JPH1198279A - Cable television telephone system, terminal equipment, and center device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain communication by obtaining a speech channel at the time of emergency call, without changing hardware constitution. SOLUTION: A terminal equipment 3 for transmitting a call to a cable television network 1 according to the operation of a telephone set 6, and a center device 2 for assigning the communication channels of the cable television network 1 to the terminal equipment 3 as a speech channel according to the call received through the cable television network 1 are connected with the cable television network 1. The center device 2 receives an emergency call notice telegraphic message, forcedly forms a non-use channel, and assigns a non-use channel to the terminal equipment 3 as a speech channel. In emergency, since the non-use channel is forcedly assigned to the terminal equipment 3, so the speech channel in emergency calling can be surely established.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cable television network, a telephone, a terminal device for transmitting a call to the cable television network in response to operation of the telephone, and a cable for responding to a call received through the cable television network. The present invention relates to a cable television (CATV) telephone system including a center device that allocates a communication channel of a television network as a communication channel to a terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, CATV telephone systems that provide telephone services using a CATV network have been increasing.
The telephone system has come to call a special number such as 110 or an emergency broadcast in addition to a normal telephone function.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional CATV telephone system. This CATV telephone system is a two-way CA that can perform 1: 1 two-way communication such as telephone conversation and 1: N one-way communication such as broadcasting.
A TV network 1 is provided. A plurality of terminal devices 3, 4, and 5 are connected to the CATV network 1. The center device 2 establishes a communication path between the terminal devices 3, 4, and 5 according to an instruction from each of the terminal devices 3, 4, and 5, and performs a call or broadcast exchange process. Each of the terminal devices 3, 4, and 5 can realize a call with another terminal device and a broadcast to other terminal devices via the bidirectional CATV network 1.

[0004] Next, referring to FIG. 6, an operation sequence at the time of calling a call and broadcasting will be described. First, when an off-hook operation is performed on a telephone that performs a call or broadcast, the terminal device 3 transmits a DT sound to the telephone. At the same time, the terminal device 3 transmits a call notification message to the center device 2 using a common channel of the bidirectional CATV network 1 used by all terminal devices.

[0005] The center device 2 that has received the call notification message from the terminal device 3 transmits the bidirectional C assigned to each communication.
Among the communication channels of the ATV network 1, another channel not used for communication is searched, and the channel is notified to the terminal device 3 using a call acceptance message. The terminal device 3 that has received the call acceptance message notifies the center device 2 of the dial number input from the telephone by dial notification using the notified call channel. As a result, the center device 2 performs a call connection process.

Here, it is assumed that the communication channel of the bidirectional CATV network 1 is in a congested state. As shown in FIG. 7, when an off-hook operation is performed on a telephone that performs a call or broadcast, the terminal device 3 transmits a DT sound to the telephone and simultaneously transmits a bidirectional C signal used by all the terminal devices to the center device 2.
A call notification message is transmitted using the common channel of the ATV network 1.

[0007] The center device 2 that has received the call notification message from the terminal device 3 transmits the bidirectional C assigned to each communication.
Among the communication channels of the ATV network 1, another channel not used for communication is searched. Here, if it is determined that there is no unused communication channel, the center device 2
Send a call-disabled message to. The terminal device 3 that has received the call disapproval notification from the center device 2 recognizes that the call cannot be made, sends out a BT tone (busy tone) to the telephone, and ends the communication.

[0008]

Generally, in a CATV telephone system, more terminals are connected to the bidirectional CATV network than the number of communication channels of the bidirectional CATV network.
Communication is performed by assigning a communication channel to a terminal device by demand assignment.

In the above calling method, when a telephone is off-hook, a call notification message is transmitted to the center device to acquire a communication channel, so that there is no unused channel in the communication channel irrespective of the urgency of the called communication. If so, the communication is terminated. That is, even during an emergency call or emergency broadcast, communication cannot be performed if the communication channel of the two-way CATV network is congested.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a CATV telephone system capable of acquiring a communication channel at the time of an emergency call and performing communication without changing a conventional hardware configuration. With the goal.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has taken the following means.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cable television network, a telephone, a terminal device for transmitting a call signal to the cable television network by the telephone, and a call signal received through the cable television network. A center device for assigning a communication channel of the cable television network to a terminal device as a communication channel, wherein the center device forcibly forms an unused channel when an emergency call notification message is received, and A configuration is adopted in which the used channel is allocated to the terminal device as a communication channel.

According to this configuration, in an emergency, an unused channel is forcibly assigned to the terminal device, so that a communication channel for an emergency call can be reliably established.
As a result, emergency calls such as 110 and 119 can be reliably realized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, when the center apparatus receives the emergency call notification message and all communication channels are blocked, The communication of the communication channel is disconnected and the communication channel is used as the unused channel.

According to this configuration, even if the communication channel of the cable television is in a congested state, the communication channel at the time of an emergency call can be reliably established. If any communication channel is unused, the unused channel may be forcibly assigned to the terminal device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or the second aspect of the present invention, the terminal device analyzes a telephone number transmitted from the telephone,
A communication control unit that sends the emergency call notification message to the cable television network when the dial analysis unit recognizes the telephone number as a specific telephone number.

According to this configuration, it is possible to analyze the emergency specific telephone number and send out a call notification message from the specific telephone number from the terminal device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dial analyzing section for analyzing a telephone number transmitted from a telephone and extracting a specific telephone number, and an emergency when the dial analyzing section extracts the specific telephone number. And a communication control unit for transmitting a call notification message for use to a cable television network.

According to this configuration, it is possible to reliably use the emergency call notification message and the normal call notification message by analyzing the telephone number. As a result, the center device connected through the cable television network can easily know the urgency of the call. The center apparatus can use such an emergency call notification message to establish a communication channel.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dial analyzing unit for analyzing a telephone number transmitted from a telephone before transmitting a call notification message to a cable television network when the telephone is operated off-hook. Provided is a cable television terminal device provided with the same.

According to this configuration, it is possible to analyze the urgency of the call before the call is made.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a line control unit for acquiring a communication channel in a cable television network, and a general management device for monitoring a congestion state of the cable television network. When it is confirmed that all communication channels are blocked when the emergency call notification message is received through, the communication of any communication channel is disconnected to form an unused channel, and the emergency call notification message is sent. A cable television center device that allocates the unused channel as a communication channel to the terminal device.

According to this configuration, it is possible to identify the urgency of the call and establish the emergency communication channel without fail.

[0024]

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

FIG. 1 shows a CATV according to an embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing a telephone system. In FIG.
The bidirectional CATV network 1 capable of 1: 1 bidirectional communication such as telephone conversation and 1: N unidirectional communication such as broadcasting has a plurality of terminal devices 3,
4 and 5 are connected. The center device 2 establishes a communication path between the terminal devices 3, 4, and 5 according to an instruction from each of the terminal devices 3, 4, and 5, and performs a call or broadcast exchange process. Each of the terminal devices 3, 4, and 5 can realize a call with another terminal device and a broadcast to other terminal devices via the bidirectional CATV network 1.

The terminal devices 3, 4, 5 are provided with a communication control unit 31 for controlling communication with the center device 2 and a dial analysis unit for analyzing telephone numbers transmitted from the connected telephones 6, 7, 8. 32, and a modulation / demodulation unit 33 for sending a call notification message to the CATV network 1 in response to an off-hook operation of the telephone. The dial analysis unit 32 extracts a pre-registered emergency telephone number such as 110 or 119 based on the dialing operation of the telephones 6, 7, and 8. When the emergency telephone number is extracted, the dial analysis unit 32 recognizes the call as an emergency call. When the dial analysis unit 32 recognizes the emergency call, the modem 33 transmits the emergency call notification message to the CA.
Send out to TV network 1. If the dial analysis unit 32 does not extract the emergency telephone number, the communication control unit 31
3 sends a normal call notification message.

The center device 2 is composed of an overall management device 21 which holds various data necessary for operating the system and manages and controls the entire system, and a route device 22. The route device 22 includes: a line control unit 221 that acquires a communication channel of the bidirectional CATV network 1 and controls various communications such as communication and broadcasting; a modulation / demodulation unit 222 that modulates and demodulates data with respect to the bidirectional CATV network 1; It comprises a distributor 223 that combines and distributes transmission / reception data with the bidirectional CATV network 1. The central management device 21 monitors the congestion state of the CATV network 1.

Next, the operation of the CATV telephone system will be described with reference to FIG. First, a telephone 6 for calling and broadcasting
When the off-hook operation is performed, the terminal device 3
DT sound is transmitted to the Subsequently, the terminal device 3
Prior to sending a call notification message to the TV network 1, the telephone number transmitted from the telephone 6 is analyzed by the dial analysis unit 32. When it is recognized that the analyzed telephone number is different from the emergency telephone number registered in the terminal device 3, the modem 33 sends a normal call notification message to the center device 2. The sent outgoing call notification message is
It is transmitted using a common channel of the bidirectional CATV network 1 used by all terminal devices.

The center device 2 that has received the call notification message from the terminal device 3 searches for an unused channel of the CATV network 1. If there is an unused channel, the center device 2
The communication channel is set to the terminal device 3 using the call reception message.
Notify. The terminal device 3 that has received the call acceptance message,
Using the notified communication channel, the telephone number input from the telephone 6 is notified to the center apparatus 2 by dial notification. The center device 2 performs a call connection process.

On the other hand, when the CATV network 1 is in a congested state and there is no unused channel, the center apparatus 2 transmits a call disapproval notice to the terminal apparatus 3 as shown in FIG. The terminal device 3 that has received the call disapproval notification sends a BT sound (busy sound) to the telephone 6 and ends the communication.

If the analyzed telephone number matches the registered emergency telephone number, the dial analyzer 32 recognizes the emergency call. At this time, the communication control unit 31 sends an emergency call notification message to the CATV network 1 via the modem unit 33 (see FIG. 2).

The center device 2 that has received the emergency call notification message from the terminal device 3 searches the communication channel of the bidirectional CATV network 1 for an unused channel. If there is an unused channel, the unused channel is set as a communication channel. As shown in FIG. 2, exchanges such as a call acceptance notification and a dial notification are executed between the terminal device 3 and the center device 2 as described above, and a communication channel is established.

On the other hand, when the central control device 2 detects the congestion state of the CATV network 1 as shown in FIG. 4 when the center device 2 receives the emergency call notification message, the central control device 21 The communication of an arbitrary communication channel is disconnected to forcibly form an unused channel. Next, the center device 2
Notifies the terminal device 3 of the formed unused channel by a call acceptance message.

The terminal device 3 which has received the call acceptance message,
Using the notified communication channel, the telephone number input from the telephone 6 is notified to the center apparatus 2 by dial notification. The center device 2 performs a call connection process, and a communication channel is established.

[0035]

As described above, in the CATV telephone system according to the present invention, the urgency of a call requested from a terminal device can be determined by the center device. Telephone and emergency broadcast communication can be performed.

According to such a CATV telephone system, a communication path of, for example, 1: 1 two-way communication or 1: N one-way communication is provided between terminal devices by calling from the terminal device. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a calling operation when an unused channel exists in the CATV network in one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing a normal calling operation at the time of traffic channel congestion in the CATV network in one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of an emergency call when a traffic channel is congested in a CATV network in one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional CATV telephone system.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a normal calling operation in a conventional CATV telephone system.

FIG. 7 shows a bidirectional C in a conventional CATV telephone system.
Sequence diagram showing calling operation at the time of traffic channel congestion in ATV network

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Two-way CATV (cable television) network 2 Center device 3-5 Terminal device 6 Telephone 21 Overall management device 22 Route device 31 Communication control unit 32 Dial analysis unit 33, 222 Modulation / demodulation unit 221 Line control unit 223 Distributor unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A cable television network, a telephone, a terminal device for transmitting a call signal to the cable television network by the telephone, and a communication channel of the cable television network in response to the call signal received through the cable television network. And a center device for assigning a communication channel as a communication channel to the terminal device. The center device forcibly forms an unused channel when the emergency call notification message is received, and uses the unused channel as a communication channel. A cable videophone system, which is assigned to a device. 2. When all communication channels are blocked when the emergency call notification message is received, the center device disconnects communication of an arbitrary communication channel and sets the communication channel to the unused channel. The cable videophone system according to claim 1, wherein the cable videophone system is used as a telephone. 3. A terminal device, comprising: a dial analysis unit for analyzing a telephone number transmitted from the telephone; and a terminal for transmitting the emergency call notification message when the dial analysis unit recognizes the telephone number as a specific telephone number. The cable videophone system according to claim 1, further comprising: a communication control unit that sends the communication signal to the cable videophone system. 4. A dial analysis unit for analyzing a telephone number sent from a telephone and extracting a specific telephone number, and a cable for transmitting an emergency call notification message when the dial analysis unit extracts the specific telephone number. A terminal device for a cable television, comprising: a communication control unit that transmits the signal to a television network. 5. A cable comprising a dial analyzing unit for analyzing a telephone number transmitted from a telephone before transmitting a call notification message to a cable television network when the telephone is operated off-hook. Television terminal device. 6. A circuit control unit for acquiring a communication channel in a cable television network, and a general management device for monitoring a congestion state of the cable television network, wherein the general management device transmits an emergency call notification message via the cable television network. When it is confirmed that all the communication channels are blocked when receiving the message, the communication of the arbitrary communication channel is cut off to form an unused channel, and the unused device is sent to the terminal device which has transmitted the emergency call notification message. A center device for cable television, wherein a channel is assigned as a communication channel.