JPH06284191A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To confirm the existence of a portable terminal using a radio equipment and to confirm a base station, which is used by the portable terminal, as well. CONSTITUTION:Concerning both of respective call originating side and call terminating side terminals 4A and 6A, a private exchange 1A displays the identification information of a base station 8a (or 8b) under control at present on the display. When the button of any specified number is operated at the terminal 4A during speaking, the identification information (such as the arranging place of the base station or geometrical address where the base station is arranged) corresponding to the specified number is read from an identification information storage device 11 connected to the private exchange 1A, and this identification information is displayed on a display 5A of the terminal 4A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system in which some terminals are portable using radio waves and the portable terminals are connected to a private branch exchange via a base station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional communication system, in which 1 is a private branch exchange (PBX: Privat).
e Branch Exchange), which is installed in a company or business establishment, connects terminals such as a large number of telephones to one office line, and connects these terminals to each other. Each of 2a and 2b is a base station and is connected to the private branch exchange 1.

A radio device is provided in each of the base stations 2a and 2b so that it can be wirelessly accessed with a portable terminal (cordless telephone) 4. in this case,
Each of the base stations 2a and 2b is installed with a distance such that the service areas 3a and 3b accessible to the terminal 4 do not overlap with the other party. In this case, it is not always necessary that the service areas 3a and 3b do not overlap.

The portable terminal 4 includes a general wireless device,
In addition to a control circuit, a speaker, a microphone, a dial switch (all not shown), a display control circuit (not shown)
And a display (for example, LCD: Liquid Crystal Displa)
y) 5 is provided. The display 5 has a base station 2
The extension number of the partner terminal sent from the private branch exchange 1 via a (or the base station 2b) is displayed. In general, the display 5 can be attached only to a small one that can display only a telephone number.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a fixed terminal (general telephone), which is connected to the private branch exchange 1. A display device 7 is attached to the terminal 6, and an LCD, for example, is used for the display device 7 like the portable terminal 4. The extension number of the partner terminal sent from the private branch exchange 1 is displayed on the display unit 7.

Next, the operation will be described. For example, terminal 6
When a call request is issued to the terminal 4, the private branch exchange 1 searches for the terminal 4 using the base stations 2a and 2b and makes an incoming call to this. The terminal 4 receiving the incoming call rings the bell and displays the extension number of the terminal 6 sent from the private branch exchange 1 on the display unit 5.

After the incoming call to the terminal 4 is started, the private branch exchange 1 returns an audible tone indicating that the call is being made to the terminal 6, and
The extension number of the terminal 4 is displayed on the display 7 of the terminal 6. For example, "2001" is displayed as shown.

On the other hand, when the terminal 4 issues a call request to the terminal 6, the private branch exchange 1 sends the call via the base station 2a (in this case, the portable terminal 4 is within the service area of the base station 2a). It receives and makes an incoming call to the terminal 6. Terminal 6 that received the call
Rings the bell and displays the extension number of the terminal 4 sent from the private branch exchange 1 on the display 7.

After starting the incoming call to the terminal 6, the private branch exchange 1 returns to the terminal 4 an audible tone indicating that a call is being made, and
The extension number of the terminal 6 is displayed on the display 5 of the terminal 4.

Incidentally, one similar to the above-mentioned prior art is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-87860. This prior art sends and stores information to a partner terminal that is absent or busy. Then, the transmitted information is to be reproduced by causing the partner terminal to perform a predetermined operation.

[0011]

Since the conventional communication system is configured as described above, the extension numbers are displayed by the displays 5 and 7 of the portable terminal 4 and the fixed terminal 6, respectively, so that they can communicate with each other. You can see who is. However, when the portable terminal 4 is brought to a place away from the permanent place, its location cannot be known from the fixed terminal 6, so that the user of the terminal 6 is a person who owns the terminal 4. 4 will proceed as if it were in the permanent location of No. 4 and will start talking inconveniently at this location for the terminal 4, and there will be a problem that the called party does not know the whereabouts of the calling party. It was

Further, during a call between the portable terminal 4 and the fixed terminal 6, a problem such as disconnection of a call or noise is generated, or a problem occurs in the base station 2a or the base station 2b. In the event of occurrence, it is not possible to identify which base station the portable terminal 4 was using, so there is also the problem that failure countermeasures and maintenance cannot be performed efficiently.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to confirm the location of a portable terminal and the base station used by the portable terminal. The purpose is to obtain a communication system capable of.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication system for a base station which is currently under the control of a private branch exchange for both the calling side and the called side of each terminal. The identification information of is displayed.

According to another aspect of the communication system of the present invention, the private branch exchange is provided with an identification information storage device for storing the identification information of each base station, and a button of a specific number is operated on a portable terminal during a call. In this case, the identification information corresponding to the specific number is read out from the identification information storage device, and the identification information is displayed on the display of the portable terminal on which the button operation is performed.

In the communication system according to the third aspect of the present invention, the location where the base station is arranged is the identification information stored in the identification information storage device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a communication system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes the present address as well as the location where the base station is located as the identification information stored in the identification information storage device.

[0018]

In the communication system according to the invention described in claim 1,
The identification information of the base station used by the other party's terminal is displayed on the terminal display.

In the communication system according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the button of a specific number is operated on the portable terminal, the identification information of the base station corresponding to the number is read from the identification information storage device, This identification information is displayed on the display of the portable terminal.

In the communication system according to the third aspect of the present invention, the identification information regarding the location of each base station is displayed on the display of the terminal where the button operation is performed.

In the communication system according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the identification information regarding the location and the current address of each base station is displayed on the display of the terminal on which the button operation is performed.

[0022]

EXAMPLES Example 1. Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, 1A is a private branch exchange (P
BX), which is installed in a company or a business establishment, connects terminals such as a large number of telephones and facsimiles to one office line, and connects these terminals to each other. The private branch exchange 1 is provided with a location registration storage unit 1B that performs location registration of the portable terminal 4A with respect to the base stations 8a and 8b. Since the portable terminal 4A may move beyond the service area of the base station at the permanent location, it is necessary to manage the location of the portable device by constantly updating the location registration. The position registration storage unit 1B is used for this management.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an identification information storage device, which has a CPU, a RAM, a ROM and the like (not shown), and is an RO.
A program for controlling the CPU is written in M, and a message (identification information) corresponding to each base station (base stations 8a and 8b described below in this embodiment) under its control is stored in the RAM. There is. Further, when the terminal used is a portable device, this RAM also stores a message (identification information) corresponding to a specific number assigned to the portable device. Since these messages are written in the RAM, the contents can be changed arbitrarily.

Here, the message corresponding to the base station is
For example, if the base station 8a uses the conference room on the third floor of the business office as the service area, the base station 8a is "3F key". The message corresponding to the specific number is, for example, location information corresponding to the base station. The location information also includes addresses such as prefectures and municipalities. The identification information storage device 11 has a built-in backup battery so that the contents of the RAM will not be lost due to a power failure or the like.

The identification information storage device 11 is a private branch exchange 1A.
When there is an inquiry for a message corresponding to the base station or a message corresponding to a specific number, the contents of the RAM are searched, and if there is a corresponding one, this is output. In addition,
In addition to the above RAM, a cassette tape is used for storing the message. If you use a cassette tape, you don't need a backup power supply.

Each of the base stations 8a and 8b is connected to the private branch exchange 1A. These base stations 8a and 8b are provided with wireless devices so that they can be wirelessly accessed with the portable terminal 4A. The base station 8
Each of a and 8b is installed with a distance such that the service areas 3a and 3b accessible to the portable terminal 4A do not overlap with the other party. In this case, it is not always necessary that the service areas 3a and 3b do not overlap each other.

The portable terminal 4A is provided with a display control circuit 9 and a display (for example, LCD) 5A in addition to a wireless device, a control circuit, a speaker, a microphone, a dial switch (all not shown), and the like. ing. The display control circuit 9 (not shown) controls the display 5A. In addition to the extension number of the partner terminal sent from the private branch exchange 1 via the base station 8a (or base station 8b) to the display unit 5A, the private branch exchange 1 from each private branch exchange 8a (or base station 8b) The message sent (for example, “3F key” from the base station 8a as described above) is displayed. In this case, the display control circuit 9 directly displays the message sent from the private branch exchange 1 on the display 5A.

Reference numeral 6A is a fixed terminal (general telephone), which is directly connected to the private branch exchange 1A. A display 7A is attached to the terminal 6A, and an LCD, for example, is used as the display 7A, like the portable terminal 4A. The extension number and / or the message of the terminal sent from the private branch exchange 1A are displayed on the display 7A.

In this case, if the partner terminal is a fixed terminal 6A, only its extension number is displayed, and if it is a portable terminal 4A, a message corresponding to the base station used by this terminal 4A is displayed. Is displayed. For example, as described above, if the base station used by the terminal 4A is the base station 8A, "3F key" is displayed.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a calling operation of the communication system having the above-mentioned configuration. For example, when the fixed terminal 6A issues a call request to the portable terminal 4A, first, step S
At T1, the private branch exchange 1A receives this call request, and then makes an incoming call to the last registered base station. In this case, the base station in which the position of the terminal 4A is registered at the end of the previous call is the base station 8a.

The private branch exchange 1 makes an incoming call to the base station 8a, and then determines in step ST2 whether or not there is a response from the terminal 4A. If it is determined that there is a response from the terminal 4A in this determination, the calling process is started in step ST3. That is, the bell is sounded to the terminal 4A, and the extension number "2001" of the terminal 6A is supplied and displayed on the display 5A.

Next, in step ST4, it is determined whether the device is a portable device. In this case, since the terminal 4A is a portable device, the process proceeds to step ST5.

When the operation proceeds to step ST5, the private branch exchange 1A
Queries the identification information storage device 11 for a message corresponding to the base station 8a used by the terminal 4A. Then, when the corresponding message is supplied from the identification information storage device 11, the process proceeds to step ST6, the message is supplied to the terminal 6A and displayed on the display 7A. In this case, since the service area of the base station 8a is the conference room on the third floor, "3F key" is displayed on the display 7A of the terminal 6A.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST4 that the terminal is not a portable device, the process proceeds to step ST7, the terminal 6A is supplied with the extension number of the terminal (not shown) on the receiving side, and the display 7A receives the extension number. Is displayed.

In step ST2, it is determined whether or not there is a response from the portable terminal 4A, and step ST2 is repeated until a response is received. An incoming call is made using the selected base station 8a for a certain period of time, and if there is no response during this time, the incoming call is made to an adjacent base station. That is, the base station is sequentially changed at fixed time intervals until a response is received, and an incoming call is made.

When the portable terminal 4A responds, the base station that received the response is used to perform the in-call process and disconnect the base stations other than the base station. If there are responses from multiple base stations, select the one whose field strength is within the specified range and the earliest time to receive the response,
Cut otherwise. If no response is received from any base station within a fixed time, the private branch exchange 1A returns busy to the calling side and disconnects the corresponding base station.

In the above case, the called terminal 4A can see the other party's telephone number by looking at the display, but cannot know the whereabouts. Therefore, the following is a method to know the whereabouts of the other party. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of knowing the other party's whereabouts during a call in the communication system having the above-described configuration. This process is executed as a interrupt process at predetermined intervals. First, in step ST10, it is determined whether or not the mobile device is in a call. If it is determined in this determination that the mobile device is in a call, step ST11.
When it is determined that the mobile device is not in a call, the process returns to the main process (process for managing the overall operation of the communication system). In this case, it is assumed that the terminal 4A is busy.

When the operation proceeds to step ST11, the private branch exchange 1
A determines whether or not an operation of inputting a predetermined specific push button (hereinafter referred to as a special number) on the portable terminal 4A is performed. In this determination, if it is determined that the special number has not been input, this step ST11 is repeated until it is input, and if it is determined that it has been input, the process proceeds to step ST12.

When the operation proceeds to step ST12, the private branch exchange 1
A queries the identification information storage device 11 for a message corresponding to the base station that has received the specific number. In this case, the base station 8a is used. In the identification information storage device 11, the base station 8a
The message corresponding to the specific number is searched based on the above, and if there is a corresponding message, the message is read and supplied to the private branch exchange 1A.

Upon receiving the message from the identification information storage device 11, the private branch exchange 1A supplies this message to the portable terminal 4A via the base station 8a in step ST13. As a result, the message corresponding to the whereabouts is displayed on the display 5A of the terminal 4A instead of the number of the terminal 6A that has been displayed until then. In this way, it becomes possible for both the calling side and the called side to know the information of the base station.

Although the identification information storage device 11 is provided separately from the private branch exchange 1A in the above-described embodiment, the private branch exchange 1A has the identification information storage device 11 built therein or has a function equivalent to this. It may be provided to 1A.

In the above embodiment, the identification information storage device 11 is dedicated to the private branch exchange 1A, but a commonly used computer (including personal computer) can be used.

In the above embodiment, each base station 8a, 8a
Although a specific message is assigned to b, one message may be assigned with a plurality of base stations as one unit.

The communication system of the present invention is particularly suitable for use in emergency facilities such as hospitals.

[0045]

As described above, according to the invention as set forth in claim 1, since the identification information of the base station used by the terminal of the other party is displayed on the display of the terminal, When the other party is a terminal that uses the base station, it is possible to confirm the whereabouts of the terminal and have a conversation according to the whereabouts.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the button of a specific number is operated on the portable terminal, the identification information of the base station corresponding to the number is stored in the identification information storage device. Since it is configured to read out and display this identification information on the display of the portable terminal, it is possible to confirm the base station used for the call, and which base should be used in the case of radio interference or disconnection of the call. You can see if you were using the station and improve the efficiency of maintenance.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the display of the portable terminal on which the button operation is performed displays the location of the base station currently used on the display. As a result, it becomes easy to specify the range of radio interference.

Further, according to the invention as set forth in claim 4, on the display unit of the terminal on which the button operation is performed, the present address is displayed in addition to the location of the base station currently used on the display unit. As a result, it becomes easier to specify the range of radio interference.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in a call of the communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in a call of the communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A Private branch exchange 4A, 6A Terminal 5A, 7A Display 8a, 8b Base station 11 Identification information storage device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of terminals each having a display unit, a plurality of base stations each wirelessly transmitting and receiving call information to and from a portable terminal among the respective terminals, and a plurality of base stations each having unique identification information. A private branch exchange for interconnecting terminals via the base station when the portable terminal is used, wherein the private branch exchange is both a calling side and a called side of each terminal. On the other hand, a communication system characterized by displaying the identification information of the base station currently under its control on its display. 2. An identification information storage device that stores identification information unique to each base station, wherein the private branch exchange operates a button with a specific number on the portable terminal during a call. At that time, the identification information of the base station that has received the specific number is read from the identification information storage device, the identification information is supplied to the portable terminal via the base station, and is displayed on the display unit. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The communication system according to claim 2, wherein the identification information storage device stores identification information indicating a location where each of the base stations is located. 4. The communication system according to claim 3, wherein the identification information storage device includes a current address as a location where each of the base stations is located.