JPH01175448A - Distributed communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute an extension of an electric communication line contained in a system without exerting an influence on a main equipment and terminal by providing a signal communication means for sending and receiving a signal in common through a signal transmission line on a communication network terminal means and a main control means, respectively. CONSTITUTION:A signal transmission line 1 is constituted of a control signal channel for transmitting a control signal sent and received between equipments connected thereto, and one or plural information signal channels for transmitting analog and digital information signals. A communication network terminal equipment 42 has a communication network terminal means 42a of a switching control function of an information signal channel of an electric communication line 2 and the signal transmission line 1 which have been contained and calling control and called control functions, etc., of the electric communication line 2. A main equipment 41 has a main control means 41a for managing the use by a terminal 5 of an information channel of the signal transmission line 1 and managing an attribute, etc., of the signal transmission line 1. Also, the communication network terminal equipment 42, the main equipment 41 and the terminal 5 are all provided with signal communication means 42b, 41b and 5b which can send and receive a common signal by using the control signal channel of the signal transmission line 1, and communication by a command, etc., is executed between each equipment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system in which a terminal connected to a signal transmission line in a home communicates via an external telecommunication line.

BACKGROUND ART FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of a conventional communication control system. In FIG. 5, 4 is a main device which accommodates one or more external telecommunication lines 2, has a switching function between the external telecommunications line 2 and the signal transmission line 1, and controls calling to the telecommunication line 2. or/has a communication network termination means such as a call control function. The main device is connected end-to-end to one or at least two or more terminals 5 via a signal transmission path 1, and performs call control of the main device 4 necessary for the terminals 5 to communicate via the telecommunications line 2. It has a signal communication means that is symmetrical to the signal communication means of the terminal 5 which performs communication control using the call control function and the call control function.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional communication system described above, communication network termination means such as a call control function and/or a call reception control function, and signal communication means for all signal transmission paths are concentrated in the main device. Because
Whenever the system's functionality was expanded, the main device had to handle it. Furthermore, when increasing the number of telecommunications lines to be accommodated, it was necessary to take measures such as expanding the functions of the seven main units or replacing them with main units capable of accommodating multiple telecommunications lines.

Furthermore, the number of terminals accommodated in the system also largely depended on the capabilities of the main device. As described above, conventional communication systems have many limitations in terms of system configuration and have the disadvantage of poor expandability.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides that the communication network termination means and the main control means each include a signal communication means for commonly transmitting and receiving signals via a signal transmission path. .

Operation The present invention provides a main control means having a function of managing signal transmission paths, attributes of the signal transmission paths, signal channels, etc. by the means described above, and a function of controlling exchange between a telecommunication line and a signal transmission line or a signal, and a telecommunication line. It becomes possible to independently distribute and accommodate communication network termination means having a call origination control function and a call reception control function to a communication system.

Embodiment FIG. 1 does not show a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the distributed communication system of the present invention. In addition, in FIG. 1, the same numbers are given to the same parts as in FIG. 5 of the conventional example.

In Fig. 1, 1 is a signal transmission path, which mainly includes a control signal channel that transmits control signals sent and received between each device connected to the signal transmission path 1, and a control signal channel that transmits control signals such as audio, 1, images, and data. and/or consists of one or more information signal channels for transmitting digital information signals. 2 is a telecommunications line, an analog public telephone network,
It is one communication line of an external communication network such as a digital communication network or a CATV network, and is terminated by the communication network termination means 42a of the communication network termination device 42. The communication network terminal device 42 accommodates the telecommunications line 2, and has a function of controlling the exchange of information signal channels between the housed telecommunications line 2 and the signal transmission line 1, and a function of controlling call origination and/or call reception of the telecommunication line 2, etc. It has a communication network termination means 42a. Reference numeral 41 denotes a main device, which includes main control means 41a having functions of managing the use of the information channel of the signal transmission path 1 by the terminal 5 and managing the signal transmission path 1 and the attributes of the signal transmission path 1. 5 is a terminal;
It has an applied control means 5a that performs specific application control, and uses the information signal channel of the signal transmission path 1 to exchange information with other terminals connected to the signal transmission path 1, and to communicate with the main device 41 and telecommunications. Information communication is performed with communication equipment of an external communication network 3 via a line 2. Communication network termination device 42. The main device 41゜terminal 5 is both equipped with signal communication means 42b, 41b, and 5b capable of transmitting and receiving common signals using the control signal channel of the signal transmission path 1, and transmits commands etc. between each device. communicate.

When a call is made from the terminal 5 to the telecommunications line 2, the terminal 5 uses the control channel of the signal transmission path 1 to inform the main control means 41a of the main device 41 whether or not the information signal channel of the signal transmission path 1 can be used. Make inquiries. The main control means 41a of the main device 41 checks the usage status of the information signal channel of the signal transmission path 1 by other terminals, and if there is an empty channel, the terminal 5
is permitted to use the information signal channel of signal transmission path 1. When the use of the information signal channel is permitted by the main control means 41a of the main device 41, the terminal 5 sends a signal instructing to control the exchange of the information signal channel with the telecommunication line 2 as necessary. The communication network terminating means 42a of the communication network terminating device 42 together with the partner selection information added by
The signal is transmitted via the control signal channel of the signal transmission line 1. Based on the contents of the instruction signal received from the terminal 5, the communication network terminating means 42a performs an exchange connection with the information signal channel of the signal transmission path 1 by using the exchange control function possessed by the communication network terminating means/12a, and also initiates a call. The control function transmits a selection signal to the telecommunications line 2 based on the partner selection information received from the terminal 5. Telecommunications line 2 after sending selection signal
When a response from the communication device of the external communication network 3 is detected by the communication network termination means 42a, the communication termination means 42a
sends a signal to the control signal channel of the signal transmission path 1 to notify the terminal 5 that a response from the other communication device has been detected. After the terminal 5 receives a notification of detection of a response from the other communication device from the communication network termination means 42a, the applied control means 5a uses the information signal channel of the signal transmission path 1 to respond to applications such as audio, images, and data. This information is transmitted and received with communication equipment on the external communication network 3.

An example of a configuration when a communication network termination device 43 is added is shown.

In FIG. 2, the functions and control methods of each device are the same as those shown in FIG. 1, so a description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 2, expansion of the telecommunication line accommodated by the distributed communication system of the present invention is performed by a communication network terminal device 42. Main device 41
and terminal 5, etc., without adding any functional expansion to devices already accommodated in the system, simply by simply using the communication network terminal device 4.
This can be accomplished by connecting a communication network termination device 43 having the same configuration and functions to the signal transmission line 1.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a configuration in which the communication network termination device of the distributed communication system shown in FIG. 1 accommodates a plurality of telecommunication lines, and FIG. 4 shows the communication network termination device 44 of FIG. An example of a configuration when multiple units are accommodated in a system is shown. The functions and control methods of each device in FIGS. 3 and 4 are the same as those shown in FIG. 1, so explanations will be omitted. Figures 2 and 3.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the distributed communication system of the present invention, the telecommunication lines accommodated can be easily expanded, and the system configuration at the time of expansion can also be flexible.

Effect of the invention According to the distributed communication system of the present invention, a main device.

It is possible to flexibly respond to system construction using communication network termination devices and terminals, and expansion of telecommunications lines accommodated in the system can be done without affecting the main device or terminals.

The number of telecommunications lines accommodated can be freely expanded by selecting the type of communication network termination means used, and since each device communicates via a common signal transmission path, it is possible to accommodate the number of telecommunications lines accommodated in the system. The number of terminals does not depend on the capability of the main device 9 and the communication network terminal device, and the number of terminals can be easily added.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the distributed communication system of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the distributed communication system of the present invention that accommodates a plurality of communication network termination devices, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the distributed communication system of the present invention. 4 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the distributed communication system of the present invention in which a communication network termination device accommodates a plurality of telecommunication lines, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration when a plurality of devices are connected to a system, and FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional communication system. 1 signal transmission path, 2 telecommunications line, 3 external communication network, 42 communication network termination device, 42a - communication network termination means, 42b signal communication means, 41 - main device, 41a
- Main control means, 41b signal communication means, 5-terminal, 5a
Applied control means, 5b Signal communication means.

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) at least one signal transmission path having one or more signal channels; a main control means having at least a function of managing the signal transmission path, attributes of the signal transmission path, the signal channel, etc.; accommodating a line, and having an exchange control function between the signal transmission path or signal and the telecommunication line, and a calling control function between the telecommunication line and the telecommunication line;
The main control means and the communication network termination means are each provided with a communication network termination means having at least an incoming call control function, and a signal communication means for transmitting and receiving a predetermined common signal via the signal transmission path. A distributed communication system characterized by being prepared for. (2) The distributed communication system according to claim 1, wherein the communication network termination means accommodates only one telecommunication line. (3) The distributed communication system according to claim 2, characterized in that the communication network termination means is connected to a plurality of signal transmission paths. (4) The communication network termination means connects at least two telecommunications lines.
Claim 1, which is characterized by accommodating more than one line.
Distributed communication system as described in Section. (5) The distributed communication system according to claim 4, wherein each of the communication network termination means is provided with a signal communication means and connected to a plurality of signal transmission paths.