KR101403731B1 - A method for detecting errors in ip-pbx system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fault detection method of an IP-PBX apparatus. An IP-PBX apparatus, which supports voice communication between a first terminal and a second terminal and extracts terminal information of the first terminal in response to receiving an invitation message from the first terminal to call the second terminal, A function module for extracting the terminal information of the second terminal in response to the IP-PBX device receiving the invitation confirmation message from the second terminal; Database; An RTP connection information management module for generating an RTP (Real-time Transmission Protocol) connection list between the first terminal and the second terminal based on the terminal information of the first terminal and the terminal information of the second terminal, The management module is further operable to update the RTP connection list stored in the database in response to the IP-PBX device receiving a voice packet confirmation message from the first terminal or the second terminal; And a failure detection module for detecting a network failure using an RTP connection list stored in the database.

IP-PBX, RTP, connection list, fault

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an IP-PBX system,

The present invention relates to a fault detection method of an IP-PBX apparatus.

An IP-PBX (Internet Protocol-Private Branch Exchange) device is an exchange system that transmits voice or video over the IP network. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the increase of users such as the Internet, information transmission through IP-PBX devices has become active. In accordance with this trend, IP-PBX devices provide various implementations such as interworking with PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). Generally, Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) are used to transmit voice information between users in the IP-PBX system 110. VoIP is a communication service technology that converts voice data into Internet protocol data packets on a computer network to enable voice communication like telephone conversation in a general telephone network. RTP is one of the protocols used in VoIP systems.

In order to make a communication between two user terminals (i.e., voice information transmission) via the IP network, an RTP connection from terminal A to terminal B and an RTP connection from terminal B to terminal A must be provided. In order to make a voice call over the IP network, the terminal A and the terminal B must be able to perform IP routing with respect to each other. However, in IP-PBX devices based on actual IP networks, frequent voice communication failures due to RTP connection problems or IP routing failures occur. For example, in a system where NAT (Network Address Translation) is used due to a problem such as lack of IP, if one terminal uses private IP, IP routing becomes impossible and a voice call failure occurs.

Thus, in spite of frequent occurrence of a voice call failure, the conventional IP-PBX device only recognizes a voice call failure by a method of accepting a user's complaint or the like, and the system itself can not detect the failure. Therefore, in the case of the occurrence of the failure, there is a problem that it is difficult to grasp whether or not the occurrence of the failure occurs and the problem of the occurrence of the failure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an IP-PBX apparatus and a failure occurrence detection method capable of detecting occurrence of communication failure in the apparatus itself.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an IP-PBX apparatus comprising: an IP-PBX apparatus for supporting a voice call between a first terminal and a second terminal, and in response to receiving an invitation message for calling the second terminal from the first terminal A function module for extracting terminal information of the first terminal and extracting terminal information of the second terminal in response to the IP-PBX device receiving the invitation confirmation message from the second terminal; Database; An RTP connection information management module for generating an RTP (Real-time Transmission Protocol) connection list between the first terminal and the second terminal based on the terminal information of the first terminal and the terminal information of the second terminal, The management module is further operable to update the RTP connection list stored in the database in response to the IP-PBX device receiving a voice packet confirmation message from the first terminal or the second terminal; And a failure detection module for detecting a network failure using an RTP connection list stored in the database.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal information of the first terminal includes an originating RTP IP address, a receiving RTP IP address, a source IP port number, and codec information.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the RTP connection list includes an IP-PBX device including an originating RTP IP address, a source IP port number, a receiving RTP IP address, a receiving IP port number, an RTP connection state, and an RTP direction field do.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the RTP direction field indicates that the connection is unidirectional when the value is 0, and when the value is 1, the connection is bidirectional.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the RTP connection status field is implemented with 4 bits.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first bit of the RTP connection state field is an RTP transmission state, the second bit is an RTP reception state, the third bit is a session confirmation state, and the fourth bit is a transmission error detection state (Tx Error). ≪ / RTI >

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an IP-PBX apparatus for indicating an RTP transmission error detection state of an RTP connection state field as an error when a voice packet confirmation message is an ICMP error message.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the fault detection module provides an IP-PBX device including an algorithm implemented by software for determining a communication failure.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the failure detection module detects an error by searching the value of the RTP connection state field or the value of the RTP direction field.

According to the present invention, since the IP-PBX apparatus itself can determine the occurrence of a communication fault and the cause of the fault, it is possible to more stably provide the service and reduce the management cost of the communication facility.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, detailed description of known functions and configurations will be omitted if it is determined that there is a possibility that the gist of the present invention may be unnecessarily blurred. In addition, it should be understood that the following description is only for an embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

1 is a diagram illustrating a simplified configuration of a computing environment in which an IP-PBX device is implemented in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 1, the network system 100 includes an IP-PBX device 110, a terminal A 122 and a terminal B 124. The IP- The terminal A 122 and the terminal B 124 represent a user terminal. Although only two terminals are shown for simplification of the drawing, those skilled in the art can fully recognize that there can exist a plurality of terminals. Terminal A 122 and terminal B 124 may be connected to a computing device such as a computer (e.g., a desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.), a media computing platform (e.g., cable, satellite set top box, digital video recorder), a portable computing device A PDA, an email client, etc.), any form of mobile phone, or any other type of computing or communication platform, but the invention is not so limited. The terminal A 122 and the terminal B 124 are connected to the IP-PBX apparatus 110 via the network 130. The network 130 may be a wired network such as LANs (Local Area Networks), WANs (Wide Area Networks), MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks), ISDNs (Integrated Service Digital Networks), wireless LANs, CDMA, Bluetooth, But the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

The IP-PBX device 110 includes a functional module 112, an RTP connection information management module 114, a database 116, and a fault detection module 118. The function module 112 performs voice communication between the terminal A 122 and the terminal B 124. In one embodiment, when there is a voice call request from terminal A 122 to terminal B 124, the functional module 112 creates a voice channel between terminal A 122 and terminal B 124, Lt; / RTI > The functional module 112 may be implemented to include hardware and / or software and may share hardware and / or software with other functional modules (not shown) as needed or where appropriate. 1, the function module 112 is shown separately from the RTP connection information management module 114 and the failure detection module 118 which will be described later. However, the function module 112 must be physically distinguished from other configuration modules no.

The RTP connection information management module 114 generates and updates a corresponding RTP connection list as a voice channel is generated between the terminal A 122 and the terminal B 124 and a voice packet is transmitted. Although the RTP connection information management module 114 is implemented in the IP-PBX device 110 in FIG. 1, the connection information management module 114 may be provided separately from the IP-PBX device 110 without departing from the scope of the present invention. May be implemented on hardware. The RTP connection list created or updated in the RTP connection information management module 114 is stored in the database 116. [

2 is a diagram illustrating an RTP connection list stored in the database 116 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, an RTP connection list stored in the database 116 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an originating RTP IP address, a source IP port number, a receiving RTP IP address, a receiving IP port number, Direction, and the like. The originating terminal IP address field and the receiving terminal IP address field store the IP address value of each terminal, and the calling terminal IP port number field and the receiving terminal IP port number field store the IP port number of each terminal. The RTP Direction field indicates whether the RTP connection is bidirectional or unidirectional. In one embodiment, the RTP direction field indicates that the connection is unidirectional if its value is 0 (sendonly), and the connection is bidirectional if its value is 1 (sendrecv).

In one embodiment, the RTP connection status field may be implemented with 4 bits, where 0 bits (least significant bit) are the state of Rx (RTP reception), 1 bit is the state of Tx (RTP transmission) State (Session Comfirmed), and 4 bits (most significant bit) indicate whether or not a transmission error (Tx Error) is detected. The values of the RTP connection status field and their meanings are shown in Table 1 below.

RTP  Connection status (0 ~ 15)
bit  Meaning
- 0 : Rx  condition
- One : Tx  condition
- 2 : Session Confirmed
- 3: Tx Error  Detection Meaning of the main value
1 (0001b): Rx Ready , Tx Idle
2 (0010b): Rx Idle , Tx Ready
3 (0011b): Rx Ready , Tx Ready
4 (0101b): Rx Ready , Tx Idle , Session Confirmed
5 (0110b): Rx Idle , Tx Ready , Session Confirmed
6 (0111b): Rx Ready , Tx Ready , Session Confirmed
7 (0111b): Rx Ready , Tx Ready , Session Confirmed
8 (1000b): Rx Idle , Tx Idle , Tx Error Detected
9 (1001b): Rx Ready , Tx Idle , Tx Error Detected
10 (1010b): Rx Idle , Tx Ready , Tx Error Detected
11 (1011b): Rx Ready , Tx Ready , Tx Error  Detected

<Table 1>

Referring again to FIG. 1, the failure detection module 118 detects a network failure using the RTP connection list stored in the database 116. In one embodiment, when the RTP connection information management module 114 generates or updates the connection list, the failure detection module 118 detects a failure based on the value of the connection RTP connection state and the RTP direction field generated or updated . In one embodiment, if the value of the RTP direction field is 0, the corresponding RTP connection is unidirectional, and the failure detection module 118 determines a failure in this case. Also, in one embodiment, when the generated RTP connection state value is 1 or 2, the RTP connection does not properly correspond to Rx and Tx, and the failure detection module 118 also makes a failure determination in this case. Also, in another embodiment, if the updated RTP connection state value indicates that a Tx Error has occurred (i.e., four bits are 1), the fault detection module 118 may also make a failure determination. Table 2 below categorizes and categorizes the case where the RTP connection state field value implemented with 4 bits indicates failure occurrence according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Table 2>

In one embodiment, the failure detection module 118 determines an algorithm for determining a communication failure (i.e., determining that a communication failure has occurred if the RTP connection state value or direction value of a given connection list corresponds to Table 2) May be implemented in advance in software and stored in the fault detection module 118. Thus, the IP-PBX apparatus 110 according to the present invention can determine whether a fault has occurred in the apparatus itself and the cause of the occurrence of the fault.

Hereinafter, a method of providing the fault detection service by the IP-PBX apparatus 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. The failure detection service according to the present invention determines whether a failure has been detected by using the generated RTP connection list or the updated RTP connection list. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method for the IP-PBX apparatus 110 to generate an RTP connection list and provide a failure detection service to the generated RTP connection list. In Fig. 3, the terminal A 122 is a terminal attempting to make a voice call to the terminal B (124).

In step 310, the function module 112 receives an invitation message ("INVITE" message) transmitted from the terminal A 122 (S310). The function module 112 extracts the terminal information of the terminal A 122 from the received invitation signal (S320). In one embodiment, the terminal information may include an RTP IP, a port number, codec information, and the like. The function module 112 then sends the invite message to the final destination terminal B 124 (S330) and the terminal B 124 receives the invite message and invites the IP-PBX device 110 in response thereto A confirmation message ("200 OK" message) is transmitted (S340). The function module 112 extracts the terminal information of the terminal B 124 from the received invitation confirmation message at step S350 and transmits the invitation confirmation message to the terminal A 122 at step S360. Thereby, a bidirectional voice channel is created between the terminal A 122 and the terminal B 124. In step S370, the functional module 112 delivers the extracted terminal information to the RTP connection information management module 114, and the RTP connection information management module 114 receives the terminal information and generates an RTP connection list. 4 shows an RTP connection list generated in step S370 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the generated connection list has terminal A and terminal B as its origins, and the two connection lists have an RTP connection state of 0011b and an RTP direction value of 1, respectively.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the failure detection module 118 determines whether a communication failure has occurred using the generated RTP connection list (S380). In one embodiment, when the generated connection list is as shown in FIG. 4, the failure detection module 118 determines that the corresponding RTP connection does not have a failure. In one embodiment, if the RTP connection state value of the generated connection list has a value other than 0011b or if the RTP direction value is not 1, the failure detection module 118 determines that a failure has occurred for the RTP connection will be.

5 is a diagram for explaining a method for the IP-PBX apparatus 110 to update the RTP connection list and provide the failure detection service using the updated RTP connection list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step 510, the function module 112 receives an "INFO (RTP_RECEIVED)" message, which is one kind of voice packet confirmation message from the terminal B124. The INFO (RTP_RECEIVED) message indicates that terminal B 124 has successfully received a voice packet from terminal A 122. When the function module 112 notifies the RTP connection information management module 114 of the receipt of the INFO (RTP_RECEIVED) message, the RTP connection information management module 114 searches the database 116 for the RTP connection information and updates the RTP connection information S520). 6A shows an updated RTP connection list according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6A, it can be seen that the RTP connection status field has been updated to 0111b (RX Ready, TX Ready, Session Confirmed) indicating that the reception from terminal B 124 to terminal A 122 is confirmed.

Similarly, at step 530, the function module 112 receives an "INFO (RTP_RECEIVED)" message from terminal A 122. The INFO (RTP_RECEIVED) message indicates that terminal A 122 has successfully received a voice packet from terminal B 124. If the function module 112 notifies the RTP connection information management module 114 of the receipt of an INFO (RTP_RECEIVED) message from the terminal A 122, the RTP connection information management module 114 transmits the RTP connection information to the database 116 And updates it. 6B, the RTP connection status field is set to 0111b (RX) indicating that the reception from the terminal A 122 to the terminal B 124 is confirmed. In this case, Ready, TX Ready, Session Confirmed).

In step S550, the failure detection module 118 determines whether a failure has occurred by using the connection list after the connection list for originating the terminal A 122 and the terminal B 124 is updated. In one embodiment, if the updated linked list is as shown in FIG. 6B, the failure detection module 118 may determine that the corresponding RTP connection is unaffected.

7 is a diagram for explaining a method for the IP-PBX apparatus 110 to update the RTP connection list and provide the failure detection service using the updated RTP connection list according to another embodiment of the present invention.

When the terminal B (124) fails to transmit a voice packet to the terminal A (122), the terminal B (124) transmits an ICMP failure message, which is a kind of a voice packet confirmation message informing that the voice packet transmitted from the routing equipment has not arrived Message. In step S730, the function module 112 receives an "INFO (ICMP_ERROR)" message from the terminal B124. The message "INFO (ICMP_ERROR)" indicates that terminal B 124 failed to successfully transmit a voice packet to terminal A 122. When the function module 112 notifies the RTP connection information management module 114 of the reception of the "INFO (ICMP_ERROR)" message from the terminal B 124, the RTP connection information management module 114 transmits the RTP connection information to the database 116 ) And updates it (S740). 8 shows an updated RTP connection list according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, it can be seen that the RTP connection status field has been updated to 0111b (RX Ready, TX Ready, Tx Error Detected) indicating that there is a failure in transmission from the terminal B 124 to the terminal A 122.

In one embodiment, if the updated connection list RTP connection state value is as follows, the failure detection module 118 may determine that a failure has occurred for the RTP connection.

RTP connection status value meaning 0011b (Rx Ready, Tx Ready) (RTP Tx / Rx connection is correct) but there is no actual packet exchange 1011b (Rx ready, Tx ready, Tx Error Detected) (RTP Tx / Rx connection is correct) but there is no actual packet exchange

If the RTP direction value of the updated connection list is not 1, the failure detection module 118 may determine that a failure has occurred for the RTP connection.

When the call is terminated, each terminal informs the function module 112 of the request, and if the function module 112 informs the RTP connection information management module 114 of the reception of the end message ("BYE") from the terminal B 124, The RTP connection information management module 114 searches the database 116 for the RTP connection information and deletes the RTP connection information.

As described above, when the database 116 stores the RTP connection list, the failure detection module 118 can detect the network failure using the RTP connection list. Therefore, when a communication error occurs, it is possible to more accurately and easily identify the cause of the problem and cope with it.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, I will understand. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the illustrated embodiments, but should be determined by the scope of the appended claims, as well as the appended claims.

1 illustrates a simplified configuration of a computing environment in which an IP-PBX device is implemented in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

2 illustrates an RTP connection list stored in the database 116 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram for explaining a method in which an IP-PBX apparatus generates an RTP connection list and provides a failure detection service to the generated RTP connection list;

4 is a diagram illustrating an RTP connection list generated according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 illustrate a method for providing a failure detection service by updating an RTP connection list and using an updated RTP connection list according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

6 and 8 illustrate an updated RTP connection list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

110: IP-PBX device

112: Function module

114: RTP connection information management module

116: Database

118: Fault detection module

122: terminal A

124: Terminal B

130: Network

Claims (9)

delete As an IP-PBX device, Wherein the IP-PBX device supports voice communication between the first terminal and the second terminal and extracts the terminal information of the first terminal in response to receiving the invitation message for calling the second terminal from the first terminal, A function module for extracting terminal information of the second terminal in response to the PBX device receiving an invitation confirmation message from the second terminal; Database; A Real-time Transmission Protocol (RTP) connection list between the first terminal and the second terminal based on the terminal information of the first terminal and the terminal information of the second terminal, and storing the RTP connection information list in the database Module; the RTP connection information management module is further operable to update the RTP connection list stored in the database in response to the IP-PBX device receiving a voice packet confirmation message from the first terminal or the second terminal; And And a failure detection module for detecting a network failure using an RTP connection list stored in the database, Wherein the terminal information of the first terminal includes an originating RTP IP address, a receiving RTP IP address, a source IP port number, and codec information. 3. The method of claim 2, The RTP connection list includes an RTP IP address, an originating IP port number, a receiving RTP IP address, a receiving IP port number, an RTP connection state, and an RTP direction field. The method of claim 3, The RTP direction field indicates that the connection is unidirectional if its value is 0, and if the value is 1, the connection is bidirectional. 5. The method of claim 4, Wherein the RTP connection state field is implemented with 4 bits. 6. The method of claim 5, Wherein the first bit of the RTP connection state field indicates an RTP transmission state, the second bit indicates an RTP reception state, the third bit indicates a session confirmation state, and the fourth bit indicates an transmission error detection state (Tx Error) -PBX devices. The method according to claim 6, And the RTP transmission error detection state of the RTP connection state field is indicated as an error when the voice packet confirmation message is an ICMP error message. 3. The method of claim 2, Wherein the fault detection module comprises software implemented algorithms for determining a communication failure. The method of claim 3, Wherein the failure detection module detects a failure by searching a value of the RTP connection state field or a value of the RTP direction field.

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