JPH09284420A - Communication equipment provided with line selecting function and communication system provided with network selecting function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication equipment and a communication system capable of selecting and transmitting either one of plural lines different in function as occasion demands in accordance with the contents and the purpose of data to transmit at the time of making communication with an opposite party through a communication line. SOLUTION: A communication network 7-1 provided with a transmission security function and a communication network 7-2 which does not always ensure transmission are connected to the line selection part 5 of the same communication equipment 1. Transmission data is prepared by a data preparing part 4 based on a mode read from standard mode storing parts 2-1, 2-2 and an importance code given by an importance giving part 3 based on the mode. A line selection part 5 automatically executes the selective operation of which to use of the communication network 7-1 or 7-2 at the time of transmission according to the importance code given to transmission data in advance. Thereby a communication network provided with a function suited to the content and purpose of transmission data is selected independently of operator's judgement.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention selects one of a plurality of lines having different functions at any time according to the content and purpose of data to be transmitted when communicating with an opponent via a communication line. The present invention relates to a communication device and a communication system capable of transmitting and transmitting the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With recent advances in communication technology, the functions of communication networks have become diversified. Among various functions, a so-called delivery guarantee function, which guarantees that data is delivered to a transmission destination, has one of high utility. For example, in the facsimile communication that has been widely used for transmitting data, since the communication network does not have a delivery guarantee function,
In order to know that the transmitted data has definitely arrived at the desired destination, confirmation by telephone contact after transmission is necessary. Further, in the relay transmission, the result of the relay transmission is also notified from the relay station device to the relay request source device. These operations for confirming delivery are also unnecessary by using a communication network having a delivery guarantee function.

[0003]

However, in a network having a high level of function such as the above delivery guarantee, the transmission cost is higher than in a network without such a function. on the other hand,
Some of the transmission data handled by users are highly important, such as documents that describe transaction information, and it is indispensable to reach the destination. Also, like catalogs for advertising, not all distribution destinations are required. There is also data that will achieve that purpose without arriving at. Therefore, if the communication network to be used can be adaptively switched according to the importance of the data, the utility of the communication network having an expensive delivery guarantee function will be further improved. However, conventionally, there has been no communication device having such a function.

An object of the present invention is to select one of a plurality of lines having different functions at any time in accordance with the content and purpose of data to be transmitted when communicating with an opponent via a communication line. An object is to provide a communication device and a communication system that enable transmission.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following constitution.

A first invention according to the present invention is a communication apparatus which, when communicating via a subscriber line, selects one of a plurality of lines having different functions depending on the content or purpose of transmission data and transmits the data at any time. There is a standard format storage unit that stores in advance one or more types of standard formats of transmission data, and a symbol of importance is given based on the stored standard formats that are read to create the transmission data. An importance symbol assigning unit, a transmission data creating unit that creates transmission data based on the read standard format and the assigned importance symbol, and the subscriber corresponding to the importance symbol. A line selector for connecting at least two subscriber lines respectively connected to communication networks having different communication functions in order to select one of the lines and send the transmission data. And

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the first aspect of the present invention, an importance degree determining section for determining the degree of importance of a format of received data received through a subscriber line, and a determination result of the importance degree In addition, a standard format storage section for storing the format of the received data is newly provided. The second aspect of the present invention is preferable in that the line can be switched according to the importance of the received document when the document format received from the other party is returned and returned.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the second aspect, the line selection units are connected to the same destination and at least connected to communication networks having different communication functions. It is characterized in that it is a line selection unit to which two subscriber lines are connected. According to the third aspect of the invention, a line can be selected and communicated to the same communication destination according to the importance of transmission data, and communication can be performed to the same communication destination at an economical transmission cost. Is preferred.

A fourth invention according to the present invention is the communication device according to the first, second or third invention, wherein at least one of the communication networks to which the plurality of subscriber lines are connected is
In a communication network having a delivery confirmation function that enables the sender to confirm that the transmission data has been delivered to the destination, or a delivery guarantee function that guarantees that the transmission data is delivered to the destination. It is characterized by being. This fourth
The invention of (1) is suitable in that only the arrival of important documents can be confirmed or guaranteed, and the trouble of confirming delivery can be omitted.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the communication device according to the first, second, third or fourth aspect of the invention, at least one of the subscriber lines is an ISDN D channel packet line. It is characterized by being. The fifth invention is preferable in that the first to fourth inventions can be realized by utilizing the existing communication network.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a communication device for selecting and transmitting one of a plurality of lines having different functions depending on the content or purpose of transmission data when transmitting via a subscriber line is provided. A communication system that communicates with each other via a communication network, wherein a standard format storage section that stores a standard format of transmission data in advance, and an importance degree symbol assignment section that assigns an importance degree symbol based on the read standard format , A transmission data creation unit that creates transmission data based on the read standard format and the assigned importance symbol, and selects one of the subscriber lines corresponding to the importance symbol. One or more communication devices having a line selection unit to which at least two subscriber lines are connected, and communication networks connected to each of the subscriber lines and having different communication functions. , Characterized in that it comprises a.

A seventh invention according to the present invention is the communication system according to the sixth invention, wherein the communication device comprises an importance determining section for determining the importance of the format of the received data received via the subscriber communication line. , And a standard format storage unit for storing the format of the received data according to the determination result. The seventh aspect of the invention is preferable in that the line can be switched according to the importance of the received document when the document format received from the other party is returned and returned.

An eighth invention according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the sixth and seventh communication systems, the other end of the communication network is connected to a subscriber line of a transmission destination. According to the eighth aspect of the invention, a line can be selected and communicated to the same communication destination according to the importance of transmission data, and communication can be performed to the same communication destination at an economical transmission cost. Is preferred.

In a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the above sixth, seventh and eighth communication systems, at least one of the communication networks to which the plurality of subscriber lines are connected has the transmission data. Is a communication network that has a delivery confirmation function that allows the sender to confirm that the data has been delivered to the destination, or a delivery guarantee function that guarantees that the transmission data is delivered to the destination. Characterize. The ninth aspect of the invention is suitable in that only the arrival of important documents can be confirmed or guaranteed, and the trouble of confirming delivery can be saved.

The tenth invention according to the present invention is the sixth,
In the seventh, eighth, and ninth communication systems, at least one of the subscriber lines is an ISDN D channel packet line. The tenth invention is suitable in that the first to fourth inventions can be realized by utilizing the existing communication network.

According to the present invention, a communication network having a delivery guarantee function and a communication network whose delivery is not always guaranteed are connected to the same communication device, and the operation of selecting which communication network to use for transmission is performed. By automatically performing the communication according to the importance rank given to the transmission data in advance, it is possible to appropriately select the communication network without depending on the operator's judgment.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a communication device and a communication system representing a first embodiment of the present invention, and an example of a communication form using the same. Reference numeral 1 is an example of the configuration of a communication device having a network selection function according to the present invention.
1 and 2-2, the importance degree symbol assigning unit 3, the data creating unit 4, and the line selecting unit 5 are major components. Two subscriber lines 6-1 and 6-2 are connected to the line selection unit 5, and these subscriber lines are connected via separate communication networks 7-1 and 7-2 having different functions. It is connected to the destination communication devices 8-1 and 8-2. It should be noted that the destination communication devices 8-1 and 8-2 may be separate devices as shown, or the communication device 1 according to the present invention.
It may be integrated as a communication device capable of connecting different communication networks as described above.

Next, an operation example of the communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the standard format storage sections 2-1 and 2-2,
Document formats for creating various documents are stored and stored. Then, based on the degree of importance of the created document, the document format that is the basis of the document is separately stored in the standard format storage units 2-1 and 2-2. For example, the standard form storage unit 2-1
In the standard format storage section 2-2, the formats that are the basis of highly important documents are stored, and in the standard format storage unit 2-2, the formats that are the sources of low importance documents are stored.

First, when the user selects a format of a document to be created and reads it, the importance symbol assigning section 3 stores it from either standard format storage section 2-1 or 2-2. The selected form is identified, and different importance symbols are given to the document format depending on the identified storage unit.

Next, in the data creating section 4, each item of the style, letters, numbers, etc. are entered based on the style to which the importance symbol is added in this way, or the style itself is modified by the user. Are added to complete the document as transmission data.

Next, the completed document is sent to the line selection unit 5, where the importance symbol is referred to. For example, if the importance is high, the subscriber line 6-1 is low, and the importance is low. In this case, the subscriber line 6-2 is selected and the transmission data is sent to each line. Here, the communication network 7-1 connected to the subscriber line selected for the transmission data having high importance is a communication network provided with a delivery guarantee function, and the data arrival to the destination 8-1 is guaranteed. ing.
On the other hand, the communication network 7-2 to which the subscriber line 6-2 is connected is a communication network that does not have a delivery guarantee function.

In the above configuration, the communication network 7 to be connected
As -1 or 7-2, it is preferable that the communication network usage fee is charged according to the amount of transmitted data rather than according to the network connection time. This is because in the case of billing that corresponds to the network connection time, line connection and line disconnection are repeated every time data to be sent occurs, making operation complicated, whereas in the case of billing that corresponds to the amount of data sent This is because even if the two networks are kept physically connected at a time other than the data transmission, that is not reflected in the communication network use cost. In addition, a packet communication network can be applied and is practical as a method of charging for data amount. Also, as the subscriber line, an ISDN public line having so-called D channel and 2B channel is used, and the ISDN D channel is used as a subscriber line 6-1 connected to the communication network 7-1 having a delivery guarantee function, and the 2B channel is used. Is preferably a subscriber line 6-2 connected to another communication network 7-2. The reason is that the packet network connected via the D channel of ISDN has a delivery guarantee function. A packet network such as the Internet is suitable as the communication network 7-2.

As a mode of use of the communication system according to the present invention, considering a series of merchandise purchasing activities starting with a request for a catalog, first, a user who desires to purchase merchandise, that is, a buyer, has a less important document format of his or her own communication device. Create a catalog delivery request form by taking out the catalog delivery request form from the storage unit. At this time, the destination is the homepage set by the seller, that is, the seller. The created catalog sending request enters the Internet network or the like through the communication line 6-2 and is sent to the seller's home page according to the above-mentioned operation description. Then, the seller sends the catalog to the buyer via the Internet. The buyer refers to the obtained catalog,
The purchase order is determined, the order form is taken out from the document format storage section of the communication device of its own, which has a high degree of importance, and the product name, quantity, etc. are entered into this to create the order form. The created order form is sent to the seller through the D channel line and the communication network 7-1 having a guaranteed delivery, based on the above-described operation example description. In this case, because delivery is guaranteed, the buyer does not need to take any further steps to confirm that the order form has been sent to the seller. Subsequent bills, receipts, etc. will be exchanged between the two, but these are usually required to be guaranteed for delivery and are preferably sent via the D channel line.

In the above-described use mode, when a buyer creates an order form, the seller often sends a form for creating the order form, fills in predetermined items and returns the form to the seller. The order form created in such a case needs to be treated as highly important data.
A second embodiment example in consideration of this is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, in addition to the configuration of FIG. 1, by providing an importance degree judging section 9 for judging the importance degree of the document received through the subscriber line, the importance degree of the paper or the like sent from the seller can be judged. If it is determined that the sheet is of high importance, the sheet is sent to the standard format storage unit 2-1 that stores the document formats of high importance and accumulated, and the sheet is of low importance. When the determination is made, the sheet is sent to and stored in the standard format storage section 2-2 which stores the less important document formats. In addition,
In the above, the standard format storage section for storing the received document format is also used as the standard format storage section in FIG. 1, but it may be provided separately from the standard format storage section in FIG.

As a method of judging the importance in the above,
The seller may add a symbol indicating the degree of importance to the sheet in advance and send this sheet to the buyer. More conveniently, even if the symbol is not added, the form of the sheet, etc. The importance level determination unit 9 may make the determination.
With this configuration, the entry form such as the order form sent from the seller is once stored in the standard form storage unit 2-1 as being of high importance, and the purchaser takes out the stored form and fills it out. If the product is created and sent, the order form or the like will be delivered to the seller through the communication network with guaranteed delivery.

In the above description, the buyer accesses the home page provided by the seller when the importance of the transmitted data is low, but the buyer may directly access the communication device on the seller side. .

Further, in the above description, a series of document exchanges in the case of purchasing a product has been described, but a communication network according to the degree of importance in general information collection and information provision, which is not necessary and not related to commercial transactions. It is clear that the effect of using different types is improved, and as a result, the cost performance of the communication network can be improved.

[0031]

As described above, the communication apparatus of the present invention connects a plurality of subscriber lines, and selects one of them.
It is configured so that it is possible to select and output the transmission data, and is selected according to the importance symbol given in advance corresponding to the importance of the document created as the transmission data. Since the subscriber line is configured to be determined, if each subscriber line is connected to a communication network with a different function, the communication network will be changed according to the importance of the series of documents sent during the transaction. You can switch. The present invention exerts a high effect if the communication networks are switched between those having the delivery guarantee function and those not having this function.

Further, it is not always easy to judge the importance of a document each time it is sent, but in the present invention, since the importance of a document is classified and stored in advance, it is always based on a consistent judgment standard. The selection of the communication network was made, and as a result,
It is effective in implementing error-free trading procedures.

Recently, a communication network called “Internet” which supports multimedia information and is easily accessible has been put into practical use, but the reliability of the communication network is not always guaranteed. Therefore, while it is advantageous and convenient to obtain, send and receive most information through these networks, important information needs to be exchanged via more reliable communication networks. . The present invention can meet such a demand.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication device having a network selection function 2-1, 2-2 ... Standard format storage unit 3 ... Importance degree symbol giving unit 4 ... Data creation unit 5 ... Line selection unit 6-1 6-2 ... Subscriber line 7 -1, 7-2 ... Communication network 8-1, 8-2 ... Destination communication device 9 ... Importance degree determination unit

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hironobu Fukunaga 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Ikutoshi Mizumoto 3-19 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 2 inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Tomoki Watanabe 3-19 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Hayakawa 3-19 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 2 inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Gen Sasaki 3-19-2 Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A communication device which, when communicating via a subscriber line, selects and transmits one of a plurality of lines having different functions depending on the content or purpose of transmission data at any time. A standard format storage unit that stores the standard format of the transmission data in advance, and an importance degree symbol assigning unit that assigns an importance degree symbol based on the stored standard format that is read to create the transmission data. A transmission data creation unit that creates transmission data based on the read standard format and the assigned importance symbol, and selects one of the subscriber lines corresponding to the importance symbol And a line selection unit to which at least two subscriber lines respectively connected to communication networks having different communication functions are connected, in order to send the transmission data. Communication device 2. An importance level determination section for determining the importance level of the format of the received data received through the subscriber line, and a format storage section for accumulating the format of the received data together with the determination result of the importance level. The communication device having a line selection function according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The line selecting unit is a line selecting unit to which at least two subscriber lines each connected to the same destination and connected to communication networks having different communication functions are connected. A communication device having a line selection function according to claim 1 or 2. 4. A delivery confirmation function that enables a transmission source to confirm that at least one of the communication networks to which the plurality of subscriber lines are connected is delivered to the transmission destination. , Or a communication network having a delivery guarantee function that guarantees that the transmission data is delivered to a destination, The line selection function according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A communication device having. 5. The line selection function according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the subscriber lines is an ISDN D channel packet line. A communication device having. 6. When communicating via a subscriber line, communication devices that select and transmit one from a plurality of lines having different functions at any time according to the content or purpose of transmission data and communicate with each other via a communication network. A standard format storage unit that stores a standard format of transmission data in advance,
Importance symbol assigning unit that assigns an importance symbol based on the read standard format, transmission data creation that creates transmission data based on the read standard format and the assigned importance symbol Section, and one or more line selection units to which at least two subscriber lines are connected in order to select one of the subscriber lines corresponding to the importance symbol and send the transmission data. And a communication network connected to each of the subscriber lines and having different communication functions, the communication system having a line selection function. 7. The communication device comprises an importance discriminating section for discriminating the degree of importance of the format of received data received via the subscriber communication line, and a standard for accumulating the format of received data according to the discrimination result. A communication system having a line selection function according to claim 6, further comprising: a form storage unit. 8. The communication system having a line selection function according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the other end of the communication network is connected to a destination subscriber line. 9. A delivery confirmation function that enables a transmission source to confirm that at least one of the communication networks to which the plurality of subscriber lines are connected is delivered to the transmission destination by the transmission source. Or a communication network having a delivery guarantee function that guarantees that the transmission data is delivered to a destination. 9. The line selection function according to claim 6, Communication system having. 10. At least one of the subscriber lines
The individual is an ISDN D channel packet line, The communication system having a line selection function according to any one of claims 6, 7, 8 and 9.