JP2959740B2 - Message communication method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a message communication system for mobile communication, and more particularly to a message communication system for transmitting a short message composed of text or data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, digital mobile communication has been developed in Europe, the United States, Japan and the like. In digital mobile communication, not only telephone calls but also various non-telephone services are being studied. One of them is a short message service.

[0003] The short message service means that a user transmits a message composed of data or text having a length of about several tens to several hundreds of octets to a called terminal via a mobile network, and further transmits the message to the called terminal. This is a message communication service for notifying the originating terminal of a message arrival confirmation signal (hereinafter referred to as an ACK signal) for confirming the arrival of the message when the message is transmitted normally. Message communication in the fixed network is realized by modem communication in the analog telephone network, and is realized by packet switching service in the packet network and ISDN. The short message service enables message communication with another network by receiving a message content once in a mobile network and appropriately transmitting the message content to a destination network. Of course, communication between mobile networks is also possible.

[0004] A communication system of the short message service will be described. FIG. 1 shows a network configuration for realizing the above short message service.

In this communication system, a short message processing module (SHM) 1 for storing a message and an ACK, performing retransmission processing, and performing other transmission control is provided between a mobile network and a fixed network. Symbols 2 and 10 to which the short message processing module 1 is connected are:
It is a gateway switching center for mobile networks, including general telephone networks, packet networks,
It is connected to ISDN via gateway exchanges 4, 5, and 6 of each network. The mobile network is connected to mobile terminals 3 and 11 via wireless lines. A terminal 5 is connected to the general telephone network, a terminal 7 is connected to the packet network, and a terminal 9 is connected to the ISDN via a wired section.

Next, the process of transmitting a short message from the mobile terminal 3 shown in FIG. 1 to the mobile terminal 11 connected to another mobile network will be described.

After the calling user inputs the message contents and the terminal number of the mobile terminal 11 to the mobile terminal 3 and makes a call request, the mobile networks on the calling side and the called side respectively connect the mobile terminal 3 and the mobile terminal 11 to each other. The wireless line setting operation is performed between them. When the wireless line setting is completed, the exchange of the individual processing signal is performed, and the link from the mobile terminal 3 to the mobile terminal 11 is established. When the link establishment is completed, the mobile terminal 3 sends a message signal. The mobile network receives this message signal and transmits the message signal to the short message processing module 1 via the gateway exchange 2. Upon receiving the message signal, the short message processing module 1 stores the message content in the message signal. After the storage is completed, a message signal is transmitted to the mobile terminal 11 via the gateway exchange 10. The mobile terminal 11 that has received the message signal extracts the message content, displays the message content on an equipped display, and notifies the receiving user of the message. Further, the mobile terminal 11
An ACK signal for message reception confirmation is sent to the short message processing module 1 via the gateway exchange 10.
Upon receiving the ACK signal, the short message processing module 1 stores that the message notification has been completed.
Here, if the ACK signal does not arrive even after a certain period of time has elapsed after the transmission of the message signal, the short message processing module 1 inserts the stored message content into the message signal and retransmits it to the mobile terminal 11. The retransmission operation of the short message processing module 1 is A
The CK signal arrives or is performed up to the maximum number of retransmissions. The short message processing module 1 storing the completion of the message notification sends an ACK signal to the mobile terminal 3 via the gateway exchange 2. The mobile terminal 3 that has received the ACK signal displays a message indicating completion of the message notification on the display, and notifies the calling user. The above is the basic operation example of the short message transmission and its confirmation.

[0008]

In the mobile communication, when the receiving terminal is located outside the service area or in a place where the electric field strength is low, retransmission processing is repeated many times, resulting in a long transmission delay. Particularly in message transmission, since the signal length is long, the number of retransmissions until the message transmission is completed becomes very large, and the transmission delay increases. As a result, the outgoing time and the incoming time of the message may be significantly different.

[0009] Further, when the message arrives at the destination terminal, the destination user may not notice this fact, and may notice it after a certain period of time.

On the other hand, in the conventional short message service, the transmission content to the receiving side is only the content of the message input by the calling side user, and the time at which the calling side user transmitted the message can be notified to the called side user. Can not. For this reason, there is a drawback that it is unknown to the called user when the calling user sent the message. Further, similarly, there is a drawback that it is unknown to the calling user when the message was received by the called user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the drawback that it is unknown to a called user when the calling user sent a message, and to notify the called user of the time at which the calling user sent the message. Is to provide. In addition, in order to solve the disadvantage that it is unknown to the calling user when the receiving terminal received the message, a technology for notifying the calling user of the time at which the receiving terminal received the message has been provided. is there.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first aspect of the present invention is as follows.
In connection with transmission of transmission time information from an originating terminal, the terminal comprises a wireless communication network or a fixed communication network to which a terminal having a message display function is connected. The terminal has a function of transmitting / receiving a message signal, and input / output of a message. A message processing module that relays a message signal transmitted from a calling terminal to a called terminal in the wireless communication network or the fixed communication network, and a message transmitted from the calling terminal. The signal includes message transmission time information, and the terminal includes means for inserting the message transmission time into the message signal and transmitting the message.

A second aspect relates to transmission of transmission time information from a message processing module, wherein a message signal transmitted from the message processing module to the destination terminal includes message transmission time information, The module includes means for notifying the reception time of the message from the calling terminal to the called terminal as transmission time information of the message.

A third aspect relates to the transmission of reception time information from the called terminal, wherein the message acknowledgment signal includes message reception time information, and the terminal indicates the reception time of the message from the network. It is characterized by including means for transmitting the message reception confirmation signal as the reception time information.

A fourth aspect relates to transmission of reception time information from a message processing module, wherein a reception confirmation signal of a message transmitted from the message processing module to the originating terminal includes reception time information of the message, The message processing module includes means for notifying the receiving terminal of the reception time of the message acknowledgment signal from the destination terminal as reception time information of the message acknowledgment signal.

[0016]

The terminal has a clock function, inserts the message transmission time into the message signal, and sends the message signal to the network. The short message processing module also has a clock function and a function of inserting the message signal arrival time into the message signal.

The message signal from the originating terminal is transmitted by inserting the transmission time at the terminal, or the message signal arrival time at the short message processing module is inserted and transmitted to the destination terminal. The receiving terminal displays the transmission time of the transmitted message signal or the arrival time of the message to the short message processing module and notifies the receiving user.

Further, the message signal reception time is inserted into an ACK signal which is a message signal reception confirmation signal, and the message signal is returned to the calling terminal. Alternatively, the time at which the ACK signal arrives at the short message processing module is returned to the calling terminal. The reception time included in the ACK signal and returned is displayed on the calling terminal and notified to the calling user.

[0019]

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

(First Embodiment) In the first embodiment, in the message communication system shown in FIG. 1, the originating terminal notifies the destination user by including the message signal transmission time in the message signal. .

First, FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the mobile terminal 3 or 11. This mobile terminal includes an antenna 20, a transmission / reception distribution circuit 21, a demodulation circuit 22, a modulation circuit 23, a transmission signal configuration circuit 24, a time output circuit 25, a display unit 26, an input unit 27, a memory 28, and a control circuit 29. The antenna 20 is connected to a transmission / reception distribution circuit 21, and the transmission / reception distribution circuit 21 distributes a transmission signal and a reception signal. The demodulation circuit 22 demodulates the reception signal modulated by the carrier frequency from the transmission / reception distribution circuit 21. The transmission signal composed of the transmission signal composing circuit 24 constituting the transmission signal is modulated at the carrier frequency by the modulation circuit 23 and input to the transmission / reception distribution circuit 21. Time output circuit 2
Reference numeral 5 has a clock function, and outputs the time to the control circuit 29.
The display unit 26 displays the contents of the arrived message, the contents of the message input by the user, and the like. The contents of the message and the terminal number of the receiving side input by the user are input by the input unit 27. The memory 28 stores the contents of transmission / reception messages, ACKs, receiving-side terminal numbers, time information, and other information. The control circuit 29 controls the operation of the mobile terminal.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a signal structure for delivering a message content, that is, a message signal. This message signal is composed of a plurality of pieces of information, including a link number 30, a signal type 31, a transmission time 32, and a message content 3.
Consists of three. The link number 30 identifies the link of the signal. Thus, the destination of each node signal in the network that has received the signal is determined. The signal type 31 is a signal type in which a code for identifying that the present signal is a message signal is inserted. The calling time 32 indicates information on the time at which the calling user has issued the message, and the message content 33 indicates the content of a message to be transmitted from the calling user to the called user.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the short message processing module 1 in this embodiment. The short message processing module 1 includes a signal separation circuit 40, a control circuit 4
1, a signal configuration circuit 42 and a memory 43 are provided. The signal separation circuit 40 separates a signal arriving from the gateway exchange into a link number 30, a signal type 31, and other information elements. These information elements are input to the control circuit 41. The control circuit 41 controls the short message processing module 1
Control. The signal configuration circuit 42 configures the transmission signal output from the control circuit 41 and transmits it to the gateway exchange.
The memory 43 allocates a storage area for each link, and stores therein the message content 33, time information, ACK confirmation status, and the like.

Next, the message communication operation in the first embodiment will be described with an example of message transmission from the mobile terminal 3 to the mobile terminal 11.

When the calling user inputs a transmission request from the input unit 27 and the control circuit 29 detects the transmission request, the control circuit 29 receives time information from the time output circuit 44,
This information is stored in the memory 28 as the transmission time 32.
Thereafter, the control circuit 29 performs a wireless network setting operation with the mobile network. Further, the originating mobile network notifies the destination mobile network of the incoming call, and causes the mobile terminal 11 to perform a wireless channel setting operation between the destination mobile network and the mobile terminal 11. When the setting of both wireless channels is completed, a link is established using the call control signal. When the establishment of the link is completed, a signal prompting message transmission arrives at the mobile terminal 3 from the mobile network. This signal includes a link number 30 for identifying the link. Based on this signal, the control circuit 29 recognizes that the message transmission is enabled and the link number 30. Further, the control circuit 29 extracts the message content 33 to be transmitted from the memory 28, and stores the message content 33 and the stored link number 30,
A transmission time 32 and a signal type 31 in which a code for identifying a message signal is inserted are transmitted to the transmission signal forming circuit 24. The message signal configured by the transmission signal configuration circuit 24 is modulated by the modulation circuit 23 and transmitted from the antenna 20. The mobile network receives this message signal, determines the transmission path based on the link number 30 in the message signal, and sends the message signal to the short message processing module 1 via the gateway exchange 2.

When the message signal arrives at the short message processing module 1, the signal separating circuit 40 separates the message signal into a link number 30, a signal type 31, and other information elements (transmission time 32 and message content 33). , To the control circuit 41. The control circuit 41 recognizes that the signal arriving from the signal type 31 is a message signal. Then, the control circuit 41 sends the link number 30, the transmission time 32, and the message content in the message signal to the memory 43. The message 43 allocates a storage area to the link number 30,
The message content 33 and the transmission time 32 are stored therein.
When the storage operation is completed, the memory 43 notifies the control circuit 41 of the storage completion. The control circuit 41 receiving this notification
Sends the link number 30, the signal type 31, the transmission time 32, and the message content 33 to the signal configuration circuit 42.
The signal configuration circuit 42 configures the message signal shown in FIG. 3 using each information element, determines the transmission path according to the link number 30 after the completion of the configuration, and transmits the message signal to the mobile terminal 11 via the gateway exchange 10. Send out.

Mobile terminal 11 that has received the message signal
Extracts the message content 33 and the transmission time 32 from the message signal and displays them on the display unit 26. As described above, the receiving side user can know the message content 33 and the time at which the calling side user transmitted the message.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the time at which the calling user has issued a message can be notified to the called user.

In this embodiment, short message communication between mobile networks has been described as an example. However, in communication with another network via a mobile network, transmission time information is added to a signal for delivering message content. This allows the called user to be notified of the message sending time. Further, although the signal configuration for delivering the message is as shown in FIG. 3, the signal configuration only needs to include the message content and the transmission time, and other signal configurations may be used.

(Second Embodiment) This second embodiment is an example in which the short message processing module is provided with a clock function and notifies the called user of the time at which the message arrived at the short message processing module. Mobile terminal 3 of FIG.
A description will be given of an example of the transmission operation of the message content and the transmission time from the mobile terminal 11 to the mobile terminal 11.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 3 and the mobile terminal 11 in the second embodiment. Compared with the configuration shown in FIG. 2, only the point that the time output circuit 25 is not provided is different. The others are the same. FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a message signal in a section from the originating terminal to the short message processing module 1 in the second embodiment, and FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the message signal in the first embodiment. By comparison, it is the same as the one except for the transmission time 32. Further, in the second embodiment, the configuration of the message signal in the section from the short message processing module 1 to the mobile terminal 11 is the same as the signal configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the short message processing module 1 according to the second embodiment. In the configuration of the short message processing module 1 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. It merely adds a time output circuit 44 having an output function.

The message communication operation in the second embodiment will be described below.

When the user inputs a transmission operation from the input unit 27 and the control circuit 29 detects the transmission request, the control circuit 29 performs a radio network setting operation with the mobile network. Also, the calling mobile network notifies the called mobile network of the incoming call,
A wireless channel setting operation between the receiving-side mobile network and the mobile terminal 11 is performed. When the setting of both wireless channels is completed, a link is established using the call control signal. When link establishment is completed,
A signal prompting message transmission arrives at the mobile terminal 3 from the mobile network. This signal includes a link number 30 for identifying the link.
It is included. With this signal, the control signal 29 recognizes that the message transmission is enabled and the link number 30. Further, the control circuit 29 extracts the message content 33 to be transmitted from the memory 28, and
And a signal type 31 in which a code for identifying a message signal is inserted. Transmission signal configuration circuit 24
Is obtained from the plurality of pieces of information received from the control circuit 29 as shown in FIG.
The message signal shown in FIG. Transmission signal configuration circuit 2
4 is modulated by the modulation circuit 23 and transmitted from the antenna 20. The mobile network receives this message signal, determines the transmission path based on the link number 30 in the message signal, and sends the message signal to the short message processing module 1 via the gateway exchange 2.

When the message signal arrives at the short message processing module 1, the signal separating circuit 40 separates the message signal into a link number 30, a signal type 31, and other information elements (message contents 33). Respectively. The control circuit 41 recognizes that the signal arriving from the signal type 31 is a message signal. At this point, the control circuit 41 outputs the time output circuit 44
Receive the output of This time is called a transmission time 32. Here, the transmission time 32 should be the time when the user originally inputs the transmission request to the mobile terminal 3. However, the accuracy of the transmission time 32 to notify the receiving user is sufficient in the order of minutes.
The time that elapses from the time when the user inputs the call request to the mobile terminal 3 to the time when the message signal arrives at the control circuit 41 of the short message processing module 1 through the call connection processing is determined in consideration of the current mobile communication technology. Since it is considered to be about 20 seconds, there is no problem even if the time when the message signal arrives at the control circuit 41 of the short message processing module 1 is set as the transmission time 32.

The control circuit 41 determines the link number 30, the message content 33, and the transmission time 32 of the arriving message signal.
To the memory 43. The memory 43 stores the link number 3
A storage area is allocated to 0, and the message content 33 and the transmission time 32 are stored therein. When the storage operation is completed, the memory 43 notifies the control circuit 41 of the storage completion. The control circuit 41 that has received the notification transmits the link number 3
0, the signal type 31, the transmission time 32, and the message content 33 are sent to the signal configuration circuit 42. Signal configuration circuit 42
Configures the message signal of FIG. 3 using each information element, and sends the message signal to the mobile terminal 11 via the transmission path according to the link number 30 after the completion of the configuration.

Mobile terminal 11 that has received the message signal
Extracts the message content 33 and the transmission time 32 from the message signal and displays them on the display unit 26. As described above, the called user can know the message content 33 and the time at which the calling user sent the message.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the originating user can know the message sending time together with the message content 33.

In the second embodiment, the time at which the message is sent is determined by the time output circuit 44 of the short message processing module 1, so that the load on the mobile terminal can be reduced and the accuracy of the time output circuit can be easily maintained. .

(Third Embodiment) This third embodiment is an example in which the receiving time is inserted into the ACK signal from the receiving terminal and notified to the calling user. An example will be described in which a message from the mobile terminal 3 to the mobile terminal 11 in FIG. 1 is transmitted, the reception time is inserted into an ACK signal, and the ACK signal is transmitted to the mobile terminal 3 of the originating terminal.

The configuration of the mobile terminals 3 and 11 in the third embodiment is the same as the configuration of the first embodiment in FIG. 2, and the configuration of the short message processing module 1 is also the configuration in the first embodiment in FIG. Is the same as

FIG. 8 shows the structure of the ACK signal in the third embodiment. Reference numeral 50 denotes a link number for identifying a link of a signal, reference numeral 50 denotes a signal type in which a code for identifying that this signal is an ACK signal for message reception confirmation is inserted, and reference numeral 52 denotes a message to the destination terminal. Indicates the reception time, which is the time when the reception was completed.

Next, a message communication operation in the third embodiment will be described.

The process until the message is transmitted from the mobile terminal 3 via the short message processing module 1 is the same as the conventional one.

When the reception of the message signal is completed, the control circuit 29 of the mobile terminal 11 receives the time information from the time output circuit 25 and stores this information in the memory 28 as the reception time 52. Thereafter, the control circuit 29 sends the link number 50, the signal type 51 in which the code indicating ACK is inserted, and the stored reception time 52 to the transmission signal configuration circuit 24. The transmission signal configuration circuit 24
The ACK signal shown in FIG. 8 is configured based on these pieces of information. The ACK signal configured by the transmission signal configuration circuit 24 is
The signal is modulated by the modulation circuit 23 and transmitted from the antenna 20. The mobile network receives the ACK signal, determines the transmission path according to the link number 50 in the ACK signal, and sends the ACK signal to the short message processing module 1 via the gateway exchange 10.

When the ACK signal arrives at the short message processing module 1, the signal separation circuit 40 separates the ACK signal into a link number 50, a signal type 51, and other information elements (reception time 52). 41. The control circuit 41 recognizes that the signal arriving from the signal type 51 is an ACK signal. Then, the control circuit 41 sends the link number 50 and the reception time 52 in the ACK signal to the memory 43. Memory 43
Deletes the already stored message content from the storage area assigned to the link number 50, and stores the reception time 52. When the storage operation is completed, the memory 4
3 notifies the control circuit 41 of the completion of storage. The control circuit 41 that has received the notification sends the link number 50, the signal type 51, and the reception time 52 to the signal configuration circuit 42. The signal configuration circuit 42 configures the ACK signal of FIG. 8 using each information element, determines the transmission path according to the link number 50 after completion of the configuration, and transmits the message signal to the mobile terminal 3 via the gateway exchange 2. Send out.

The mobile terminal 3 that has received the ACK signal
The reception time 52 is extracted from the CK signal, and a display indicating that the message has reached the mobile terminal 11 and the reception time 52 are displayed on the display unit 26. As described above, the calling user can know that the message has been received by the called terminal and the reception time.

As described above, in the third embodiment, the time at which the receiving user receives the message can be notified to the calling user.

In the third embodiment, an example of short message communication between mobile networks has been described. However, in communication with another network via a mobile network, reception time information is added to an ACK signal. The message receiving time of the receiving terminal can be notified to the calling user. Although the configuration of the ACK signal is as shown in FIG. 8, any other signal configuration may be used as long as the reception time is included.

(Fourth Embodiment) The fourth embodiment is an example in which the short message processing module is provided with a clock function, and the short message processing module notifies the calling user of the time at which the ACK signal was received. Mobile terminal 3 of FIG.
, A message is transmitted to the mobile terminal 11, the reception time is transmitted as an ACK signal, and the ACK signal is transmitted to the mobile terminal 3 as the originating terminal.

The configuration of the mobile terminals 3 and 11 in the fourth embodiment is similar to that of the second embodiment in FIG. The configuration of the short message processing module 1 is the same as that of the second embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 shows a mobile terminal 11 according to the fourth embodiment.
From ACK to short message processing module 1
3 shows a signal configuration of a signal. This is the same as the ACK signal configuration of the third embodiment shown in FIG. The configuration of the ACK signal from the short message processing module 1 to the mobile terminal 3 in the fourth embodiment is the same as that in FIG.

Hereinafter, a message communication operation in the fourth embodiment will be described.

The process until a message is transmitted from the mobile terminal 3 to the mobile terminal 11 via the short message processing module 1 is the same as the conventional one.

When the reception of the message signal is completed, the control circuit 29 of the mobile terminal 11 sends the link number 50 and the signal type 51 in which the code indicating ACK is inserted to the transmission signal forming circuit 24. I do. The transmission signal configuration circuit 24 determines the ACK shown in FIG.
Configure the signal. A configured by the transmission signal configuration circuit 24
The CK signal is modulated by the modulation circuit 23 and transmitted from the antenna 20. The mobile network receives this ACK signal and sends an ACK signal.
The transmission path is determined according to the link number 50 in the signal, and an ACK signal is sent to the short message processing module 1 via the gateway exchange 10.

When the ACK signal arrives at the short message processing module 1, the signal separation circuit 40 separates the ACK signal into a link number 50, a signal type 51, and other information elements (none in this embodiment). Respectively. The control circuit 41 recognizes that the signal arriving from the signal type 51 is an ACK signal. At this point, the control circuit 41 receives the time information from the time output circuit 44, and sets this time as the reception time 52. Here, the reception time 52 should be the time at which the mobile terminal 11 has completely received the message. However, the accuracy of the reception time 52 to inform the calling user is of the order of minutes, and the time from when the mobile terminal 11 completes the reception of the message until the ACK signal arrives at the short message processing module 1 is the current time. It takes a few seconds considering the mobile communication technology. Therefore, the short message processing module 1
There is no problem if the time when the CK signal arrives is used as the message reception time.

The control circuit 41 sends the link number 50 and the reception time 52 of the arrived ACK signal to the memory 43. The memory 43 deletes the already stored message content from the storage area allocated to the link number 50, and stores the reception time 52. When the storage operation is completed, the memory 43 notifies the control circuit 41 of the completion of the storage. The control circuit 41 that has received the notification transmits the link number 50, the signal type 51, and the reception time to the signal configuration circuit 42.
Send to The signal configuration circuit 42 configures the ACK signal of FIG. 8 using each information element, and after completing the configuration, sets the link number 5
It determines the transmission route according to 0 and sends a message signal to the mobile terminal 3 via the gateway exchange 2.

The mobile terminal 3 that has received the ACK signal
The reception time 52 is extracted from the CK signal, and a display indicating that the message has reached the mobile terminal 11 and the reception time 52 are displayed on the display unit 26. As described above, the calling user can know that the message has been received by the called terminal and the reception time.

As described above, in the fourth embodiment, the time at which the receiving user received the message can be notified to the calling user.

In the fourth embodiment, since the time output circuit 44 is provided in the short message processing module 1, the load on the mobile terminal 3 can be reduced, and the accuracy of the time output circuit can be easily maintained.

(Application Example) In the first to fourth embodiments described above, notification of time information when a message is transmitted after the mobile terminal 3 originates a call and a communication path to the mobile terminal 11 is established. It is.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-49811, the inventor may send an incoming signal to the called terminal 11 to notify the called mobile terminal that a call has been made from the calling terminal 3. If a response signal indicating that the incoming signal has been received is not returned from the called terminal 11 and a communication link is not established, the short message processing module 1 stores the message to be transmitted and temporarily stores a link with the calling terminal. Was cut off, a retransmission operation was performed to the called terminal, and a proposal was made to transmit the stored message when a response signal was returned from the called terminal. In this technique, there is a considerable time delay between the time when the message is transmitted from the calling terminal and the time when the message is received at the receiving terminal. Therefore, it is preferable that the short message processing module performs the retransmission operation to notify the called user of the transmission time of the message. Also, when a message signal indicating completion of message transmission is transmitted from the short message processing module to the calling user after the message is transmitted to the calling terminal to the calling user, the message signal is also transmitted to the called terminal. It is also preferable to notify the originating user of the performed time information.

Therefore, the present invention is applied to a case where the short message processing module attempts retransmission to the called terminal, and the called terminal returns a response signal to the incoming signal and transmits the message signal. In the case, the message sending time from the calling terminal of the stored message,
Alternatively, the reception time of the message to the short message processing module is transmitted by being included in the message signal.

When notifying the calling terminal of the time information at which the called terminal receives the message signal, a message signal indicating the completion of the message transmission is transmitted instead of the message acknowledgment signal (ACK signal). Transmission to
The message signal indicating the completion of the message transmission is notified to the originating terminal together with the message reception time information.

[0065]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a message communication system via a mobile network, a time at which a message is transmitted from a calling user to a called user can be notified. The time when the receiving terminal receives the message can be notified to the calling user. For this reason, in message transmission, it is possible to avoid inconsistency between users caused by a delay between sending and receiving a message.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network configuration example of a short message communication system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile terminal according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a message signal from a calling terminal to a called terminal according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a short message processing module in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a mobile terminal according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a message signal from a calling terminal to a short message processing module in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a short message processing module according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of an ACK signal from a called terminal to a calling terminal in the third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an ACK signal from a destination terminal to a short message processing module in a fourth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Short message processing module 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Gateway exchange 3, 11 Mobile terminal 5, 7, 9 terminal 20 Antenna 21 Transmission / reception distribution circuit 22 Demodulation circuit 23 Modulation circuit 24 Transmission signal configuration circuit 25 Time output circuit 26 Display unit 27 input unit 28 memory 29 control circuit 30 link number 31 signal type 32 transmission time 33 message content 40 signal separation circuit 41 control circuit 42 signal configuration circuit 43 memory 44 time output circuit 50 link number 51 signal type 52 reception time

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshitoshi Murata 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Narumi Umeda 1-16-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation Examiner Kazushige Ito (56) References JP-A-1-238327 (JP, A) JP-A-1-162434 (JP, A) JP-A-2-237230 (JP, A) JP-A-4-82332 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04B 7/26 H04Q 7/00-7/38

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A terminal comprising a wireless communication network or a fixed communication network to which a terminal having a message display function is connected, said terminal having a function of transmitting and receiving a message signal and a function of inputting and outputting a message. In a message communication system provided with a message processing module for relaying a message signal transmitted from a destination terminal to the wireless communication network or the fixed communication network, the reception confirmation signal of the message includes reception time information of the message, A message communication system comprising: a terminal for transmitting a reception time of a message from a network as the reception time information of the message reception confirmation signal. 2. A terminal comprising a wireless communication network or a fixed communication network to which a terminal having a message display function is connected, said terminal having a function of transmitting / receiving a message signal and a function of inputting / outputting a message. In a message communication system provided with a message processing module for relaying a message signal transmitted from the terminal to a called terminal in the wireless communication network or the fixed communication network, the reception confirmation of a message transmitted from the message processing module to the calling terminal. The signal includes message reception time information, and the message processing module notifies the originating terminal of the reception time of the message acknowledgment signal from the destination terminal as reception time information of the message acknowledgment signal. A message communication method comprising means. 3. A means for transmitting an incoming signal indicating that there is an incoming call to the terminal in response to an outgoing call from the calling terminal and transmitting the message to the receiving terminal in response to a response signal from the terminal. In a fixed communication network, the message processing module includes: a unit for storing a message to be transmitted when a response signal is not returned from the receiving terminal within a predetermined time; Means for transmitting the message signal stored upon return from the terminal to the destination terminal, means for notifying the source terminal of message transmission completion, and a signal for notifying message transmission completion in place of the message acknowledgment signal Means for notifying the user with the reception time information.
3. The message communication method according to 1 or 2 .