JPH1117738A - Communication system that automatically selects protocol - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically determine a communication protocol format matched with a terminal at the connection destination when performing voice/data communication from a computer telephony(CT) terminal in a multimedia network system. SOLUTION: A multimedia exchange device 200 to which a CT terminal 100 is connected and houses a telephone line 300, LAN line 400, internet line 500 and ATM line 600/700 is provided with an attribute information server 200 for retrieving the attribute information of line or terminal corresponding to the address of the connected terminal and a line monitoring part 230 for monitoring the state of the connected line. The CT terminal 100 is provided with a connection destination information retrieving means 100 for inquiring attribute information concerning the terminal at the connection destination to the attribute information server before a connection request when the CT terminal desires to originate a call and a protocol selecting means 130 for selecting the communication protocol format matched with the connected terminal out of the attribute information provided for the terminal at the destination of connection.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to circuit switching and L
The present invention relates to a communication protocol determination method in a multimedia network system that can handle both AN packet communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for telephone communication, a telephone switching network of a circuit switching (for example, ISDN / Bch) system at 64 Kbps is used, and for data communication, a packet format (for example, IEEE 802 format in Ethernet) is used.
LANs and the Internet are mainly used, and are operated separately. However, recently, a form such as an Internet telephone for passing voice through a LAN or the Internet, which has been a data communication network, has begun to appear. In this case, the voice as a telephone naturally uses a packet format, for example, an IP packet, according to the communication format of the LAN or the Internet.

[0003] Here, Internet telephone and LAN
2. Description of the Related Art A gateway device that converts a packet format of an Internet telephone and a circuit switching format (for example, ISDN / Bch) of a telephone network to communicate with a telephone and a telephone of an existing telephone network has been announced.

On the other hand, in recent years, a CT (Computer Telephony) terminal that combines a PC and a telephone function has been born, and one CT terminal can handle both a circuit switching format and a packet format. An interface capable of handling both circuit-switched traffic and packet-data-like traffic is provided by a single line such as ATM or IVD-LAN. However, also in this case, whether to use the circuit switching format or the packet format is another application, and the user of the CT terminal selects and operates which one to use.

The method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-37929 discloses a method for automatically selecting a communication line or a communication method according to a destination number for a communication terminal accommodating a plurality of lines having different communication methods. Proposed.

[0006]

According to the above-mentioned prior art, when voice communication is performed from a CT terminal, the connection partner is an existing telephone connected to a telephone network, an Internet telephone or an LA.
It is necessary for the calling user to consciously select the N telephone, but generally there is a problem that it is difficult to recognize without fail which terminal is connected to which network. Was.

[0007] In addition, by using a gateway device for connecting an Internet telephone to an existing telephone network, a CT terminal user can use only one method. However, this gateway device temporarily terminates real-time voice data. In addition to the format conversion, delay occurs, and high processing capacity is required to process multiple lines.
There has been a problem that the number of accommodated lines is limited or expensive.

Further, the system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-37929 allows automatic selection of a line and a protocol accommodated in its own communication terminal (terminal), and a connection route with a communication partner. When a plurality of lines are taken, it is also possible to switch the accommodated line. However, there is a problem that only the selection according to the state of the self-contained line can be performed, and the line route selection condition on the network side cannot be considered. For example, when there are a plurality of routes to a connection partner at the end of a switching device accommodating a communication device, the switching device switches to another route having a different protocol depending on the traffic status or failure status of one route. However, there is no means for notifying the transmitting side communication device of the state, and thus there is a disadvantage that it cannot be realized.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a protocol automatic selection communication method for automatically determining a communication protocol format suitable for a connection destination terminal when voice / data communication is performed from a CT (computer telephony) terminal. It is in.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the protocol automatic selection communication system of the present invention can handle both circuit-switched data and packet data.
A computer telephony terminal capable of voice communication and data communication automatically selects a protocol of a multimedia switching device capable of accommodating a circuit switching line, a packet communication line, and a multimedia line represented by an ATM capable of handling both traffics. In the communication system, a multimedia exchange apparatus receives a database of attribute information of a line and a terminal corresponding to a terminal address of a connection destination terminal, and an attribute information server which receives a request for attribute search of a connection destination terminal and searches and responds from a database. A computer telephony terminal, a connection destination information search means for inquiring the attribute information server about information on a terminal attribute and a connection line attribute of a connection partner, and connection data attribute data obtained by the connection destination information search means. Select a format and start communication to the connected terminal. A protocol selection unit which, when performing voice communication and data communication from a computer telephony terminal, characterized in that it automatically determines the communication protocol format to suit the connected terminal.

Further, it is preferable that the multimedia switching apparatus accommodates a telephone line, a LAN line, an Internet line, and an ATM line.

Further, it is preferable that the multimedia switching apparatus includes a line monitoring unit that monitors a traffic condition and a failure state of the line.

Further, when there are a plurality of connection routes to the connection destination terminal, the attribute information server searches the state of the corresponding line from the line monitoring unit, selects a usable line of the corresponding line, and responds. Preferably, attribute information is answered.

Preferably, the attribute information server includes a connection destination attribute storage unit for storing a database.

Further, it is preferable that the computer telephony terminal includes an ATM interface unit for performing ATM communication with the multimedia switching device.

Still further, it is preferable that the computer telephony terminal further comprises an application execution unit for requesting a communication connection to the multimedia exchange.

The present invention can handle both circuit-switched data and packet data, and can perform voice communication and data communication.
In a network system in which a terminal is accommodated in a multimedia switching device capable of accommodating a multimedia line typified by an ATM capable of handling traffic of a circuit switching line, a packet communication line, or both, a terminal address is stored in the multimedia switching device. It has a database of attribute information of lines and terminals corresponding to the above, has an attribute information server that receives an attribute search request of the connection destination terminal, searches and responds from the corresponding database, and in the CT terminal, A connection destination information search means for inquiring information of a terminal attribute and a connection line attribute of a connection partner, and a format of communication data is selected based on connection destination attribute information obtained by the connection destination information search means, and communication to the connection partner terminal is started. (Call originating) protocol selecting means.

A line monitoring unit for monitoring a traffic state and a failure state of a line accommodated in the multimedia switching apparatus, and a database having line and terminal attribute information corresponding to the terminal address and having a connection. Searches the database in response to the attribute search request of the destination terminal and, if there are multiple connection routes to the target terminal, searches the status of the relevant line from the line monitoring unit, selects the available line of the relevant line, and responds An attribute information server that answers attribute information to be sent.

[0019]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a protocol automatic selection communication system according to the present invention. This system can handle voice and data, and is capable of handling both circuit-switched traffic and LAN packet communication traffic.
0 and the CT terminal B101 are connected to the ATM line 60, respectively.
0,700, respectively, are accommodated in the multimedia exchange apparatus A200. Multimedia switching device A200
Accommodates, for example, a telephone line 300, a LAN line 400, an Internet line 500, and ATM lines 600 and 700. Similarly, the CT terminal C102 is accommodated in the multimedia switching device B201, and the multimedia switching device B201 has, for example, a telephone line 300,
It houses an Internet line 500. The multimedia exchange apparatus A200 includes a switch control unit 210 for exchanging the accommodated line, the terminal and line attribute information corresponding to the terminal address (for example, the telephone 310 is connected to the telephone line 300, and the LAN telephone 410 is connected to the LAN. Line 4
00, the Internet telephone 510 connects to the Internet line 500, and the CT terminal A100
CT terminal B101 is connected to ATM line 700, and CT terminal C102 is connected to telephone line 30.
ATM accommodated in a multimedia switching device B201 having two routes, i.
It has an attribute information server 220 having a connection destination attribute storage unit 221 which is a database of terminals, and a line monitoring unit 230 for monitoring a traffic state and a failure state of each line accommodated in the multimedia switching apparatus A200. . The database of the connection destination attribute storage unit 221 is created by, for example, a maintenance person inputting data from a maintenance console, or a terminal user inputting data from the CT terminal A100 or the CT terminal B101. The CT terminal A100 includes a connection destination information search unit 110 and an attribute information server 22 that inquire of the attribute information server 220 of the multimedia switching apparatus A200 about the attribute of the line in which the communication partner terminal is accommodated.
Protocol selection means 130 for selecting a communication protocol suitable for the line attribute information obtained from 0, and making an actual call transmission.
It has an ATM interface unit 120 for performing ATM communication with the multimedia switching device A200, and an application execution unit 140 for requesting a communication connection to the multimedia switching device A200.

Next, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the communication operation of the protocol automatic selection communication system of the present invention. Referring to this communication flow, a case where a call is made from CT terminal A 100 to telephone set 310 will be described.

First, when the CT terminal A 100 makes a call request to the telephone set 310 from the communication application execution unit 140 (step S10), the connection destination information searching means 110 in the CT terminal A 100 sets the telephone set 31 as the connection destination terminal.
An attribute information search request of 0 (step S20) is transmitted to the attribute information server 220 of the multimedia exchange apparatus A200 (step S30). The terminal address representing the connection destination terminal used in the search request includes, for example, a telephone number, l
A P address, an ATM address, an e-mail address, and the like are conceivable, but need not be limited to these, and which one to use is arbitrarily determined by the application of the application execution unit 240. Attribute information server 22
0 receives the attribute information search request (step S4).
0), a search is performed from the connection destination attribute storage unit 221, and a search result indicating that the telephone set 310 is a circuit-switched terminal under the telephone line 300 is obtained (step S50). Next, the line attribute result (in this case, line switching) of the telephone set 310 as the connection partner is answered to the CT terminal A100 that has requested the search (step S80). When the connection destination information search means 110 of the CT terminal A 100 receives the result of the attribute information search request of the telephone 310 (step S90), the protocol selection means 130 indicates that the connection destination terminal attribute is the telephone line 30.
A communication request is transmitted to a circuit switching terminal under 0. Upon receiving this, the protocol selecting means 130 selects the format of the communication data to be, for example, a 64 Kbps lSDN / Bch format corresponding to the circuit switching (step S1).
00), 64K by multimedia exchange device A200
Communication in the bps circuit switching mode (step S11)
0). Note that this CT terminal A100 is an example under the control of an ATM line, so it is an ATM native 64Kbps CBR.
(Constant bit rate) mode will be selected.

Next, FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing a communication operation of the protocol automatic selection communication system of the present invention. With reference to this sequence diagram, a case where CT terminal A100 communicates with CT terminal C102 will be described. CT terminal A100
Operates in the same manner as the operation described above.
In this case, the attribute information server 220 searches the connection destination attribute storage unit 221 to find that there are a plurality of line routes (in this case, two routes of the telephone line 300 and the Internet line 500). (Step S60). Here, the attribute information server 220
Next, the current line status of the telephone line 300 and the Internet line 500 as the search result is inquired to the line monitoring unit 230 (step S70). The line monitoring unit 230 replies to the attribute information server 220 the current state of the target line, for example, whether the channel is busy due to high traffic or a line failure has occurred and cannot be used. When all of the plurality of circuit routes are normal, the attribute information server 220 selects one of the plurality of routes with a predetermined priority, and requests the CT terminal A10 to search for the result.
Answer 0. However, when a line route with a higher priority is unavailable due to a failure or the like, the next priority line route is sequentially selected and answered. For example, in this example, the telephone line 300 is normally used.
If the telephone line 300 cannot be used due to a failure or channel busy, the Internet line 500
Will be selected and answered. Hereinafter, the movement of the CT terminal A100 operates in the same manner as the above-described operation. Similarly, when a call is made to the LAN telephone 410 under the LAN line, the LAN emulation mode is set, and when a call is made to the Internet telephone 510 under the Internet line, lPover ATM is used.
Mode: The ATM native mode is selected and communicated with the CT terminal B101 which is an ATM terminal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a table of connection destination terminal attributes and line attributes of the present invention. Telephone 310, LAN telephone 410, Internet telephone 51 are connection destination terminals.
0, CT terminal A100, CT terminal B101, CT terminal C
102 and the like, and are connected by a telephone line, a LAN line, an Internet line, and an ATM line.

[0025]

According to the protocol automatic selection communication system of the present invention, the attribute information server of the terminal accommodation line corresponding to the terminal address is set in the network exchange, and the connection destination terminal is accommodated before the start of the actual communication from the originating terminal. By inquiring the attribute information server about the attribute of the line to be transmitted, selecting a communication protocol that matches the attribute, and transmitting, the caller can communicate without being aware of what protocol the terminal of the communication partner handles. It works.

Further, according to the present system, when communication is performed between lines having different protocols, a gateway function for protocol conversion that requires a high processing capability of the switching device is not required, and the system is inexpensive and has a low processing capability. This has the effect of realizing a gateway.

Further, by making the attribute information server select the line attribute in consideration of the current use state of the line in the network device, the protocol can be selected in accordance with the line state of the switching device which is not directly known from the calling terminal. Also has the effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a communication operation of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing a communication operation of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a table of connection destination terminal attributes and line attributes of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 CT terminal A 101 CT terminal B 102 CT terminal C 110 Connection destination information search means 120 ATM interface unit 130 Protocol selection means 140 Application execution unit 200 Multimedia exchange device A 201 Multimedia exchange device B 210 Switch control unit 220 Attribute information server 221 Connection destination attribute storage unit 230 Line monitoring unit 300 Telephone line 310 Telephone 400 LAN line 410 LAN telephone 500 Internet line 510 Internet telephone 600 ATM line 700 ATM line S10 Call request from CT terminal A to terminal X S20 Terminal X attribute information search Request S30 Search request transmission S40 Search request reception S50 Terminal X attribute information search S60 Line attribute S70 Line status inquiry S80 Send search result to CT terminal A S9 0 Terminal X attribute information received S100 Communication protocol selection S110 Transmitted to terminal X using selected protocol

Claims (7)

[Claims] A computer telephony terminal capable of handling both circuit-switched data and packet data and capable of voice communication and data communication is provided with an ATM capable of handling a circuit-switched line, a packet communication line, and both traffics. In a communication system for automatically selecting a protocol of a multimedia exchange device capable of accommodating a multimedia line represented by the following, the multimedia exchange device comprises a database of attribute information of a line and a terminal corresponding to a terminal address of a connection destination terminal. An attribute information server that receives an attribute search request of the connection destination terminal, searches from the database and responds, and the computer telephony terminal transmits, to the attribute information server, information on a terminal attribute and a connection line attribute of a connection partner with respect to the attribute information server. Connection destination information searching means for inquiring, and the connection destination information Protocol selecting means for selecting a format of communication data according to the connection destination attribute information obtained by the search means and starting communication to the connection destination terminal, wherein the voice communication and the data communication are performed from the computer telephony terminal. Automatically selecting a communication protocol format suitable for the connection destination terminal. 2. A protocol automatic selection communication system according to claim 1, wherein said multimedia exchange device accommodates a telephone line, a LAN line, an Internet line, and an ATM line. 3. The automatic protocol selection communication system according to claim 1, wherein the multimedia switching device includes a line monitoring unit that monitors a traffic state and a failure state of the line. 4. When there are a plurality of connection routes to the connection destination terminal, the attribute information server searches a state of a corresponding line from the line monitoring unit and selects an available line of the corresponding line. The protocol automatic selection communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein corresponding attribute information is answered. 5. The automatic protocol communication system according to claim 1, wherein said attribute information server includes a connection destination attribute storage unit for storing a database. 6. The computer telephony terminal according to claim 1, wherein said computer telephony terminal performs an ATM communication with said multimedia switching apparatus.
The protocol automatic selection communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a TM interface unit. 7. The protocol automatic selection according to claim 1, wherein said computer telephony terminal includes an application execution unit for requesting a communication connection to said multimedia exchange device. Communication method.