CN101098337A - Network communication system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

A network communication system comprises a user line interface circuit, a conversion unit, an audio decoder and a processing module. The subscriber line interface circuit is provided with a first interface for receiving an analog signal, converting the analog signal into a digital signal and outputting the digital signal, a conversion unit connected to the first interface for receiving and converting the digital signal to conform to an interface format, an audio decoder connected to the conversion unit for receiving the digital signal and compiling the digital signal to conform to an audio coding format, and a processing module connected to the audio decoder for receiving the digital signal, decoding a network address indicated by the digital signal according to the audio coding format and transmitting the digital signal to a terminal at a network address so that a user can use an indoor telephone to carry out voice communication through a network.

Description

Internet call system and method

technical field

The present invention relates to a network call system, and in particular to a network call system which realizes network call function by communicating with a user line interface circuit through an audio decoder.

Background technique

With the development of communication technology and the popularization of broadband networks, it has become a future trend to use the Internet to communicate between people. Among them, Internet telephony uses voice to communicate on the Internet. It also provides A convenient communication channel for human beings. However, in the Internet phone software currently available on the market, users need to log in their account first, and enter the user account of the person they want to talk to in the software before dialing to the user at the other end through the software. The process is complicated and cumbersome. For users who are not familiar with computer operations, it is very inconvenient.

In terms of the hardware of the VoIP, the Chinese Taiwan Announcement No. 438009 patent has proposed an Internet telephony adapter card. FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of an Internet phone according to the patent. Please refer to FIG. 1 , the main components of the Internet calling system include a personal computer 100 , a telephone 101 and an Internet 102 . Wherein, the personal computer 100 also includes a sound card 110 , VoIP software 120 , and a VoIP adapter card 130 , and the sound card 110 has a microphone jack 111 and a speaker jack 112 .

The aforementioned VoIP adapter card 130 is connected to the personal computer 100 through a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) interface. The VoIP adapter card 130 includes a network control circuit 131 , a subscriber line interface circuit 133 , a decoder 132 , a set of microphone jacks 134 and speaker jacks 135 , and so on.

When the above devices are used in combination, first pick up the telephone 101 to dial a number, and after the signal transmitted by the subscriber line interface circuit 133 is detected by the decoder 132, the decoder 132 starts to decode the received telephone number Data, and drive the Internet phone software 120 through the network control circuit 131 to connect the received phone number signal through the Internet 102.

After the other party's phone is connected, the network control circuit 131 can hand over the voice signal sent by the telephone 101 to the microphone connection line 103 and store it in the sound card 110. After the sound card receives the signal from the microphone line, it sends it to the network The telephone software 120 performs compression and executes the signal conversion program. Finally, after the compressed and converted data is handed over to the network control circuit 131 of the Internet telephone adapter card 130 for processing, the Internet 102 transmits the data to the Internet telephone with the same function on the other party's computer. adapter card to be dealt with. The other party's incoming call is to input the signal transmitted through the Internet 102 into the computer, and it is judged by the network control circuit. If it is an Internet phone signal, it is handed over to the Internet phone software 120 for processing, and the processed data is processed by the sound card and the result is sent by The speaker connection line 104 outputs, and the signal output by the speaker connection line 104 is intercepted by the network phone adapter card 130 through the speaker line for signal processing, and then output through the subscriber line interface circuit 133, so that it can be listened to in the microphone of the telephone set 101 to the sound.

Take Patent No. 438009 as an example. The VoIP adapter card 130 was originally designed for desktop computers. However, for notebook computers, it cannot be used in notebook computers because it is difficult for users to assemble by themselves and the size cannot be effectively reduced. computer. Furthermore, when the VoIP adapter card communicates with the processors on the mainboard (such as the central processing unit, the south bridge and the north bridge), data needs to be transmitted through the PCI interface, thus limiting the speed of data processing. In addition, the voice signal needs to be transmitted to the sound card through the connection line between the microphone and the speaker, and then transmitted back to the VoIP adapter card for processing and output, which makes the processing steps of the voice signal in the computer more complicated, and also increases the time for voice signal processing.

Contents of the invention

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a network communication system for receiving the analog signal of the telephone set, converting it into network packets, and then realizing the function of voice communication through the network, so as to reduce the cost of communication.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for calling via Internet phone, which uses the built-in subscriber line interface circuit to receive the analog signal of the phone, and retains the functions of the indoor phone, so that the user can keep the original habit of using the phone , Convenient use of Internet calls.

The present invention proposes an Internet call system, including a Subscriber Line Interface Circuit (SLIC), a conversion unit, an audio decoder, and an audio decoder. The subscriber line interface circuit has a first interface for receiving an analog signal, converting the analog signal into a digital signal and outputting it, and a conversion unit connected to the first interface for receiving and converting the digital signal to conform to the interface format, and , the audio decoder is connected to the conversion unit to receive the digital signal and compile the digital signal to conform to the audio coding format, as for the audio decoder, it is connected to the audio decoder to receive the digital signal and convert it according to the audio coding format The network address indicated by the digital signal is deciphered, and connected to a terminal at the network address for conversation.

According to the network communication system described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned subscriber line interface circuit includes an (RJ11) connection interface for receiving analog signals sent by the telephone set.

According to the Internet communication system described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first interface is a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).

According to the network communication system described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned audio decoder includes a second interface for receiving digital signals conforming to the interface format, and the interface format is General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) ) format of the interface.

According to the network communication system described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned audio coding format includes one of AC'97 format and high definition audio (High definition audio, code-named azalia) interface.

According to the network communication system described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned processing module includes a south bridge chip and a processor.

According to the Internet communication system described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above Internet communication system further includes a transmission line connected to the audio decoder and the subscriber line interface circuit for transmitting voice signals to the audio decoder.

According to the network communication system described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned processing module further includes a network voice module, which is used to convert the voice signal into a network packet and transmit it to the terminal for communication.

According to the network communication system described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned analog signal is a button signal

The present invention proposes a network call method, which includes the following steps: the first step is to use the subscriber line interface circuit to receive the analog signal, and convert the analog signal into a digital signal and output it; the second step is to convert the digital signal by the conversion unit In order to conform to the interface format; the third step is to receive the digital signal by the audio coding unit, and use the audio coding format to compile the digital signal; the fourth step is to receive the digital signal by the processing module and interpret the network address indicated by the digital signal according to the audio coding format , and connect to the terminal at the network address to make a call.

According to the network calling method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first step includes transmitting the analog signal to the subscriber line interface circuit by the telephone set through the (RJ11) connection interface.

According to the network call method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned first step includes converting the analog signal into a digital signal by the subscriber line interface circuit through the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).

According to the network call method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the above-mentioned second step, the interface format is a format of a General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) interface.

According to the network call method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, in the third step above, the audio coding format includes one of AC'97 format and high definition audio (High definition audio, code-named azalia) interface.

According to the network call method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, after the above first step, the telephone set transmits the voice signal to the subscriber line interface circuit through the (RJ11) connection interface.

According to the network calling method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, after the above first step, the subscriber line interface circuit transmits the voice signal to the audio coding unit.

According to the internet call method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, after the above first step, the audio coding unit uses the audio coding format to compile the voice signal and then transmits it to the processing module.

According to the network calling method described in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, after the above first step, the processing module uses the network voice module to convert the voice signal into network packets and transmits them to the terminal for calling.

Because the present invention adds the subscriber line interface circuit to the original motherboard line, it can convert the received analog signal of the telephone into a network packet and send it to the network, so as to achieve the function of the network telephone and reduce the calls of the indoor telephone. costs, and retain the functions of the original indoor telephone, allowing users to follow the habit of using the indoor telephone and conveniently make voice calls through the network.

Description of drawings

In order to make the above-mentioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the preferred embodiments are specifically cited below, together with the accompanying drawings, and are described in detail as follows, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram according to Taiwan Patent Publication No. 438009.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an Internet calling system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a network calling method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an Internet calling system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an Internet calling system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to Fig. 2, the Internet call system of the present embodiment includes a first telephone set 208, a telephone data port (RJ11) 210, a subscriber line interface circuit 220, a transmission line 232, a conversion unit 230, an audio decoder 240 , a processing module 250 , a network 260 and a second telephone 270 . In this embodiment, the first telephone set 208 is connected to the subscriber line interface circuit 220 through the telephone data port (RJ1) 210, and outputs an analog signal or a voice signal to the subscriber line interface circuit 220, and the analog signal is for the first telephone The control signal of the machine 208, such as the key signal of the user dialing, and the voice signal is the sound signal issued by the user.

In an embodiment, the subscriber line interface circuit 220 has a first interface 222 such as a serial peripheral interface (Serial Peripheral Interface, SPI) as a signal output interface for receiving the analog signal and converting the analog signal into A digital signal output conforming to the Serial Peripheral Interface. And use the transmission line 232 to connect to the audio decoder 240 to transmit the voice signal to the audio decoder 240 . In addition, in order to let the user retain the original habit of using the telephone, the subscriber line interface circuit 220 also includes the function of controlling the ringtone. The beeping sound of a call or the sound of a busy line.

The conversion unit 230 is connected to the first interface 222 for receiving and converting the digital signal to conform to an interface format, which is an interface that can be interpreted by the audio decoder 240 (such as a General Purpose Input and Output (GPIO) Output, GPIO) interface format). The audio decoder 240 has a second interface 242 connected to the conversion unit 230 for receiving digital signals conforming to the format of the interface. In addition, the audio decoder 240 is used to encode the digital signal to conform to an audio coding format, and the audio coding format is an AC'97 format or a high definition audio (High definition audio, code-named azalia) interface.

In addition, the processing module 250 is connected to the audio decoder 240 and includes a processor 252 , a south bridge chip 254 and a VoIP module 256 . The south bridge chip 254 is used to receive the digital signal, and the processor 252 can be a central processing unit, and the processor 252 is used to control the south bridge chip 254 to interpret the instruction represented by the digital signal according to the audio encoding format, for example, When the user wants to dial, the digital signal is interpreted into the number dialed by the user. In this embodiment, the VoIP module 256 is used to interpret a network address indicated by the digital signal to connect to a terminal located at the network address. In this embodiment, the terminal is another telephone (second telephone 270), or the terminal can also be a computer, and the VoIP module 256 converts the voice signal into a network packet, which is transmitted to the second telephone 270 through the network 260 for conversation. The VoIP module 256 can be, for example, a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP).

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a network calling method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 2 and 3 will be used to describe the steps of the conversation with the second phone 270 when the user uses the first phone 208 to make a call.

First, the user uses the first telephone set 208 to dial a number, and the subscriber line interface circuit 220 first judges whether the signal from the first telephone set 208 is a key signal for the user to dial a number or a voice signal for the user to speak. Therefore, when the signal from the first telephone set 208 is a key signal, the first telephone set 208 will transmit the analog signal to the subscriber line interface circuit 220 through the telephone data port (RJ11) 210 in the form of an analog signal, that is, Transmit this analog signal to the subscriber line interface circuit 220, and after the subscriber line interface circuit 220 receives the analog signal, then through the serial peripheral interface (Serial PeripheralInterface, SPI), the analog signal is converted into the digital signal and output (step S310).

Next, the conversion unit 230 receives the digital signal and converts the digital signal to conform to the interface format, which is a format of a General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) interface (step S320).

Then the digital signal is received by the audio encoding unit 240, and the digital signal is encoded using an audio encoding format. Wherein, the audio coding format is AC'97 format or high definition audio (High definition audio, code-named azalia) interface (step S330).

Then the processing module 250 receives the digital signal and interprets a network address indicated by the digital signal according to the audio encoding format, so as to connect to the second telephone set 270 located at the network address so that the second telephone set 270 sends an incoming call signal (step S340).

In step S310, when the signal from the first telephone set 208 is a voice signal, that is, the first telephone set 20 has dialed to the second telephone set 270, and the first telephone set 208 passes through the telephone data port (RJ11) 210 The voice signal is sent to the subscriber line interface circuit 220 . Then, the voice signal is transmitted to the audio coding unit 230 by the subscriber line interface circuit 220 and is transmitted to the processing module 250 by the audio coding unit 230 using the audio coding format to compile the voice signal, and then the processing module 250 utilizes the network voice module 256 to convert The voice signal is converted into a network packet and sent to the second phone 270 for communication.

In this embodiment, compared with the known technology, the audio decoder 240 can not only encode and decode audio signals such as audio analog signals, but also encode and decode control signals output by the subscriber line interface circuit 220, such as key signals. In addition, because the south bridge chip 254 can communicate with the audio decoder 240 , that is, the processor 252 can control the decoder audio decoder 240 through the south bridge chip 254 to control the subscriber line interface circuit 220 . It can be seen that, as long as the chip can be compatible with the audio decoder 240, the south bridge chip 254 of this embodiment can be replaced. In addition, please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a block diagram of an Internet call system according to another embodiment of the present invention. In another embodiment, the conversion unit 230 is also built in the audio decoder 240 .

It can be seen from the description of the above embodiments that, compared with the known technology, the present invention enables the computer itself to have the function of a network phone by adding the subscriber line interface circuit 220 to the motherboard. Moreover, the direct communication between the subscriber line interface circuit 220 and the audio decoder 240 simplifies the speech signal processing process, thereby shortening the speech signal processing time. And the processor 252 can communicate with the subscriber line interface circuit 220 only through the south bridge chip 254 and the audio decoder 240, so that the speed of data transmission in the motherboard is much faster.

To sum up, in the network call system proposed by the present invention, the subscriber line interface circuit is added to the motherboard circuit, and the communication between the subscriber line interface circuit and the audio decoder 240 is used to achieve the function of the network telephone . And because the use method of the present invention is the same as that of the indoor telephone, the user can follow the original habit of using the indoor telephone, conveniently use the telephone, and make voice calls through the network.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone skilled in the art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, this The scope of protection of the invention shall be defined by the scope of the appended patent application.

Claims (18)

1. A network communication system, characterized in that, comprising: A subscriber line interface circuit having a first interface for receiving an analog signal, converting the analog signal into a digital signal and outputting it; a conversion unit, connected to the first interface, for receiving and converting the digital signal to conform to an interface format; an audio decoder, connected to the conversion unit, for receiving the digital signal and compiling the digital signal to conform to an audio encoding format; and A processing module, connected to the audio decoder, used to receive the digital signal and interpret a network address indicated by the digital signal according to the audio encoding format, and connect to a terminal located at the network address for communication . 2. The network communication system according to claim 1, wherein the subscriber line interface circuit is used to receive the analog signal sent by a telephone through a telephone data port. 3. The Internet communication system according to claim 1, wherein the first interface is a serial peripheral interface. 4. The Internet communication system according to claim 1, wherein the audio decoder includes a second interface for receiving digital signals conforming to the interface format, and the interface format is a general The format of the input and output interface. 5. The network communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the audio coding format includes one of AC'97 format and high-definition audio interface. 6. The Internet communication system according to claim 1, wherein the processing module comprises a south bridge chip and a processor. 7. The network communication system according to claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a transmission line connected to the audio decoder and the subscriber line interface circuit for transmitting a voice signal to the audio decoder. 8. The network communication system according to claim 1, wherein the processing module further comprises a network voice module for converting the voice signal into a network packet and sending it to the terminal for communication. 9. The Internet calling system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the analog signal is a key signal. 10. A network calling method, characterized in that, comprising: (a) using a subscriber line interface circuit to receive an analog signal, convert the analog signal into a digital signal and output it; (b) converting the digital signal by a conversion unit to conform to an interface format; (c) receiving the digital signal by an audio encoding unit and encoding the digital signal using an audio encoding format; and (d) A processing module receives the digital signal and interprets a network address indicated by the digital signal according to the audio encoding format, and connects to a terminal located at the network address for conversation. 11. The network calling method according to claim 10, wherein, in step (a), further comprising: sending the analog signal to the subscriber line interface by a telephone set through a telephone data port connection interface circuit. 12. The network communication method according to claim 10, wherein, in step (a), further comprising: converting the analog signal into the digital signal. 13. The network communication method according to claim 10, wherein, in the step (b), the interface format is a format of a general input and output interface. 14. The network communication method according to claim 10, wherein, in step (c), the audio encoding format includes one of AC'97 format and high-definition audio interface. 15. The network calling method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising: transmitting a voice signal to the subscriber line interface circuit by the telephone set through the telephone data port connection interface. 16. The Internet calling method according to claim 15, further comprising: transmitting the voice signal to the audio encoding unit by the subscriber line interface circuit. 17. The internet call method according to claim 16, further comprising: the audio encoding unit encodes the voice signal in an audio encoding format and sends it to the processing module. 18. The internet call method according to claim 17, further comprising: converting the voice signal into an internet packet by the processing module using an internet voice module and sending it to the terminal for calling.

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