KR20000072754A - Method and system for transmitting communication signals through the internet and a public switched telephone network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for transmitting a communication signal through the internet and a public switched telephone network(PSTN) is provided to assign available communication numbers to PSTN telephone users to make the PSTN telephone users directly input the communication numbers through telephone dialers, so that the PSTN telephone users can communicate with other subscribers. CONSTITUTION: A communicating system receives a call request from a caller. The call request is generated by inputting a communication number for identifying other party. The communicating system checks whether the other party is connected to a computer-based communication network. If so, the communication system sets up a communication channel between the caller and the other party. If the other party is intercepted from the computer-based communication network, the communication system performs a call forwarding service when the other party is registered in the call forwarding seRvice. The communication system generates a call request corresponding to the registered call forwarding service, and calls a new other party registered as a destination of the call forwarding service. The communication system sets up a communication channel between the caller and the new other party.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING COMMUNICATION SIGNALS THROUGH THE INTERNET AND A PUBLIC SWITCHED TELEPHONE NETWORK}

The present invention relates to a communication system based on the Internet and a public switched telephone network (PSTN). It is about.

Nowadays, thanks to the rapid development of communication technology, users can easily communicate with each other by sending a communication signal from one phone to another through the public telephone network, as well as the typical communication system that can be transmitted through the Internet. Other communication systems are being developed. The communication signal used in the above-mentioned system may be, for example, voice data, modem data or facsimile data.

One of the communication systems for transmitting communication signals over the Internet is a personal computer (PC) -phone implemented using voice over internet protocol (VoIP). Voice communication between computer terminals using a microphone and a PC-phone with a speaker, or a phone attached to the computer terminal, can be accomplished by loading and executing a software program that converts the received analog signal into a digital signal. However, such communication systems are not compatible with typical telephony communication systems using PSTNs.

Therefore, in recent years, in order to achieve direct communication between a computer terminal and a traditional telephone, a communication system using a gateway unit that transmits a communication signal generated from a local phone, eg, a PC-phone connected to a computer terminal, to a traditional telephone connected to a PSTN. This has been proposed. In such a communication system, the gateway unit converts a telephone signal received from the PC-phone into a signal in a format compatible with the PSTN, thereby forming a communication channel between the PC-phone and the telephone.

However, since the communication system described above only establishes a telephony channel between the PC-phone and the telephone, users of the telephone have no way of accessing the PC-phone.

Therefore, the present invention combines the Internet and PSTN to assign available communication numbers to traditional telephone users who are subscribers of the system of the present invention, thereby allowing these telephone users to enter their communication numbers directly through the telephone dialer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and system capable of implementing a telephone-computer communication service enabling communication with subscribers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide call transfer service to subscribers of the communication system of the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for transmitting a communication signal between a computer terminal and a telephone through a computer-based communication network and a public telephone network (PSTN) comprises: (a) inputting a communication number for identifying a counterpart from a caller; Accepting the generated call request; (b) checking whether the other party is connected to the computer-based communication network; (c) if the other party is connected to the computer-based communication network, establishing a communication channel between the caller and the other party; (d) if the other party is disconnected from the computer-based communication network, executing the call forwarding service when the other party is registered with the call forwarding service; (e) generating a call request corresponding to the registered call transfer service and calling a new counterpart registered as a destination of the call transfer service; (f) establishing a communication channel between the caller and the new counterpart.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for transmitting a communication signal between a computer terminal and a telephone through a computer-based communication network and a public telephone network (PSTN), the communication signal received from the computer terminal or the telephone set to the PSTN Or means for establishing a data channel between the computer terminal and the telephone by converting it into a signal in a format compatible with the computer-based communication network; Means for establishing and controlling a call channel between the computer terminal and the telephone based on caller information and the other party information provided from the computer terminal or telephone, which may be a caller or the other party, wherein the caller information identifies the caller who requested the call. And the counterpart information is configured to authenticate the counterpart called by the caller; Assign a communication number to each subscriber of the system, perform operations related to identifying and authenticating each of the subscribers based on subscriber information of each subscriber, and provide call transfer service to each of the subscribers And wherein said communication number comprises said means used to identify said respective subscribers and to request a call to said respective subscribers.

1 is a block diagram of a communication service system of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a computer-telephone communication procedure according to the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a computer-computer communication procedure according to the present invention;

4 is a flowchart illustrating a telephone-computer communication procedure according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10A, 10B: Telephone 20: Public telephone network

40: telephone service system 41: gateway unit

42: gatekeeper 43: storage unit

44: UMS Server 45: Messenger Server

46: database server 47: network access subscriber management server

50: Internet 60A, 60B: PC

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the operation of the preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

1, a public telephone network (hereinafter referred to as a PSTN) 20, a switch 30, a telephone service system 40, and telephones 10A and 10B and a computer terminal (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 60A and 60B. A communication service system is shown that includes a computer-based communication network, such as the Internet 50, that facilitates telephony between users. In the present invention, the PCs 60A and 60B each include a headset and a microphone for performing telephone communication.

In addition, the telephone service system 40 of the present invention includes a gateway unit 41, a gatekeeper 42, an unified message system (UMS) server 44, a messenger server 45, a database server 46, and A network access subscriber management server 47 is provided.

The PSTN 20 provides telephony channels to a number of telephone users, such as wired, wireless (cellular, mobile), analog and digital telephone users.

The switch 30 is connected between the PSTN 20 and the gateway unit 41 to transmit telephone signals to and from the telephones 10A and 10B and the PCs 60A and 60B. In practice, one or more switches are connected to the PSTN 20 via a transmission trunk that is equipped to connect to a central telephone station (not shown).

The gateway unit 41 is connected to the switch 30 and the Internet 50 or the UMS server 44, and under the control of the gatekeeper 42, the gateway unit 41 receives the telephone communication signal received from the PC through the Internet 50 through the PSTN ( 20 and a telephone 10A, 10B connected to the PSTN 20 by converting a communication signal received from the telephone via the PSTN 20 into a signal in a format usable in the 20). A telephone communication channel is established between the PCs 60A and 60B connected to the Internet 50.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, only one gateway unit is illustrated in FIG. 1, but in practice, one or more gateway units are connected to the PSTN 20 according to a regional distribution.

In addition, the gatekeeper 42 controls a call channel between the telephone 10A or 10B and the PC 60A or 60B or the PCs 60A and 60B to control the operation of the gateway unit 41. Control the operation of setting the.

Under the control of the gatekeeper 42, the storage unit 43 stores a telephony record such as the talk time of the subscriber of the system 40 when the subscriber uses the telephone service provided by the telephone service system 40.

Certain subscribers of telephone service system 40 may leave messages to other subscribers via UMS server 44 when it is impossible to establish a telephony channel with other subscribers.

Meanwhile, the messenger server 45 controls the operation of executing the telephony service provided by the telephone service system 40 in association with other servers such as the data server 46 and the network access subscriber management server 47. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the messenger server 45 has one or more sub-servers to distribute traffic, and each sub-server has a plurality of subscribers having access to the telephone service system 40, For example, 1000 subscribers can be managed.

The network access subscriber management server 47 manages subscribers connected to the telephone service system 40 through the Internet 50.

The database server 46 manages information of all subscribers registered in the telephone service system 40.

When a subscriber registers with the telephone service system 40, the subscriber may have a communication number assigned to each from the telephone service system 40. After such registration, the communication number is used as an identifier only when the subscriber wants to access the telephone service system 40.

Such a communication number can be entered via the data entry means of the telephone, for example the dialer of the telephone. Therefore, the communication number assigned to each subscriber includes a series of numbers, by which each subscriber can be distinguished from other subscribers. For example, the communication number may be expressed as yyyy-zzzz, where y and z are selected from 0 to 9, and the number of numbers constituting the communication number is variable.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the communication number may be replaced with an e-mail address, a registered universal resource locator (URL), a typical ID address, a typical telephone number or a mobile number already assigned to the telephone user, and the like. . That is, the communication number may have any format that can distinguish each subscriber from other subscribers, and can be entered through any telephone. However, this communication number is most preferably represented by a series of numbers in a format similar to a traditional telephone number.

Therefore, when the telephone user wants to communicate with the desired subscriber of the telephone service system 40, the telephone user first inputs a system call number to access the telephone service system 40, and then the communication number of the desired subscriber. To call the desired subscriber. According to the configuration of the communication service system of the present invention, the telephone user is configured to input the system call number and the communication number continuously or repeatedly.

On the other hand, if the subscriber of the telephone service system 40 wants to call another subscriber using the computer terminal, the subscriber can call the other party by inputting only the communication number of the other party without having to enter the system call number. However, to distinguish a PC call from a telephone call when the other party uses a preassigned traditional telephone number, such as a landline telephone number or a cellular telephone number, as his communication number, the subscriber uses a data entry means of the computer terminal to convert the traditional telephone subscriber. Along with the number, you can enter the country code, or country code and area code, depending on the type of traditional calling phone, such as a landline or cordless phone. Where the country code is the code representing the desired country and the area code is the desired area in the desired country.

The communication number assignment for each subscriber of the telephone service system 40 according to the present invention is described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of Figs. 2 to 4 illustrating the telephony procedures for providing call transfer service and UMS service according to the present invention. It is explained. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to the communication service system of the present invention shown in FIG.

First, referring to FIG. 2, a flowchart illustrating a computer-to-telephone communication procedure in accordance with the present invention is shown.

When a predetermined subscriber wants to access the telephone service system 40 by executing a client program and inputting his or her communication number and password through his terminal, for example, the first PC 60A, the messenger server 45 connects with the communication number. The subscriber process is executed in conjunction with the database server 46 based on the password.

If a given subscriber is successfully verified, that subscriber, or caller, calls the gatekeeper 42 by providing the telephone number of the other party, e.g., first telephone 10A, using a client program running on the first PC 60A. Generate a request (step S21). In this step, the gatekeeper 42 is the caller's information, for example, the IP address assigned to the first PC 60A, the communication number and password of the subscriber, and the counterpart information, for example, the other party provided from the first PC 60A. Know your phone number.

In step S22, the gatekeeper 42 requests the messenger server 45 to authenticate the caller based on the caller information, and the other party interworks with the messenger server 45 based on the other party's information to provide the caller with the telephone service system 40. Check whether or not it is within the range of communication service.

If the caller is authenticated and the other party is proved to be in the communication service range, the first PC 60A is dialed to the other party via the gateway unit 41 and the PSTN 20 (step S22).

Then, in step S24, it is checked whether the communication channel between the caller and the other party is established.

When the communication channel is established through the Internet 50, the gateway unit 41, and the PSTN 20, the caller of the first PC 60A can perform telephone communication with the counterpart of the telephone set 10A.

On the other hand, if the communication channel is not established, the telephone service system 40 provides a connection failure message to the first PC 60A, and terminates this call procedure.

As shown in Fig. 2, when the caller of the PC and the telephone wants to establish a telephone communication channel with the telephone, the call transfer service and the UMS are irrelevant regardless of whether the telephone of the other party is a registered subscriber of the telephone service system 40. No service is provided. Therefore, the communication procedure shown in FIG. 2 may be similar to the communication service system performed in the prior art.

3, a flowchart illustrating a computer-computer communication procedure in accordance with the present invention is shown.

As shown in Fig. 2, first, a caller who is a predetermined subscriber successfully by the messenger server 45 by association with the database server 46 based on the communication number and password inputted through the first PC 60A. If authenticated, the caller issues a call request to the gatekeeper 42 by providing the counterpart's communication number using a client program running on the first PC 60A (step S312). In this step, the gatekeeper 42 provides the caller's information such as the IP address assigned to the first PC 60A, the caller's communication number and password, and the counterpart information such as the communication number of the other party provided from the first PC 60A. Can be obtained.

In step S314, the gatekeeper 42 requests the messenger server 45 to authenticate the caller based on the caller information.

In step S316, once the caller is authenticated, the gatekeeper 42 causes the messenger server 45 to check with the network access subscriber management server 47 to check whether the other party is connected to the telephone service system 40. request.

As a result of the above-described check, if it is determined that the other party is the second PC 60B connected to the telephone service system 40, the gatekeeper 42 sends a message from the messenger server 45 to the second PC 60B. The IP address is obtained and the flow advances to step S318. On the other hand, if the check result described above does not verify that the other party is a registered subscriber, the flow proceeds to step S324.

In a next step S318, the gatekeeper 42 causes the messenger server 45 to check whether the second PC 60B is in a call-receivable state.

If the second PC 60B is not in a call-receivable state, the flow advances to step S334, where the first PC 60A is connected to the UMS server 44.

On the other hand, if the second PC 60B is in the call reception possible state, the first PC 60A dials the second PC 60B via the Internet 50.

Then, in step S322, a communication channel is established between the first PC 60A and the second PC 60B.

When it is checked that the communication channel is established between the first PC 60A and the second PC 60B via the Internet 50, the first PC 60A can make a telephone communication with the second PC 60B.

On the other hand, if a communication channel is not established between the first PC 60A and the second PC 60B, the process proceeds to step S334 where the first PC 60A is connected to the UMS server 44 and the UMS server ( You can leave a message to the storage unit (not shown) of 44).

On the other hand, in step S324, the messenger server 45 checks whether the other party is a registered subscriber of the telephone service system 40.

If it is determined that the other party is a registered subscriber, the telephone service system 40 provides a connection failure message to the first PC 60A, and terminates this call procedure.

On the other hand, if the other party is a registered subscriber, the messenger server 45 checks whether the call procedure is a call attempt of the first PC corresponding to the PC call request made in step S312 (step S326).

If the PC call attempt is not one attempt, the process proceeds to step S334 where the first PC 60A leaves a message to be communicated to the other party in the storage unit of the UMS server 44.

In step S328, if it is determined that the first PC 60A has made only one PC call attempt corresponding to the PC call request in step S312, the messenger server 45 determines that the other party is registered with the call transfer service. Check whether there is.

If the other party is not registered in the call transfer service, the call processing procedure proceeds to step S334 to perform the above-described operation.

On the other hand, if the other party is registered in the call transfer service and the destination of the call transfer service is a PC, the process proceeds to step S314 and repeats the above-described PC call processing procedure.

On the other hand, when the destination of the call transfer service is a telephone, the first PC 60A dials to switch to the destination telephone via the gateway unit 41 and the PSTN 20 (step S330).

In a next step S332, it is checked whether a communication channel is established between the first PC 60A and the destination telephone.

If a communication channel is established through the Internet 50, the gateway 41, and the PSTN 20, the first PC 60A can make a telephone communication with the destination telephone.

On the other hand, if the communication channel is not established, the telephone service system 40 provides a connection failure message to the first PC 60A and then terminates.

Referring to Fig. 4, a flowchart illustrating a telephone-computer communication procedure according to the present invention is shown.

In step S411, in order to establish a communication channel connected to the telephone service system 40, a telephone, for example, a user of the telephone 10A is first assigned to the telephone service system 40 using the dialer of the telephone 10A. The telephone service system 40 by calling the system call number.

Next, in step S412, the telephone user may receive an audio response system (ARS) service provided from the telephone service system 40.

In step S413, the telephone user selects the PC call service according to the indication of ARS (not shown) and enters the communication number of the other party to generate a call to the other party.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the telephone user may directly enter a counterpart's communication number to generate a PC call to the counterpart without the steps S412 and S413 described above.

When the telephone 10A and the telephone service system 40 are connected to each other and a communication number is input, the gateway unit 41 connects the messenger server 45 to the messenger server 45 via the gatekeeper 42 to the telephone service system 40. On the basis of the communication number, it is requested to check in conjunction with the network access subscriber management server 47 (step S416).

As a result of the above check, if it is determined that the other party is the first PC 60A connected to the telephone service system 40, the gatekeeper 42 acquires the first PC 60A, which is the other party, from the messenger server 45; Proceed to step S418. On the other hand, if the other party is not verified in the above-described check process, the process proceeds to step S424.

In step S418, the gatekeeper 45 requests the messenger server 45 to check whether the first PC 60A is in a call-receivable state.

As a result of the check in step S418, if it is checked that the first PC 60A is not in the call-receivable state, as in step S434, the telephone 10A is connected to the UMS server 44 and the UMS server ( The message of the first PC 60A is left in the storage unit of 44).

On the other hand, if it is checked that the first PC 60A is in a call reception state, the gateway unit 41 performs dialing to call the first PC 60A via the Internet 50 (step S420).

Then, if it is determined in step S422 that the communication channel is established between the telephone 10A and the first PC 60A, the telephone 10A is connected to the PSTN 20, the switch 30, and the gateway. Telephone communication can be made with the first PC 60A via the unit 41 and the Internet 50.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the communication channel is not established between the telephone 10A and the first PC 60A as a result of the check in step S422, the flow advances to step S434 and the telephone 10A returns to the UMS server ( 44).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S416 that the other party is not connected to the telephone service, the messenger server 45 checks whether the other party is a registered subscriber of the telephone service system 40 (step S424).

If it is determined in step S424 that the other party is not a registered subscriber, the telephone service system 40 provides a connection failure message to the telephone 10A side and terminates this call procedure.

On the other hand, if the other party is a registered subscriber, the messenger server 45 checks whether the present call processing procedure is the first PC call attempt corresponding to the PC call request made in step S413 (step S426).

If the PC call attempt is not the first attempt, the process proceeds to step S434 where the telephone user leaves a message for the other party in the storage unit of the UMS server 44.

If it is determined in step S426 that the telephone 10A has made only one PC call attempt, the messenger server 45 verifies whether or not the other party is registered in the call transfer service (step S428).

If the other party is not registered in the call transfer service, the process proceeds to step S434 as described above.

On the other hand, if the other party is registered in the call transfer service and the destination of the call transfer service is a PC, the process proceeds to step S416 and repeats the above-described PC call process.

On the other hand, if the destination of the call transfer service is a telephone, the telephone 10A performs dialing to call another telephone through the PSTN 20 (step S430).

In a next step S432, it is checked whether or not a communication channel is established in a telephone period different from the telephone 10A.

Once the communication channel is established, the phone 10A can communicate with the other phone via the PSTN 20.

On the other hand, if the communication channel is not established, the call procedure is terminated.

In the above description, when the telephone and the computer terminal are connected to each other to perform telephone communication via the PSTN 20 and the Internet 50, the gateway unit 41 is when the at least one of the telephone and the computer terminal is inaccessible. Continue to perform the arbitration function between the phone and the computer terminal.

At this time, if at least one of the telephone and the computer terminal is detected as inaccessible, the gateway unit 41 communicates the disconnected state to the gatekeeper 42, and the gatekeeper 42 stores a record of the state. Store at 43.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the caller may determine whether the other party has received call transfer service.

As described above, computer-to-telephone, computer-to-computer, and telephone-to-computer communication may be implemented through the PSTN and the Internet through the communication procedure described according to the present invention. Therefore, subscribers of the telephone service system can access another telephone system and can be accessed from any place if the subscribers are accessed to the telephone service system.

Although the invention described above has been described in connection with the Internet, it may be applied to various types of computer-based communication networks, such as LANs and WANs. Moreover, it should be appreciated that the present invention can be applied to a fax or a modem because the communication signal includes modem data, fax data and the like. In this case, the procedure for generating a call for fax or modem transmission is that the end-to-end delay of the communication signal is not as important as the end-to-end delay of the voice communication. Is similar to the setup of a telephone call as described above.

Moreover, the system of the present invention can be applied to video-phones such as IMT-200 based on the Internet.

In addition, although the present invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a telephony service, those skilled in the art can subscribe to various supplementary services well known in the art by connecting to servers providing various services. Can be provided to them.

Claims (17)

In a method for transmitting a communication signal between a computer terminal and a telephone through a computer-based communication network and a public telephone network (PSTN), (a) accepting a call request from a caller, wherein the call request is generated by entering a communication number identifying a party; (b) checking whether the other party is connected to the computer-based communication network; (c) if the other party is connected to the computer-based communication network, establishing a communication channel between the caller and the other party; (d) if the other party is disconnected from the computer-based communication network, executing the call forwarding service when the other party is registered with the call forwarding service; (e) generating a call request corresponding to the registered call transfer service and calling a new counterpart registered as a destination of the call transfer service; (f) establishing a communication channel between the caller and the new counterpart. The method of claim 1, wherein the caller is a computer terminal or a telephone. The method of claim 2, wherein step (d) If the called party is not registered with the call transfer service or the caller does not select the call transfer service, causing the caller to leave a message in a storage unit to leave to the called party in the storage unit. Way. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the new counterpart is a computer terminal, and step (f) comprises: (f11) if the new party is connected to the computer-based communication network, connecting the caller and the new party; (f12) if the new party is disconnected from the computer-based communication network, causing the caller to leave a message in the storage unit to leave to the new party. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the new counterpart is a telephone, and step (f) comprises: (f21) if the new party is connected to the PSTN, connecting the caller to the new party; (f12) if the new counterpart is disconnected from the PSTN, terminating the call procedure. The communication signal transmission method according to claim 1, wherein the communication number has a format that can be input through an input unit of the telephone. The method of claim 6, wherein the communication number is a series of numbers. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the communication number is a phone number being used by the other party. The method of claim 1, wherein said computer-based communication network is the Internet. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the telephone is selected from the group consisting of a landline telephone, a mobile telephone, a facsimile and a modem. In a system for transmitting a communication signal between a computer terminal and a telephone through a computer-based communication network and a public telephone network (PSTN), Means for forming a data channel between the computer terminal and the phone by converting a communication signal received from the computer terminal or the phone into a signal in a format compatible with the PSTN or the computer-based communication network; Means for establishing and controlling a call channel between the computer terminal and the telephone based on caller information and the other party information provided from the computer terminal or telephone, which may be a caller or the other party, wherein the caller information identifies the caller who requested the call. And the counterpart information is configured to authenticate the counterpart called by the caller; Assign a communication number to each subscriber of the system, perform operations related to identifying and authenticating each of the subscribers based on subscriber information of each subscriber, and provide call transfer service to each of the subscribers Means for identifying said respective subscribers and for requesting a call from said respective subscribers. The system of claim 11, wherein the system is: And means for providing each of said subscribers with a predetermined amount of memory for storing messages received from callers calling said respective subscribers. 13. The communication signal transmission system according to claim 12, wherein said communication number has a format that can be input after input unit of said telephone set. The system of claim 13, wherein the communication number is a series of numbers. 15. The system of claim 14, wherein said communication number is a telephone number used for each of said subscribers. 16. The system of claim 15, wherein said computer-based communication network is the Internet. 17. The system of claim 16, wherein said telephone is selected from the group consisting of a landline telephone, a mobile telephone, a facsimile and a modem.