JPH09200271A - Interwork device and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform communication surely for a user. SOLUTION: When a call originating terminal 111 performs a connection request through an interwork device 1 to any one of terminals 112-114 connected to a LAN 102, call, incoming terminal information is possessed from a SETUP message, which is received by a line control part 2, by a system control part 4 and with this call incoming terminal information as a retrieval key, the communication ability and LAN address of the relevant terminal are possessed from a LAN terminal information memory 5. Further, a communication attribute desirable for the call originating terminal 111 is identified and possessed from the received SETUP message, the communication attribute of the call originating terminal 111 is compared with the communication attribute of the call incoming terminal and corresponding to the compared result, optimum communication is performed between the call originating terminal 111 and the call incoming terminal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an interworking device for performing interworking such as protocol conversion between different types of networks, a communication system using this device, and a control method for this device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, communication technology has advanced, and when communication is performed between a communication terminal device (hereinafter referred to as "terminal") and the terminal, not only in a single network but also in a network of a different type. It has become possible to communicate with other terminals.

When performing communication in a certain network, the communication is performed in accordance with a communication protocol (communication protocol) in order to secure the communication connectivity. ISDN (In
In a public line such as integrated services digital network), this communication protocol is defined by a standardization organization such as ITU (International Telecommunication Union).

[0004] For example, in ISDN, the connection procedure and the disconnection procedure between terminals are described in ITU-T Recommendation Q. Although it is defined in 931, each vendor or group uses a unique protocol in the LAN, and it is often different for each network.

Therefore, when communication is performed between terminals connected to networks of different types such as ISDN and LAN, an interwork device usually called "gateway" or "router" is used. That is, the interworking device is a device for performing interworking between networks such as protocol conversion.

In such an interworking device,
By merely performing protocol conversion, the user or terminal must be aware of the differences between the networks. Further, in the LAN, since it is not known in advance which terminal the user will use, it is not easy to specify a specific user from outside the LAN for communication.
In order to partially solve such a problem, it is considered that the interworking device has a more intelligent function.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional communication system using such an interwork device, that is, a communication system for communicating between terminals connected to different types of networks.

In the figure, 101 is an ISDN line, and a terminal 111 having an interface to the ISDN 101 is connected to the ISDN 101. 102 is a LAN such as Ethernet,
A plurality of (for example, three) terminals 112 to 114 having an interface to the LAN 102 are connected to the AN 102.

Further, to the ISDN 101 and the LAN 102, an interwork device 121 having management information of each terminal 112 to 114 in the LAN 102 and interworking between the ISDN 101 and the LAN 102 is connected.

The user 131 uses the terminal 111, and the users 112 to 113 log in to the LAN 102 using the terminals 112 to 114, respectively.

Next, an operation procedure executed by the conventional communication system will be described. The outline of the operation process is that the user 131 who is using the terminal 111 makes a call via the interworking device 121 to the users 132 to 134 who are considered to be using any of the terminals 112 to 114 to perform communication. It is something to do. Hereinafter, the terminal 111 is referred to as a calling terminal, and the terminal 1
The terminal of any of 12 to 114 will be described as a receiving terminal.

First, the operation of the terminal 111 which is the calling terminal will be described.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the operation of the terminal 111.

When transmission is requested by the instruction of the user 131, a SETUP message is created in step S101. Call control messages such as SETUP messages are ITU-T Recommendation Q. 931 and FIG. 12 shows the meaning of each call control message. Also SET
A specific data format of the UP message has a structure as shown in FIG. 13, for example. The ISDN address of the interworking device 121 is in the called number information element, the information for designating the called user (name for identifying the user in the LAN, generally login name) is in the called subaddress information element, and the communication attribute of the calling terminal. The communication capability is encoded into a transfer capability information element, a higher layer compatibility information element and a lower layer compatibility information element, respectively.

Next, in step S102, SETUP
A message is transmitted and a call is made to the interworking device 121, and in step S103, an ALERT message is received.

In the following step S104, the ISDN 10
If the received message is a CONN message, it means that the connection with the interwork device 121 has been accepted, and in step S105, the CONACK message is transmitted to the interwork device 121. Complete the connection process.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S104 that the received message is the DISC message, it means that the connection with the interworking device 121 is rejected, and the REL message is transmitted in step S106.
In step S107, the connection refusal process with the interwork device 121 is completed by receiving the RELCOMP message.

Next, the operation of the interworking device 121 will be described.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the operation of the interworking device 121, and FIG. 15 is shown in FIG.
14 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception performed in steps S117 to S120 of FIG.
4 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception performed in steps S121 to S123 of FIG.

In FIG. 14, first, when a SETUP message is received in step S111, step S112 is performed.
To send the ALERT message.

Next, in step S113, the received S
Incoming user information is acquired from the destination sub-address information element of the ETUP message, and the LAN 102 is acquired in step S114.
The access status information of the LAN 102 is acquired from the access status information acquired in step S114 using the incoming user information acquired in step S113 as a search key in step S115.

Next, in step S116, step S1
It is determined from the search result of 15 whether the corresponding user has been found, and if the corresponding user has been found, step S1.
If the user is not found, the process proceeds to step S121.

In step S117, the LAN address of the terminal used by the called user is retrieved and acquired from the LAN management information, and in step S118, step S118.
A connection is established between the interworking device 121 and the receiving terminal by using the LAN address of the receiving terminal retrieved in 114. Further, step S1
19 indicates that the CONN message is transmitted and the connection with the terminal 111 is accepted, and in step S120, the connection with the terminal 111 is completed by receiving the CONN ACK message.

In step S121, the interworking device 121 sends a DISC message to send data to the terminal 111.
This means that the connection refusal with the terminal 111 is refused. In step S122, the REL message is received, and in step S123, the REL COMP message is transmitted to complete the connection refusal process with the terminal 111.

In this way, the above interworking device 1
21 is used, the connection between the calling terminal and the interworking apparatus and between the interworking apparatus and the receiving terminal is automatically established, and the load on the user and the terminal is reduced.

[0026]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional communication system, the process of connection between the caller terminal and the callee terminal involves two steps: connection between caller terminal and interwork device and connection between interwork device and callee terminal. Since it is divided into stages, the information of the previous network can be obtained from the interworking device only after the connection between the calling terminal and the interworking device is established. It is not possible to know whether or not the terminal has the connection only after the connection between the calling terminal and the called terminal is established.

For example, even if the calling terminal side wants to perform communication using video and audio, but the called terminal side does not have such a function or application, even if the communication path is secured, In some cases, it may be impossible to communicate via upper communication. In such a case, it is expected that an abnormal communication situation will occur and a phenomenon mysterious to the user will occur.

Further, the negotiation of the communication function between the originating terminal and the terminating terminal and the application that can be activated during communication is
Since each of the above connections will be performed after the connection is established, if the receiving terminal does not have the target function or application, communication will be virtually impossible even if the communication path is connected, and There has been a problem that the connection fee for the public line between the terminal and the interwork device is wasted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an interworking device capable of performing reliable communication for a user, a communication system using this device, and a control method for this device. To aim.

[0030]

In order to achieve the above object, the interworking apparatus of the present invention is provided with a public line and a LAN.
In an interworking device that is connected to both of the communication terminals connected to the public line and a plurality of communication terminals connected to the LAN, the communication attribute of each communication terminal connected to the LAN is set. Communication attribute storage means for storing and a communication terminal connected to the public line as a calling terminal, any communication terminal connected to the LAN as a receiving terminal, and the calling terminal requests a communication connection to the communication terminal In this case, a communication attribute identifying means for identifying a communication attribute desired by the transmitting terminal during communication, and a communication attribute acquiring means for acquiring the communication attribute of the receiving terminal for which the communication connection is requested from the communication attribute storing means, It is characterized by comprising terminal consistency check means for checking the consistency between the acquired communication attribute and the identified communication attribute.

Further, it is preferable that the apparatus further comprises communication control means for controlling communication between the calling terminal and the called terminal in accordance with the consistency checked by the terminal consistency checking means.

Further, preferably, when the consistency checked by the terminal consistency check means is inconsistent, the connection with the transmitting terminal is continued, and the data transmitted by the transmitting terminal is recorded as an absence message. It is characterized by having recording means.

A communication terminal connected to the public line of the communication system of the present invention, and a communication terminal connected to the LAN,
A communication system including an interworking device connected to both the public line and the LAN, for interconnecting communication terminals connected to the public line and the LAN, wherein the interworking device comprises: At least one of the interworking devices described in 3 above.

Further, the interworking method of the present invention is an interworking method which is connected to both a public line and a LAN, and which interconnects a communication terminal connected to the public line and a plurality of communication terminals connected to the LAN. In the work device control method, the communication attribute of each communication terminal connected to the LAN is stored in a communication attribute storage means, and the communication terminal connected to the public line is used as a calling terminal, and any one of the communication terminals connected to the LAN is used. When the calling terminal requests the communication connection to the communication terminal, the calling terminal identifies the desired communication attribute at the time of communication, and the communication attribute of the called terminal to which the communication connection is requested. Is acquired from the communication attribute storage means, and the consistency between the acquired communication attribute and the identified communication attribute is checked.

[0035]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system using an interworking apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The communication system of the present embodiment is
Since the configuration of the interworking device is different from that of the conventional communication system, the same components in FIG. 1 as those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, the terminal 111 is the user 13
The system control unit 111a that controls the entire system of the terminal 111, such as transmitting the receiving terminal information and the receiving user information to the line control unit 111b according to the designation from No. 1, and the ITU.
It is mainly configured by a line control unit 111b that controls a line by transmitting a SETUP message which is a connection request message according to an ISDN user / network interface such as -T recommendation Q series.

The interworking device 1 follows the ISDN user / network interface such as the ITU-T Recommendation Q series and the line control unit 2 that performs communication protocol processing on the ISDN 101 side, and the interface used in the connected LAN 102. The LAN interworking device 1 as a whole, such as handling the information of the calling terminal and the receiving terminal obtained from the line control unit 2 and the LAN control unit 3 that performs communication protocol processing on the LAN 102 side, and checking the consistency between the terminals. The system control unit 4 for controlling and LA
L of other terminals 112 to 114 connected to N102
The LAN terminal information memory 5 stores information about terminals such as AN address and communication attributes.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data format of information stored in the LAN terminal information memory 5.

The LAN terminal information memory 5 has a LAN 10
Information of each terminal connected to 2 is stored. The information of each terminal includes the terminal number field 11 and LAN 10 assigned to identify the terminal from the ISDN line 102.
2, a terminal name field 12 provided for identifying each terminal, and a LAN address field 1 of a terminal assigned to each terminal in the LAN 101.
3 and a plurality of fields such as a communication attribute field 14 which describes what kind of communication such as voice, video and data communication is possible and what kind of function each has. Divided and stored.

The operation executed by the communication system of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. The outline of the operation is similar to that of the above-mentioned conventional example.
A user 131 using 11 makes a call to any of the terminals 112 to 114 through the interwork device 1 to perform communication. Hereinafter, the terminal 111 will be described as a calling terminal, and any one of the terminals 112 to 114 will be described as a receiving terminal.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the operation executed by the interworking apparatus 1. The operation processing program shown in this flowchart is stored in the memory (not shown) of the interworking apparatus 1, for example. . It should be noted that in FIG. 3, steps for performing the same processing as in FIG.

FIG. 4 shows that when the interworking device 1 connects to a called terminal, the calling terminal 111 and the ISDN 10 are connected.
2 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception between the interworking device 1 and the interworking device 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a case where the interworking device 1 does not connect to the receiving terminal.
FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of transmission / reception of a signal between the ISDN 102 and the interworking device 1.

In FIG. 3, in step S113, the line control unit 2 acquires the called user (terminal) information from the called subaddress information element (see FIG. 13) of the received SETUP message and transmits it to the system control unit 4. In step S1, the system control unit 4 acquires the communication capability and LAN address of the corresponding terminal from the LAN terminal information memory 5 by using the acquired called terminal information as a search key.

Next, in step S2, the received S
The communication attribute desired by the transmitting terminal 1111 is identified and acquired from the transfer capability information element, the higher layer identifier information element, the lower layer identifier information element, etc. of the ETUP message, and the communication attribute is determined in step S3.

If it is determined in step S3 that the communication attribute of the calling terminal is "videophone", the process proceeds to step S4, if "voice call", the process proceeds to step S11, and if "data communication", the process proceeds to step S14. .

In step S4, the acquired communication capability of the called terminal is determined. If voice communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S5, and if not, the process proceeds to step S10.

In step S5, the acquired communication capability of the called terminal is discriminated. If video communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S6. If not, the process proceeds to step S8.

In step S6, a CONN message is transmitted to accept an incoming call, and in step S7, the calling terminal 111 is notified that communication is to be performed using video and audio, and communication is started.

In step S8, the CONN message is transmitted to accept the incoming call, and in step S9, the calling terminal 111 indicates that communication using no video and only voice is performed.
To notify and start communication.

In step S10, a DISC message is transmitted to reject the incoming call.

In step S11, the acquired communication capability of the called terminal is determined. If voice communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S12, and if not, the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S12, a CONN message is transmitted to accept an incoming call, and communication is started.

In step S13, a DISC message is transmitted to reject the incoming call.

In step S14, a CONN message is transmitted to accept an incoming call, and communication is started.

As described above, in this embodiment, the terminal 111 is connected to the LAN 102 via the interwork device 1.
When a connection request is made to the terminal connected to the interworking device 1, the interworking apparatus 1 is configured to judge the capability of the connection-requested receiving terminal and to perform processing according to the capability, so that the user can be assured. Communication can be performed, and waste of communication charges can be eliminated.

In the present embodiment, the destination subaddress information element of the SETUP message is used to specify the receiving terminal, but the user information element may be used.

Next, a communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the communication system of the present embodiment. The communication system of the present embodiment is different from the communication system of the first embodiment described above in the recorded message storage memory. 6 is the same as that of FIG. 1 except that the same reference numerals are given to the components corresponding to those in FIG. 1, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 21 denotes an answering machine storage memory for storing received data such as voice and video received from the line control unit 2.

Operations performed by the interworking apparatus 1 in the communication system configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an operation procedure of the interworking apparatus 1, FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception performed in steps S117 to S120 of FIG. 7, and FIG. Step S26 in FIG.
It is a sequence diagram which shows the outline of the transmission / reception of the signal performed by S28. Note that in FIG. 7, steps that perform the same processing as in FIG. 14 are given the same numbers, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

In FIG. 7, if it is determined in step S116 that the user is found, the process proceeds to step S21, and if not, the process proceeds to step S26.

In step S21, the terminal name or LAN address of the terminal (= incoming terminal) used by the called user is retrieved from the status information acquired in step S114, and in step S22, the called terminal is received. Communication attributes of the LAN terminal information memory 5 (see FIG. 2).

In the following step S23, the communication attribute of the transmitting terminal is acquired from the transfer capability method element, the high layer compatibility information element and the low layer compatibility information element of the SETUP message received in step S111, and the step S23 is executed.
In step 24, the consistency between the communication attribute of the called terminal acquired in step S22 and the communication attribute of the calling terminal acquired in step S22 is checked.

Next, in step S25, it is determined whether or not the above-mentioned consistency matches, and if they match, step S1
Proceed to 17, and if the consistency does not match, step S2
Proceed to 6.

In step S26, the line control unit 2 sends C
The ONN message is transmitted to accept the connection with the terminal 111, the CONACK message is received in step S27, and the connection is completed between the interwork device 1 and the terminal 111. In step S28, the system control unit 4 , Start recording voice mail according to communication attributes, line control unit 2
The data from is stored in the recorded message storage memory 21.

As described above, in this embodiment, the calling terminal 111 is connected to the LAN 1 via the interwork device 1.
When a connection request is made to the incoming terminal connected to 02,
If the consistency between the calling terminal 111 and the terminating terminal does not match, the interworking device 1 is configured to record the data transmitted by the terminal 111. Therefore, if the matching does not match. However, the transmitting terminal 111 can indirectly transmit data to the receiving terminal via the interworking device 1, and thus the range of receiving terminals that can transmit data can be expanded and the communication charge can be increased. Waste can be eliminated.

In this embodiment, the communication attribute of the receiving terminal in the LAN 102 is configured to be included in the interwork device in a static form called LAN terminal information. Since it is necessary to correct the LAN terminal information every time the configuration is changed, it may be possible to connect the interworking device and the receiving terminal first when checking the terminal consistency, and consider a system that inquires the communication attributes of the receiving terminal. To be With such a system, it is possible to dynamically respond to a change in LAN terminal configuration.

[0070]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a communication connection is requested from the calling terminal to the communication terminal,
The communication attribute desired by the calling terminal at the time of communication is identified, the communication attribute of the called terminal for which the communication connection is requested is acquired from the communication attribute storage means, and the acquired communication attribute and the identified communication attribute are acquired. Since the consistency of is checked, it is possible to perform reliable communication for the user.

Preferably, since the communication between the calling terminal and the called terminal is controlled according to the checked consistency, the waste of the communication charge can be eliminated.

Further, preferably, when the checked consistency does not match, the connection with the calling terminal is continued and the data sent from the calling terminal is recorded, so that it is possible to send the data. It is possible to widen the range of terminals and reduce the waste of communication charges.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or to an apparatus composed of one device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a system or a program. In this case, by reading a storage medium storing a program represented by software for achieving the present invention into the system or the apparatus, the system or the apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system using an interworking device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data format of information stored in a LAN terminal information memory of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an operation executed by the interworking device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception among a calling terminal, an ISDN, and an interworking device when the interworking device of FIG. 1 connects to a receiving terminal.

5 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception between the calling terminal, the ISDN and the interworking device when the interworking device of FIG. 1 does not connect to the receiving terminal.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system using an interworking device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the interworking device of FIG.

8 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception performed in steps S117 to S120 of FIG. 7. FIG.

9 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception performed in steps S26 to S28 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system using a conventional interworking device.

11 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the terminal 111 of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the meaning of each call control message.

13 is a diagram showing an example of a data format of the SETUP message of FIG.

14 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an operation of the interworking device 121 of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception performed in steps S117 to S120 of FIG.

16 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of signal transmission / reception performed in steps S121 to S123 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 line control unit (communication control means) 3 LAN control unit (communication control means) 4 system control unit (communication attribute identification means, communication attribute acquisition means, terminal consistency check means, communication control means) 5 LAN terminal memory (communication attribute) Storage means) 21 Answering machine storage memory (answering machine) 101 ISDN (public line) 102 LAN 111-114 Communication terminal

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An interworking device connected to both a public line and a LAN, for interconnecting a communication terminal connected to the public line and a plurality of communication terminals connected to the LAN, wherein the interwork device is connected to the LAN. Communication attribute storage means for storing communication attributes of each of the communication terminals, the communication terminal connected to the public line as a transmission terminal, and any communication terminal connected to the LAN as a reception terminal, the transmission terminal When the communication request is made to the communication terminal, the communication attribute identifying means identifies the communication attribute desired by the transmitting terminal at the time of communication, and the communication attribute storing means stores the communication attribute of the receiving terminal requested to make the communication connection. And a terminal consistency check means for checking the consistency between the acquired communication attribute and the identified communication attribute. Interworking device according to symptoms. 2. The interface according to claim 1, further comprising communication control means for controlling communication between the originating terminal and the terminating terminal according to the consistency checked by the terminal consistency checking means. Work device. 3. An answering machine for continuing the connection with the calling terminal and answering the data sent by the calling terminal when the consistency checked by the terminal matching checking means is inconsistent. Claim 1 characterized by having.
The described interworking device. 4. A communication terminal connected to a public line and an LA
A communication terminal connected to N, the public line and the L
A communication system including an interworking device that is connected to both ANs and that interconnects communication terminals that are connected to the public line and the LAN, wherein the interworking device is an interworking device according to claim 1. A communication system comprising at least one device. 5. A method of controlling an interworking apparatus, which is connected to both a public line and a LAN, and which interconnects a communication terminal connected to the public line and a plurality of communication terminals connected to the LAN, The communication attribute of each communication terminal connected to the LAN is stored in the communication attribute storage means, the communication terminal connected to the public line is the calling terminal, and any communication terminal connected to the LAN is the receiving terminal, When the calling terminal requests a communication connection from the communication terminal, the calling terminal identifies a communication attribute desired at the time of communication, and acquires the communication attribute of the called terminal for which the communication connection is requested from the communication attribute storage means. Then, the interworking apparatus control method is characterized by checking the consistency between the acquired communication attribute and the identified communication attribute.