output from the monitoring port 33. In this case, after disconnecting the HUB 4 from the external connection port 31 (after disconnecting the cable between the HUB 4 and the external connection port 31), the monitoring terminal 7 is connected to the monitoring port 33, whereby the monitoring terminal 7 Thus, the data 102 and 103 of the sub TM 35 and TUM 36 constituting the IP telephone system can be monitored without monitoring the data 101 of other network systems.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the sub TM 35 and the TUM 36 are provided in the communication device 3 as the communication device main body and these are connected to the L2SW unit 34 via the internal connection port 32 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a configuration in which the TUM 36 includes the L2SW unit 34, a configuration in which the main TM 1 includes the L 2 SW unit 34, a configuration in which the sub TM 35 includes the L 2 SW unit 34, or a configuration in which the L-SW 2 34 is provided in the IP-TEL 2, A device different from itself, such as HUB4, IP-TEL2, or main TM1, may be accommodated in the external connection port of the L2SW unit 34.

  In the above-described embodiment, the configuration of the communication device 3 illustrated in FIG. 2 may be executed by hardware using an integrated logic IC such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field programmable gate array (FPGA). Alternatively, it may be executed in software by a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). Alternatively, in a general-purpose computer such as an auxiliary storage device such as a CPU, memory, HDD, and DVD-ROM, a modem, and a PC (Personal Computer) equipped with a NIC (Network Interface Card), the CPU can transfer a predetermined program from the auxiliary storage device. It may be realized by loading and executing on a memory.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the configuration of an IP telephone system including a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the communication device 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining operations of the connection detection unit 37 and the L2SW unit 34 of the communication device 3. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data flow of the IP telephone system when the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is “normal mode”. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data flow of the IP telephone system when the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is “operation verification mode”. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a modification of the data flow of the IP telephone system when the operation mode of the L2SW unit 34 is the “operation verification mode”.

Explanation of symbols

  1: Main TM, 2: IP-TEL, 3: Communication device, 4: HUB, 5: Device, 6: TEL, 7: PSTN, 31: External connection port, 32: Internal connection port, 33: For monitoring Port: 34: L2SW unit, 35: Sub TM, 36: TUM, 37: Connection detection unit

Claims (6)

In a communication device having a plurality of communication ports for connecting a telephone line and an IP network,
Relay means for relaying data between the plurality of communication ports;
The relay means is
A first operation mode for relaying data according to a destination between the plurality of communication ports;
Data relay with the first communication port for transmitting and receiving data to and from the IP network is stopped, and data from communication ports other than the first communication port is used for the first communication according to the destination. And a second operation mode for relaying to any port other than the port and outputting a copy of the data to a second port connected to a monitoring terminal for monitoring the data. apparatus. The communication device according to claim 1,
Detecting means for detecting connection of the monitoring terminal to the second port;
The relay unit shifts from the first operation mode to the second operation mode when the detection unit detects a connection of a monitoring terminal to the second port. . The communication device according to claim 2,
After the transition to the second operation mode, when the detection unit is notified by the detection unit that the monitoring terminal is not connected to the second port, the relay unit starts from the second operation mode. 1. A communication apparatus that shifts to one operation mode. The communication device according to claim 3,
A third communication port for transmitting and receiving data to and from a relay device connecting the telephone line to the IP network;
And a fourth communication port for transmitting and receiving data to and from the main control device of the IP telephone. The communication device according to claim 3,
The first communication port is a communication port for transmitting / receiving data to / from an IP network in which a network system other than the IP telephone system is mixed,
A fourth communication port for transmitting and receiving data to and from an IP network including only the IP telephone system;
The communication device, wherein the relay means relays data with the fourth communication port in the second operation mode. The communication device according to claim 3,
The communication apparatus, wherein the relay means is a layer 2 switch.

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