KR20040059108A - System for error recover function in multimedia public switched terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A system for recovering an error of a multimedia public terminal is provided to automatically recover a hardware or software error by enabling a central controller and a phone controller to monitor each other. CONSTITUTION: When a hook switch(104) is operated, a phone controller(105) senses it and performs a call mode by controlling a transmitter/receiver set(101), a coin discriminating module(102) and a card reader module(103). A display and input unit(106) supports a user interface. A camera module(107) processes video and captures an image. A printer module(108) issues a receipt and a ticket. A communication network matching modem(109) connected to a communication network by way of a communication line(200) transmits and receives various information. A central controller(110) overall controls a multimedia public terminal. A memory(111) stores an O/S and an application program to be performed by the central controller(110). A set program memory(112) stores various set programs. The central controller(110) and the phone controller(105) includes watchdog programs(113,114), respectively. A power supply unit(115) supplies operation power and maintenance power to the central controller(110) and the phone controller(115).

Description

System for error recovery function in multimedia public switched terminal

The present invention relates to an error recovery system of a multimedia air terminal, and more particularly, in a multimedia air terminal installed in a plurality of unspecified areas, a location dog program is installed in each of a central control unit and a telephone control unit installed in the multimedia air terminal. The present invention relates to an error recovery system of a multimedia public terminal that automatically recovers hardware and software errors occurring in the multimedia public terminal by monitoring the central control unit and the telephone control unit at regular intervals.

Rapid changes and developments in information and communication have provided innovative communication networks capable of high-speed Internet, and communication devices with various functions have been developed and provided to adapt to this information communication era.

In addition, a multimedia public terminal that provides various functions (telephone, internet, advertisement function, etc.) on the web base is also a terminal corresponding to the information communication era, and it is possible to use the public telephone function as in the prior art as well as accessing the Internet as in computer communication. And it is possible to send an e-mail, and by providing a variety of content, to provide more useful and faster information to customers.

Since the multimedia air terminals that provide such various functions are usually distributed and distributed in an unspecified number of regions, regular inspections are essential, and a quick response to a trouble occurrence is a key factor.

However, according to the conventional multimedia public terminal, the following problem (s) occur.

That is, when a malfunction occurs in a multimedia air terminal installed in an unspecified area, a repair agent needs to visit the air terminal in which the breakdown occurs.

In addition, when a failure occurs in the multimedia public terminal, it is difficult to respond quickly because the remote administrator does not know the failure state and the cause of the failure.

In addition, since the remote administrator cannot know whether the multimedia air terminal has failed, the repair agent must visit the multimedia air terminal installed in the unspecified area regularly, resulting in waste in manpower and economics.

In addition, in the case of a multimedia public terminal installed in an unspecified area, the telephone function and the web function are provided at the same time. When the telephone function works normally but the web function is not performed normally, it cannot be quickly and accurately understood and thus the web function malfunctions. Loss occurs.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a problem (s), and an object of the present invention is to provide a watch for controlling a telephone function in a public communication terminal installed in an unspecified area and a central control for controlling a public communication terminal. By installing the dock program, the telephone control unit and the central control unit monitor each other at predetermined time intervals, thereby providing an error recovery system of the multimedia public terminal which enables the terminal itself to automatically recover hardware and software failures of the multimedia public terminal. have.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a multimedia air terminal system applied to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the overall internal configuration of the multimedia public terminal shown in FIG.

3 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical relationship between a main program and a setting program of the central control unit shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a diagram illustrating an error restoration process of the main program and the setup program shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a hierarchical relationship between the watchdog program of the telephone control unit and the watchdog program of the central control unit.

6 and 7 are diagrams illustrating an error recovery process of the watchdog program installed in the central control unit and the telephone control unit, respectively.

<Description of the code used in the main part of the drawing>

100: multimedia handset 101: handset set

102: coin selector module 103: card reader module

104: hook switch 105: telephone control unit

106: display unit and input unit 107: camera module

108: printer module 109: network matching modem

110: central control unit 111: main program memory

112: setting program memory 113, 114: watchdog program

115: power supply 200: communication line

300: communication network 400: telephone network

500: mobile service provider server

A feature of the present invention for achieving such an object (s) is that the telephone control unit is distributed in an unspecified area and controls a telephone service, a central control unit for controlling an Internet access service, and a telephone control unit by converting an input power source. An error recovery system for a multimedia public terminal including a power supply for supplying a maintenance power to the central control unit and supplying operating power to the central control unit, the system comprising: a communication port for communicating with a telephone control unit; An operating system and an application program for providing an Internet access service; A main program for overall control of the advertisement information to be displayed on the multimedia air terminal and the operation of the multimedia air terminal; A watchdog program for the central control unit for monitoring the telephone control unit; The telephone control unit includes a communication port for communicating with the central control unit; An application program storing various programs to be executed by the telephone controller; A watchdog program for the telephone control unit for monitoring the central control unit; The watchdog program for controlling the telephone transmits a request signal to the central control unit at every preset first request signal transmission period, and checks whether the central control unit is abnormal according to the state of the response signal received from the watchdog program for the central control unit in response to the request signal. Determine; When the abnormal state of the central control unit is detected, the telephone control unit controls the power supply unit to cut off the operation power supplied to the central control unit, and supplies it again after a predetermined time to reboot the central control unit.

Here, the central control unit further includes a setting program for adjusting the setting state of the billing information and the telephone function of the multimedia public terminal; The setting program transmits the request signal at every preset second request signal transmission period, and determines whether the main program is abnormal in response to the response signal received from the main program in response to the request signal; If an abnormality is detected in the main program, the setting program is forcibly terminated, and after a predetermined time has elapsed, the main program is preferably executed again.

If the watchdog program for the telephone control unit transmits a request signal at each preset request signal transmission period, and the response signal is not received from the watchdog program for the central control unit more than a predetermined number of non-responses, the off-rating system and the main control unit of the central control unit are transmitted. Considering that an error has occurred in at least one of the program and the setting program, the watchdog program for the telephone control unit controls the power supply to forcibly cut off the operating power supplied to the central control unit, and then supplies the operating power again after a predetermined time. It is preferable to reboot the control unit.

In addition, the watchdog program for the central control unit increases the count value of the response signal for any one of the change of the advertisement information displayed on the multimedia public terminal, the Internet connection by the user, and the user's use of the telephone function; If the watchdog program for the telephone control unit transmits a request signal every preset request signal transmission period, and if the same count value is received from the watchdog program for the central control unit over the same number of preset counts, an error occurs in the application program of the central control unit. It is preferable that the watchdog program for the telephone control unit controls the power supply unit to forcibly cut off the operating power supplied to the central control unit and reboot the central control unit after supplying the operating power after a predetermined time.

Further, it is preferable that the first request signal transmission period is a value at least longer than the second request signal transmission period.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiment (s) of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, in adding reference numerals to the elements of each drawing, it should be noted that the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In addition, in the following description there are shown a number of specific details, such as components of the specific circuit, which are provided only to help a more general understanding of the present invention that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. It is self-evident to those of ordinary knowledge in Esau. In describing the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a system block diagram showing the overall configuration of a multimedia air terminal system applied to the present invention, Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the overall internal configuration of the multimedia air terminal shown in Figure 1, 3 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical relationship between the main program and the setting program of the central control unit shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an error restoration process of the main program and the setting program shown in FIG. 3. 5 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical relationship between a watchdog program of a telephone control unit and a watchdog program of a central control unit. FIGS. 6 and 7 restore errors of watchdog programs installed in the central control unit and the phone control unit, respectively. A diagram illustrating the process is shown.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3 and 5 will be described the configuration of the web-based public communication terminal applied to the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 1, the multimedia public terminal 100 applied to the present invention is connected to a communication network 300 such as the Internet through a wired communication line 200. The communication network 300 may be connected to the telephone network 400 or the mobile communication service provider server 500 through a gateway or to the financial server 600 or the content providing service provider server 700.

Here, the public terminal management server 800 includes a database related to billing data, history management information of the multimedia public terminal, and the like, and reports and manages the failure history, billing data, etc. of the multimedia public terminal 100 at any time.

When paying for a credit card using the multimedia public terminal 100, the financial server 600 determines various information of the credit card to determine whether to approve the use of the corresponding card, and informs the user when making a financial transaction. It is in charge of authenticating the user to provide financial services such as transfer of funds between banks or inquiry of balance.

The content provider server 700 produces and distributes various contents to be provided to the multimedia terminal 100, and uploads the contents produced at the request of the multimedia terminal 100 to the multimedia terminal 100. .

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 2, the multimedia public terminal 100 includes a handset set 101 for conducting a call in a telephone mode, and a coin selector for determining a payment method according to the use of the multimedia public terminal 100. The module 102 and the card reader module 103 and the hook switch 104 are sensed when they are operated to control the handset set 101, the coin selector module 102, and the card reader module 103 to perform a telephone mode. A phone control unit 105, a display unit and input unit 106 capable of outputting video advertisements, and supporting a user interface, a camera module 107 for video processing and image capturing, and a printer module for receipt and ticket issuance 108, a communication network matching modem 109 connected to the communication network 300 via the communication line 200 for transmitting and receiving various information, and a central control unit 11 for controlling the multimedia public terminal 100 as a whole. 0), the main program memory 111 storing the O / S and application programs to be performed by the central controller 110, and the unit fee for the administrator to adjust or bill the functions of the multimedia public terminal 100. It is configured to include a setting program memory 112, which stores various setting programs, such as the control unit.

In addition, the multimedia air terminal 100 is provided with a watchdog program 113 for the central controller and a watchdog program 114 for the telephone controller in the central controller 110 and the telephone controller 105, respectively, and input power (commercial power supply). ) Is dropped to the voltage level required by the central control unit 110 and the telephone control unit 105, and the operating power and the power control unit are respectively supplied to the central control unit 110 and the telephone control unit 105 in response to a power control signal of the central control unit 110 and the telephone control unit 105. It includes a power supply unit 115 for supplying a maintenance power.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 3, the main program of the central control unit 110 includes an application program (such as an advertisement program), an RES program (response program), an O / S (Operating System), and a communication port (for example, an RS232C port). And a setting program includes a setting data and a REQ program (request program). Here, the RES program and the REQ program are included in the watchdog program.

5, the telephone control section 105 includes an application program (such as a telephone control program), a watchdog program, and a communication port (for example, an RS232C port).

An operation of the present invention having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 6, and 7 as follows.

<Error recovery process between main program and setting program of central control unit>

As shown in FIG. 4, the administrator uses a setup program to transmit a request cycle of a request signal transmitted from the setup program to the main program and a response signal transmitted from the main program to the setup program in response to the request signal. Set the waiting time of) in advance.

Thereafter, when the request signal transmission cycle arrives, the request signal is transmitted from the REQ program of the setting program to the main program. If the response signal is received within the preset response waiting time corresponding to the request signal, the setting program waits until the preset request signal transmission period arrives, and then transmits the request signal again in the request signal transmission period. At this time, if an error occurs in the main program and a response signal is not received within the response waiting time, the setting program considers that an error has occurred in the main program and ends the main program using the watchdog program, and after a predetermined time has elapsed. Rerun the main program. Accordingly, the main program error of the central control unit 110 installed in the multimedia air terminal 100 is automatically restored.

<Error recovery process when an error occurs in the O / S of the central control unit or when the main program and setting program are not responding.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the main program is initially executed (when power is supplied to the multimedia public terminal 100 to start normal operation), the main program of the central control unit 110 calls the telephone control unit 105. Enable the watchdog program for the controller. At this time, the main program of the central control unit 110 downloads a cycle for transmitting a request signal to the main program of the central control unit 110 in the watchdog program for the telephone control unit, the transmission cycle of the request signal is described in FIG. Set a longer period than the request signal transmission period transmitted from the setting program to the main program.

In addition, when the main program of the multimedia terminal 100 displays the advertisement information on the display unit and the input unit 106, the advertising content is changed or when the user attempts to access the Internet using the multimedia terminal 100, or the user When the charging signal is generated using the public telephone function, the watchdog program for the main program is set so that the count value increases.

After that, when the preset request signal transmission period arrives, the watchdog program for the phone controller transmits a request signal to the main program, and the main program communicates with the setting program and the count value. The response signal (Response) including the change state of the transmission within the preset response waiting time to the watchdog program for the phone control unit.

During this process, if there is no response due to an error in the O / S of the main program or an error in the main program and the setting program, the watchdog program for the phone controller does not have a response in response to the request signal. If the counted value is no response from the main program more than the preset number of non-responses, the telephone controller 105 controls the power supply 115 to forcibly turn off the operating power supplied to the central controller 110. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the power supply unit 115 is controlled to supply the operating power again to reboot the central control unit 110 of the multimedia public terminal 100. Therefore, the error of the central control unit 110 can be restored by itself.

<Error recovery process when only the main watchdog program of the central control unit operates normally and an error occurs in the remaining programs (application program, setting program, etc.)

As shown in FIG. 7, when the main program is initially executed (when power is supplied to the multimedia public terminal 100 to start normal operation), the main program of the central control unit 110 calls the telephone control unit 105. Enable the watchdog program for the controller. At this time, the main program of the central control unit 110 downloads a cycle for transmitting a request signal to the main program of the central control unit 110 in the watchdog program for the telephone control unit, the transmission cycle of the request signal is described in FIG. Set a longer period than the request signal transmission period transmitted from the setting program to the main program.

In addition, when the main program of the multimedia terminal 100 displays the advertisement information on the display unit and the input unit 106, the advertising content is changed or when the user attempts to access the Internet using the multimedia terminal 100, or the user When the charging signal is generated using the public telephone function, the watchdog program for the main program is set so that the count value increases.

After that, when the preset request signal transmission period arrives, the watchdog program for the phone controller transmits a request signal to the main program, and the main program communicates with the setting program and the count value. A response signal including a changed state of the signal is transmitted to the watchdog program for the telephone controller within a preset response waiting time.

While repeating this process, the count value is displayed even when an error occurs in the programs other than the main watchdog program and the advertisement information is changed, when the user attempts to access the Internet, or when the user uses the telephone service. If the change is not made, the watchdog program for the central control unit transmits a response signal including the same count value in response to the request signal requested by the watchdog program for the telephone control unit. Therefore, the watch control program for the phone control unit counts the number of times the same count value is received in response to the request signal, and when the counted value transmits the response signal from the main program more than the preset number of counts, the phone control unit 105 By controlling the power supply unit 115 to forcibly turn off the operating power supplied to the central control unit 110, and after a predetermined time, the power supply unit 115 is controlled to supply the operating power again to the multimedia air terminal 100 Reboot the central control unit 110). Therefore, the error of the central controller 110 can be restored by itself.

As described above, although the specific embodiment (s) have been described in the detailed description of the present invention, various modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiment (s), but should be defined by the claims below and equivalents thereof.

As a result, according to the error recovery system of the multimedia public terminal according to the present invention, the following advantage (s) occurs.

That is, when a failure occurs in a multimedia air terminal installed in an unspecified area, the multimedia air terminal recovers an error by itself, so that the fault is quickly repaired and the reliability of the multimedia air terminal is improved.

In addition, there is no need for a remote administrator to directly visit a multimedia public terminal installed in an unspecified area in order to know whether the multimedia public terminal has a failure, which is advantageous in terms of manpower and economics.

In addition, even when an error occurs in only one of the telephone function and the web function in the multimedia public terminal installed in an unspecified area, the error may be automatically restored.

Claims (5)

It is distributed in a plurality of unspecified areas, the telephone control unit for controlling the telephone service, the central control unit for controlling the Internet access service, converting the input power to supply the maintenance power to the telephone control unit and to supply the operating power to the central control unit In a fault recovery system of a multimedia public terminal including a power supply unit: The central control unit may include a communication port for communicating with the telephone control unit; An operating system and an application program for providing the Internet access service; A main program for controlling the advertisement information to be displayed on the multimedia air terminal and the operation of the multimedia air terminal; And A watchdog program for a central control unit for monitoring the telephone control unit; The telephone control unit may include a communication port for communicating with the central control unit; An application program storing various programs to be executed by the telephone controller; And A watchdog program for a telephone control unit for monitoring the central control unit; The watch control program for the telephone control transmits a request signal to the central control unit at a predetermined first request signal transmission period, and in response to the request signal, the watchdog program according to the state of the response signal received from the watchdog program for the central control unit. Determine whether the controller is abnormal; When the abnormal state of the central control unit is detected, the telephone control unit controls the power supply unit to cut off the operating power supplied to the central control unit, and supplies it again after a predetermined time so that the central control unit is rebooted. Error recovery system of multimedia air terminal. The method of claim 1, wherein the central control unit, A setting program for adjusting the billing information of the multimedia public terminal and the setting state of the telephone function; The setting program transmits a request signal every preset second request signal transmission period, and determines whether the main program is abnormal in response to a response signal received from the main program in response to the request signal; And detecting an abnormality in the main program, forcibly terminating the main program in the setting program, and re-running the main program after a predetermined time has elapsed. The method of claim 2, The off-rating system of the central control unit if the request signal is transmitted at a preset request signal transmission period by the watchdog program for the telephone control unit and a response signal is not received from the watchdog program for the And at least one of the main program and the setting program is regarded as having an error, and the watchdog program for the phone controller controls the power supply to forcibly cut off the operating power supplied to the central controller, and then a predetermined time elapses. And resupply operating power to reboot the central control unit. The method of claim 2, The watchdog program for the central control unit increases the count value of the response signal for any one of a change of advertisement information displayed on the multimedia public terminal, an Internet connection by a user, and a user's use of a telephone function; When the watchdog program for the telephone control unit transmits a request signal every preset request signal transmission period, and when the same count value is received from the watchdog program for the central control unit over the same number of preset counts, the application program of the central control unit. The watchdog program for the telephone control unit controls the power supply unit to forcibly cut off the operating power supplied to the central control unit, and supplies the operating power again after a predetermined time to reboot the central control unit. Multimedia aerial terminal and error recovery system, characterized in that. The method of claim 2, And the first request signal transmission period is a value at least longer than the second request signal transmission period.