JPH10154979A - Method for connecting point to multipoint and wide band communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the efficiency setting of the connecting path of a whole network by performing the selecting of a connecting path and a wide band telephone exchanger for copying a cell by data concerning with the previously-replaced topology of the whole wide band telephone exchanger when a point-to-multipoint call is requested. SOLUTION: The wide band telephone exchangers 21 to 24 capable of performing the call connecting of point-to-multipoint call and copying a cell are provided, and each of them contains wide band telephone terminals 11 and 14. The telephone terminals 11 to 14 and the telephone exchangers 21 to 24, and the telephone exchangers 21 and 22, 21 and 23, 22 and 24, and 23 and 24 are connected by information circuits 101 to 108 respectively. Responding to the request of the telephone exchanger which received the call of the point-to-multipoint call with a storage device 32 previously storing the data concerning with the topology of the information circuits 101 to 108 of the connection of the telephone exchangers 21 to 24, the optimal connecting path is selected and decided from the data stored in the storage device 32, and one or plural information circuits are specified to that telephone exchanger by a remote control device 31.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broadband communication capable of communicating various media information (hereinafter referred to as "multimedia information") such as voice, moving picture, still picture, character information, and data via a telephone exchange network. About technology. In particular, it relates to the setting of a point-to-multipoint call for connecting one terminal and a plurality of terminals. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technology for economically selecting a connection path for a point-to-multipoint call.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional call setting techniques for point-to-multipoint calls in a broadband communication network include ATM Forum UNI 3.1 and ITU-T Recommendation Q.3. 2971
There are provisions related to However, these regulations do not describe efficient call setup in the network. On the other hand, for example, when a new destination terminal is added to the already set point-to-multipoint connection (this is referred to as “party addition”), the current setting is set as much as possible within the range that can be routed to the terminal to be added. It is said that it is economical to set up a call to copy a cell at a broadband telephone exchange close to the party to be added using an existing information line.

FIG. 4 shows a simple example of adding a party. Here, it is assumed that the broadband telephone terminal 41 requests a point-to-multipoint call, and the call is set to the broadband telephone terminal 42 via the broadband telephone exchanges 51 and 52.
Also assume that from this state the broadband telephone terminal 41 requests that the broadband telephone terminal 43 connected to the broadband telephone exchange 52 be added as a destination terminal. At this time, the cell is copied by one of the broadband telephone exchanges and distributed to each destination terminal. As a connection form of such a point-to-multipoint call, as shown in FIG. 4A, a cell is copied by a broadband telephone exchange 52 near a party to be added, or as shown in FIG. It is conceivable that the cell is copied by the broadband telephone exchange 51 far from the party to be added. However, in the case where a cell copy is performed in the broadband telephone exchange 51 far from the party to be added (FIG. 4).
In (a)), the information line between the broadband telephone exchanges 51 and 52 is used in duplicate, and the cell use is performed in comparison with the case where the cell copy is performed by the close broadband telephone exchange 52 (FIG. 4 (b)). Efficiency is reduced. Thus, it can be seen that it is economical to set up the call to copy the cells at the broadband telephone exchange close to the party to be added.

[0004]

In order to set up a point-to-multipoint call in a conventional manner, each broadband telephone exchange must be able to connect to a broadband telephone terminal to which a certain route is to set up the call, and , Select an information line depending on whether the route is already being used by the point-to-multipoint call. That is, the information line used by the point-to-multipoint call is used as much as possible, and the cell copy is performed by the broadband telephone exchange which must be branched. For this reason, it was not possible to determine whether or not the whole broadband communication network was efficient, and it was not possible to determine and use an efficient connection path at the stage when a point-to-multipoint call occurred.

FIG. 5 shows a connection example of a point-to-multipoint call set up according to the prior art. The broadband communication network in this example includes a plurality of broadband telephone terminals 61 to 64.
And the broadband telephone exchanges 71-74 accommodating each.
Broadband telephone lines 61 and 72, broadband telephone terminals 62 and 72, broadband telephone terminals 63 and 73, broadband telephone terminals 64 and 74. , Broadband telephone exchanges 71 and 72, 71 and 7
3, 72 and 74, and information lines 201 to 208 connecting the 73 and 74, respectively.

Here, an information line 201, a broadband telephone exchange 71, and an information line 2 are connected between the broadband telephone terminals 61 and 62.
A point-to-multipoint call is set up via the broadband telephone exchange 05 and the broadband telephone exchange 72, and the broadband telephone terminal 61 adds the broadband telephone terminal 63 to this point-to-multipoint call.

At this time, when the broadband telephone exchange 71 receives the control information for adding the broadband telephone terminal 63 from the broadband telephone terminal 61, the point-to-point information is already transmitted from the information lines 205 and 206 that can be routed to the broadband telephone terminal 63. Information line 20 used in multipoint call
5 is selected and the control information for adding the party of the point-to-multipoint call is transmitted to the broadband telephone exchange 72. The broadband telephone exchange 72 selects, for example, the information line 205 from the information lines 205 and 207 that can be routed to the broadband telephone terminal 63. Then, a point-to-multipoint call is made to the broadband telephone exchange 71 via the selected information line 205. The broadband telephone exchange 71 selects an economical information line 206 from the information lines 205 and 206 that can be routed to the broadband telephone terminal 63, and makes a point-to-multipoint call to the broadband telephone exchange 73. Since the broadband telephone exchange 73 is connected to the broadband telephone terminal 63 accommodated therein, the broadband telephone exchange 73 selects an information line with the broadband telephone terminal 63 and makes a point-to-multipoint call.

In this way, a multipoint-to-multipoint call for connecting the broadband telephone terminal 61 with the broadband telephone terminals 62 and 63 by performing cell copy by the broadband telephone exchange 72 is set up. However, in this connection example, once the broadband telephone exchange 7
This is an uneconomical connection form in which cells transmitted from 1 to the broadband telephone exchange 72 are cell copied by the broadband telephone exchange 72 and transmitted to the broadband telephone exchange 71.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and set up an efficient point-to-multipoint call as a whole broadband communication network.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first aspect of the present invention is a point-to-multipoint connection method, in which one originating terminal and a plurality of destination terminals are call-connected via a broadband telephone exchange network. A point-to-multipoint connection method in which cells from a calling terminal are copied by one or more broadband telephone exchanges in the broadband telephone exchange network and distributed to the plurality of destination terminals. Data about
When a point-to-multipoint call is requested,
Based on the data, selection of an optimal connection path and selection of a broadband telephone exchange for copying a cell are performed.

[0011] A second aspect of the present invention is a broadband communication apparatus for performing the method, the broadband communication apparatus having a plurality of broadband telephone exchanges capable of performing call connection and cell copy of a point-to-multipoint call. Storage means in which data relating to the topology of the information line connected to the plurality of broadband telephone exchanges is stored in advance;
In response to a request from the broadband telephone exchange receiving the point-to-multipoint call, an optimal connection path is selected from the data stored in the storage means, and one or more information of the connection destination is connected to the broadband telephone exchange. Control means for designating a line.

[0012] The control means may include a remote control device connected to each of the plurality of broadband telephone exchanges via a control line.

In order to set up a point-to-multipoint call in this broadband communication apparatus, a broadband telephone exchange that has received a point-to-multipoint call from a broadband telephone terminal or another broadband telephone exchange to be accommodated is sent to the control means. In response to this request, the control means determines the most efficient connection path from the data stored in the storage means, and sets the connection destination information line to the broadband telephone exchange which made the request. When the designated destination information line is specified, the broadband telephone exchange performs the cell copy when there are a plurality of designated destination information lines, and performs another cell-phone exchange through the designated destination information line. Place a call to the called broadband telephone terminal. In order to add a party, after a point-to-multipoint call has been set up, the broadband telephone exchange further requested to add a communication partner broadband telephone terminal requests a connection destination information line from the control means, and the control means In response to this request, the most efficient connection path is determined from the data stored in the storage means, the connection destination information line is designated to the broadband telephone exchange which has made the request, and the connection destination information line is designated by the designated broadband. The telephone exchange requests the addition of a broadband telephone terminal to another broadband telephone exchange via the destination information line when the designated destination information line is already used for the point-to-multipoint call, and When the destination information line is not used for the point-to-multipoint call, a cell copy is performed and the specified destination information is Via line requesting call additional broadband telephone terminal in a broadband telephone terminal other broadband telephone exchange or callee.

That is, in the present invention, the control means capable of controlling the entire broadband communication network grasps the configurations of the broadband telephone exchange and the information line, and determines an efficient connection path.
When the broadband telephone exchange sets up a point-to-multipoint call, the control means is inquired about the information line to be used, and the call is set according to the result of the inquiry. Can be set.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the broadband communication apparatus includes a plurality of broadband telephone exchanges 21 to 24 capable of performing a call connection and a cell copy of a point-to-multipoint call, each of which includes a broadband telephone terminal 11 to 1.
4 are accommodated. Broadband telephone terminal 11 and broadband telephone exchange 21, broadband telephone terminal 12 and broadband telephone exchange 22, broadband telephone terminal 13 and broadband telephone exchange 23, broadband telephone terminal 14 and broadband telephone exchange 24, broadband telephone exchange 2
1 and 22, 21 and 23, 22 and 24, and 23 and 24 are connected by information lines 101 to 108, respectively. The broadband communication device further includes broadband telephone exchanges 21-24.
Storage device 32 in which data relating to the topology of the information lines 101 to 108 connected to the storage device 32 is stored in advance, and stored in the storage device 32 in response to a request from a broadband telephone exchange receiving a point-to-multipoint call. A remote controller 31 for selecting an optimum connection path from data and designating one or more information lines to be connected to the broadband telephone exchange; The remote control device 31 is connected to the broadband telephone exchanges 21 to 24 via the control line 110, respectively.

Each of the broadband telephone terminals 11 to 14 transmits and receives control information for performing broadband communication with the broadband telephone exchange, initiates a point-to-multipoint call, terminates the call, and communicates the point-to-multipoint call. It controls the addition and deletion of the other party, sends and receives multimedia information to and from the broadband telephone, and outputs or displays multimedia information.

The broadband telephone exchanges 21 to 24 are respectively
It performs connection for each call of multimedia information, cell copy of multimedia information, detection of call origination of a point-to-multipoint call, and transmission and reception of control information to and from a remote control device 31 that performs connection control.

The remote control device 31 is a broadband telephone exchange 2
The storage device 32 is accessed by a request from the broadband telephone exchange 21 in this broadband communication device.
24 and the information lines 101 to 108, the most efficient connection route is determined, and the connection destination information line is specified.

Each of the information lines 101 to 108 transmits multimedia information and control information for performing broadband communication.

[0020]

2 and 3 show examples of setting a point-to-multipoint call. FIG. 2 shows a connection path, and FIG. 3 shows an operation sequence for obtaining the connection path. Here, in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, first, a point-to-multipoint call between the broadband telephone terminal 11 and the broadband telephone terminal 12 is set, and then the broadband telephone terminal 13 is set.
Is added as a destination terminal.

When the service user activates the point-to-multipoint calling program of the broadband telephone terminal 11 and designates the broadband telephone terminal 12 as the destination terminal, the broadband telephone terminal 11 transmits a point-to-point The control information for calling the multipoint is transmitted to the broadband telephone exchange 21.

When the broadband telephone exchange 21 identifies that the control information received from the broadband telephone terminal 11 is the origination of a point-to-multipoint call, the broadband telephone exchange 21 sets up a control line 110 with the remote control device 31, and the control line Via 110, control information for requesting a connection destination information line to be used in the point-to-multipoint call is transmitted to the remote control device 31. The remote control device 31 uses the data stored in the storage device 32, that is, the configuration of the broadband telephone exchanges 21 to 24 and the information lines 101 to 108 to determine the most efficient connection path, in this example, between the broadband telephone exchanges 21 and 22. Is selected, and the selected information line 1 is selected.
The control information designating 05 is transmitted to the broadband telephone exchange 21 via the control line 110. The broadband telephone exchange 21 makes a point-to-multipoint call to the broadband telephone exchange 22 through the information line 105 specified by the remote control device 31.

When the broadband telephone exchange 22 identifies that the control information received from the broadband telephone exchange 21 is the origination of a point-to-multipoint call, the remote control device 3
1 and control information requesting a connection destination information line to be used in the point-to-multipoint call via the control line 110 is transmitted to the remote control device 31.
Send to The remote controller 31 identifies that the broadband telephone exchange 22 accommodates the broadband telephone terminal 12, selects an information line 102 connecting the broadband telephone terminal 12 and the broadband telephone exchange 22, and selects the information line 102.
Is transmitted to the broadband telephone exchange 22 via the control line 110. The broadband telephone exchange 22 is connected to the broadband telephone terminal 12 via the designated information line 102.
A point-to-multipoint call is made.

The broadband telephone terminal 12 receives a point-to-multipoint call and receives the call from the broadband telephone terminal 1 via the information line 102, the broadband telephone exchange 22, the information line 105, the broadband telephone exchange 21 and the information line 101.
1 and returns control information indicating that the call setup has been completed.

Thereafter, the service user requests addition of a communication partner of the point-to-multipoint call at the broadband telephone terminal 11, and the broadband telephone terminal 13 is added as a destination terminal to be added.
, The broadband telephone terminal 21 transmits the party-added control information including the address of the broadband telephone terminal 13 to the broadband telephone exchange 21.

When the broadband telephone exchange 21 identifies that the control information received from the broadband telephone terminal 11 is control information for adding a party of a point-to-multipoint call, the broadband telephone exchange 21 transmits the control information via the control line 110 which has already been set. A control signal is transmitted to the remote controller 31 requesting a connection destination information line to be used for adding a party of the point-to-multipoint call. The remote control device 31 selects the most efficient connection path from the data stored in the storage device 32. In this example, an information line 105 connecting the broadband telephone exchange 21 and the broadband telephone exchange 22 already used for the point-to-multipoint call.
And an information line 106 that directly connects the broadband telephone exchange 21 and the broadband telephone exchange 23 exists as an option, but is considered more economical when connected as a point-to-multipoint call. Select the line 106. The remote control device 31 transmits the control information specifying the information line 106 to the broadband telephone exchange 21 via the control line 110. Broadband telephone exchange 21
Transmits control information for adding a party of a point-to-multipoint call to the broadband telephone exchange 23 through the information line 106 designated by the remote controller.

When the broadband telephone exchange 23 identifies that the control information received from the broadband telephone exchange 21 is control information for adding a party of a point-to-multipoint call, it sets up a control line 110 with the remote control device 31. Then, control information for requesting a connection destination information line to be used for adding a party of the point-to-multipoint call is transmitted to the remote control device 31 via the control line 110. The remote controller 31 identifies that the broadband telephone exchange 23 accommodates the broadband telephone terminal 13, selects the information line 103 connecting the broadband telephone terminal 13 and the broadband telephone exchange 23, and selects the selected information line. The control information specifying 103 is transmitted to the broadband telephone exchange 23 via the control line 110. The broadband telephone exchange 23 transmits control information for adding a party of a point-to-multipoint call to the broadband telephone terminal 13 via the information line 103.

The broadband telephone terminal 13 accepts an outgoing point-to-multipoint call, and transmits the information line 103, the broadband telephone exchange 23, the information line 106, and the broadband exchange 21.
Then, control information of call setting completion is returned to the broadband telephone terminal 11 via the information line 101.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When setting up a point-to-multipoint call in a broadband communication network, it is possible to set an efficient connection path for the entire network.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a connection path of a point-to-multipoint call.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation sequence of call setting.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a simple example of adding a party.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a connection example of a point-to-multipoint call set up by a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 to 14, 41 to 43, 61 to 64 Broadband telephone terminal 21 to 24, 51, 52, 71 to 74 Broadband telephone exchange 31 Remote control device 32 Storage device 101 to 108, 201 to 208 Information line 110 Control line

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04Q 11/04 H04Q 11/04 J

Claims (5)

[Claims] A call connection is made between one calling terminal and a plurality of called terminals via a broadband telephone exchange network, and cells from said one calling terminal are connected to one or more broadband telephone exchanges in said broadband telephone exchange network. In the point-to-multipoint connection method of copying and distributing to the plurality of destination terminals, data on the entire topology of the broadband telephone switching network is stored in advance, and when a point-to-multipoint call is requested,
A point-to-multipoint connection method, wherein an optimum connection path is selected and a broadband telephone exchange for copying a cell is selected based on the data. 2. A broadband communication apparatus having a plurality of broadband telephone exchanges capable of performing call connection and cell copy of a point-to-multipoint call, comprising: data relating to the topology of an information line connected to the plurality of broadband telephone exchanges. Is stored in advance, and in response to a request from the broadband telephone exchange receiving the call of the point-to-multipoint call, an optimal connection path is selected from the data stored in the storage means, and the broadband telephone exchange is selected. And control means for designating one or more information lines to be connected to the broadband communication apparatus. 3. The broadband communication device according to claim 2, wherein said control means includes a remote control device connected to each of said plurality of broadband telephone exchanges via a control line. 4. A point-to-multipoint connection method for setting up a point-to-multipoint call in a broadband communication apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a point-to-multipoint call is received from an accommodated broadband telephone terminal or another broadband telephone exchange. The broadband telephone exchange that has received the call requests the connection destination information line from the control means, and the control means determines the most efficient connection path from the data stored in the storage means in response to this request, and The broadband telephone exchange to which the request has been made is designated as the connection destination information line, and the broadband telephone exchange designated with the connection destination information line performs cell copy when there are a plurality of designated connection destination information lines, A point-to-point call originating a call to another broadband telephone exchange or a destination broadband telephone terminal via a connection destination information line. Multipoint connection method. 5. A broadband telephone exchange to which addition of a broadband telephone terminal of a communication partner is requested after a point-to-multipoint call is set up requests the control unit for a connection destination information line. The most efficient connection route is determined from the data stored in the storage means, and the destination information line is designated to the broadband telephone exchange which has made the request, and the designated destination information line is designated. Requests the addition of a broadband telephone terminal to another broadband telephone exchange via the connected information line when the specified connected information line is already being used for the point-to-multipoint call, and When the destination information line is not being used for the point-to-multipoint call, a cell copy is performed and the Other point-to-multipoint connection method according to claim 4, wherein requesting a call additional broadband telephone terminal in a broadband telephone terminal of the broadband telephone exchange or callee.