KR20040027166A - Method for providing a service of searching telephone number which user wants - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a number retrieval service method in an NGN including a calling terminal, a receiving terminal, a plurality of soft switches, and a global DB. When a user presses a called number by operating the calling terminal, the called terminal transmits the call. If the content of the called number includes a wild card, the search operation according to the form of the called number including the wild card is performed. The phone numbers searched from the global DB are used as list information. Send to the calling terminal for display, and the user selects one of the phone numbers displayed in the list, and transmits the selected phone number to the called terminal designated by the called number by using the selected phone number as a called number. Make a call.

Description

Method for providing a service of searching telephone number which user wants}

The present invention relates to the Next Generation Network (hereinafter, referred to as 'NGN'), and in particular, a number search in NGN that enables a wild card to find a desired destination without knowing the entire telephone number. It relates to a service method.

In general, a telephone number is composed of digits including a station number and a preferred telephone number. In the existing PSTN environment or mobile communication environment using the telephone number, the destination is translated by the station number to the telephone number.

Therefore, in the existing PSTN environment or mobile communication environment, since the number is translated depending on the entire digit, the user cannot make a call to a desired destination when the user does not know one digit. In addition, the number guide system in the existing PSTN environment also uses the name or name of the person as a search condition, so it was not possible to search using a part of the phone number.

In particular, in the case of workplaces in the direct outward dialing (DOD) section, the lower digits are often assigned to each department or individual by using the same station number and upper digits, but even in this case, if the user does not remember the correct telephone number, the representative number There was a hassle to carry out the process of finding the correct phone number using a guide service.

NGN is used to solve the above problems of the present invention.

Next-generation network (NGN), unlike the existing service network that had separate network for each service such as wired voice, wireless voice, and data, supports traffic such as voice, video, fax, and data through the same link. As a network, a separate network such as a PSTN network, a cable network, a wireless network, and an IP network is integrated. Structures and network elements for next generation networks are defined for the purpose of integration and classification of functional layers.

Next-generation network elements include a softswitch 11 for call control as shown in FIG. 1, a protocol processing and media conversion for connection with the softswitch 11 by accommodating various subscriber stations. Various gateways 12, 13, 14, 18, application servers 15 that provide various services to these subscribers, packet delivery networks 16 for transferring information between these elements, and resources required for various subscriber services; It provides a media server 17. The access gateway 12 connects the NGN subscriber station with the packet delivery network, and the trunking gateway 13 is connected with the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to connect the general public telephone subscriber station with the packet delivery network. The signaling gateway 14 is connected to the SS7 signal network and transmits and receives signals with the public line switching network 19 through the SS7 standard protocol.

Currently, the international standardization organization is a control protocol between the soft switch 11, the various gateways 12, 13, 14, 18, and the media server 17, and the media gateway control protocol (MGCP) and H.248 / Megaco Etc. are proposed. The soft switch 11 controls the media server and various gateways by using such a control protocol during call processing such as number translation for call connection, thereby providing information corresponding to the subscriber.

However, the above-mentioned NGN can use a telephone number, an internet address, an e-mail address, etc., but if the user does not know the telephone number or address of the destination, no action is taken to connect to the destination. There is no situation.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable a search for a desired destination using a wildcard in NGN.

1 is a configuration diagram of a general NGN.

2 is a block diagram of an NGN according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart showing a number retrieval process in the NGN according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an example diagram of a search result obtained through FIG. 3.

5 is another exemplary diagram of a search result obtained through FIG. 3.

6 is a flowchart showing a number retrieval process in the NGN according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an example diagram of a search result obtained through FIG. 6.

The present invention for achieving the above technical problem is characterized by the use of wild cards.

The wild card is preferably one of '#' or '*' formed in the dial pad of the communication terminal. The wild card is preferably included with the called telephone number and used.

When the wild card is included in the called number, the present invention determines that the search request is made through the wild card, and finds the phone number of the subscriber or the business corresponding to the received information, such as the wild card, and delivers it to the caller. Then, the calling user checks the search lists provided by the present invention, and selects a desired one from among them, and obtains a desired result.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a number retrieval method in an NGN including a calling terminal, a receiving terminal, a plurality of soft switches and a global DB.

A first step of checking the contents of the called number transmitted from the calling terminal when the user presses the called number by operating the calling terminal; If a wild card is included in the content of the called number, performing a search operation according to the form of the called number including the wild card; And a third step of displaying the telephone numbers retrieved from the global DB as list information and transmitting the list to the calling terminal.

Preferably, when the user selects one of the phone numbers displayed in the list, a fourth step of transmitting the selected phone number as a called number to a called terminal designated by the called number; and the called terminal and the Preferably, the method further includes a fifth step of establishing a call between originating terminals to make a call.

Hereinafter, a number guide method using a wild card in an NGN according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The number guide method using a wild card in the NGN according to an embodiment of the present invention uses the NGN configuration shown in FIG.

Here, the present invention will highlight the configuration corresponding to the gist of the present invention in order to explain the gist of the present invention in detail. Omit.

2 is a block diagram of a next generation network (NGN) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Figure 2, the number guide system using a wild card according to an embodiment of the present invention, the originating terminal (U1) of the calling party subscriber, the first and second soft switches (10, 11) responsible for call control , The number retrieval unit 20 for retrieving the corresponding number at the request of the soft switch 10 and 11 and providing the retrieval data to the calling terminal U1, storing the telephone number of the subscriber (individual or business) in the NGN. It comprises a global DB 30 and the called terminal U2 of the called subscriber.

Here, the phone numbers stored in the global DB 20 are classified by region, industry type, station number, etc., so that a desired search can be made quickly.

Hereinafter, a number guide method using a wild card in an NGN according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

3 is a flowchart showing a number guide process using a wild card in the NGN according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the user knows only a part of the phone number of the destination.

When the user wants to make a call with the destination without knowing some of the destination's phone number, the user presses a wild card together with the corresponding number formed on the dial pad of the calling terminal U1. In this case, as shown in a of FIG. 4 and a of FIG. 5, the user presses a wild card (ie, #) on a corresponding part of the phone number that he does not know.

Thus, the calling terminal U1 collects the called party number input by the user as shown in a of FIG. 4 or a in FIG. 5 (S310).

Then, when the calling terminal U1 collects the called number, it transmits it to the first soft switch 10 (S311).

The first soft switch 10 performs a process of checking the received phone number when the phone number is received, and determines whether the destination is external or whether the called number includes a special character, that is, a wild card (S312). .

In the determination (S312), the first soft switch 10 is the incoming number is an external incoming or contains a wild card, and the incoming number is transmitted to the number search unit 20 to decrypt the incoming number (S313). .

Here, the outside in the external call means outside the range not covered by the first soft switch 10. Therefore, the external incoming number is a number that the first soft switch 10 is not in charge of, and is a number that the first soft switch 10 does not know.

When the number search unit 20 receives the called number from the first soft switch 10, the number searching unit 20 determines whether the called number includes a wild card to check whether the received called number is an external call or a wild card. (S314).

In the determination (S314), if the called number does not include a wild card, the number search unit 20 determines that the incoming call, and accordingly from the global DB 30 of the called terminal (U2) corresponding to the called number; The IP is found and transferred to the first soft switch 10. Accordingly, the first soft switch 10 checks the second soft switch 11 in charge of the called terminal U2 from the IP of the called terminal U2, transmits the call to the second soft switch 11, and makes a call. The call is made between the terminal U1 and the called terminal U2.

On the other hand, in the determination S314, if the called number includes a wild card, the number search unit 20 performs an operation on the wild card.

That is, the number search unit 20 operates in the search mode when the called number includes a wild card, and transmits its IP address to the first soft switch 10 to receive the IP address of the called terminal U1. (S315).

The number retrieval unit 20 transmits its IP address to the calling terminal U1 by establishing a communication path (session) with the calling terminal U1 and providing the phone number list information to the calling terminal U1. For sake.

When the first soft switch 10 is notified of the called location from the number search unit 20, the first soft switch 10 regards the IP of the number search unit 20 received from the number search unit 20 as the normal call processing to the calling terminal U1. Transfer (S316).

As described above, when the IP of the number search unit 20 is delivered to the calling terminal U1 as incoming information, a communication path is established between the calling terminal U1 and the number searching unit 20, and accordingly, the number searching unit 20 ) Searches the global DB 30 to find a phone number including the rest of the number except the wildcard, and transmits the list information to the calling terminal U1 as a list information (S317).

Content displayed on the calling terminal U1 by the step S317 is the same as b shown in FIG. 4 or b shown in FIG. 5. According to b shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the information displayed on the calling terminal U1 is a list of telephone numbers that may correspond to the portion indicated by the wild card #.

By the way, looking at b shown in FIG.4 and FIG.5, the number of the part described with the wild card (#) is not uniform. This is because a number not displayed on the calling terminal U1 is a telephone number that is not used (or allowed), that is, a telephone number that is not registered in the global DB 30.

Therefore, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, when the user does not know the one-digit telephone number, the user can reduce the hassle of pressing from 0 to 9.

When the telephone number list is displayed on the calling terminal U1 as described above, the user selects one of the displayed list information as the called number, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Then, the calling terminal U1 confirms the called number selected by the user (S318), and notifies the first soft switch 10 (S319).

Accordingly, the first soft switch 10 establishes a call path with the second soft switch 11 in charge of the received called number to allow call processing (S320).

Then, the second soft switch 11 checks the called terminal U2 corresponding to the received called number, and allocates a port to the called terminal U2 accordingly (S321), and the calling terminal U1 and the called terminal. The call is made between (U2) (S322).

Here, the phone number list information transmitted to the calling terminal (U1) is stored in the calling terminal (U1), and if the user releases the call path after the process (S318-S322) shown in Figures 4 and 5 again. As indicated by b, the user may repeatedly perform the above processes S318 to S322.

In the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the wild card has been described as being used in the preferred telephone number digit, but may be used in the digit of the station number.

However, when the number of wildcards is large, not only the amount of data to be processed is increased, but also the amount displayed on the calling terminal increases, resulting in inconvenience for both the user and the operator. Therefore, it is preferable for those skilled in the art to limit the number of wildcards to solve this problem.

6 and 7, a number retrieval service method in an NGN according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

A second embodiment of the present invention relates to a process for enabling a user to search for a business of a desired industry.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a number retrieval process in an NGN according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which a user wants to search for a moving company.

If the user does not know the telephone number of the moving company and wants to call the desired company by searching for the company of the corresponding industry, the station number is wild card (ie, '*' as shown in FIG. 7 by manipulating the calling terminal U1). '), And make the number of the preferred phone number called or numbered to indicate the type of business.

In this case, the called number corresponding to the preferred telephone part is a virtual number, not an actual number, and is a representative number or letter of a business type that the user wants to search.

For example, when searching for a moving company, * -2424 or * -director may be used.

As described above, when the user manipulates the calling terminal U1 and presses "* -2424", the calling terminal U1 collects the incoming called number as shown in FIG. 7 (S610).

Then, the calling terminal U1 transmits the collected called number to the first soft switch 10 (S611).

When the first soft switch 10 receives the called number, the first soft switch 10 checks the called number to determine whether the called number is an external call or an internal call (S612).

In the check (S612), if the first soft switch 10 determines that the called number is not an internal call, the called number is transmitted to the number search unit 20 to decrypt the called number (S613).

When the number search unit 20 receives the called number from the first soft switch 10, the number searching unit 20 checks whether the received called number is a virtual number including a wild card (S614).

In the check (S614), the number search unit 20 determines that the incoming call is an external call, if the incoming number does not include a wild card, and accordingly controls to make a call between the calling terminal (U1) and the called terminal (U2) do.

However, in the check (S614), if the called number includes a wild card, the number search unit 20 operates in a search mode for converting the called number (that is, virtual number) attached to the wild card to the actual number. .

At this time, if the wild card is in the preferred telephone number place, it operates as in the first embodiment of the present invention, but if the wild card is in the station number, it operates as follows.

That is, when the wild card is located in the station number, the number search unit 20 reads the number or letter in the preferred telephone number digit to determine the moving company, and at the same time, the first soft switch 10 sets its IP address as the called location. (6315).

When the first soft switch 10 is notified of the called location from the number search unit 20, the first soft switch 10 regards the IP of the number search unit 20 received from the number search unit 20 as the normal call processing to the calling terminal U1. Transfer (S616).

As described above, when the IP of the number search unit 20 is delivered to the calling terminal U1 as incoming information, a communication path is established between the calling terminal U1 and the number searching unit 20, and accordingly, the number searching unit 20 ) Searches for the global DB 30 to read the phone numbers related to the moving company, and transmits them to the calling terminal U1 to be displayed as list information as shown in FIG. 7 (S617).

Here, the number search unit 20 determines the location of the calling terminal U1 as the telephone number (or IP) of the calling terminal U1 before transmitting the list information to the calling terminal U1.

When determining the location of the calling terminal (U1) in this way, the number search unit 20 is classified among the moving companies searched from the global DB (30) so that the companies close to the location of the calling terminal (U1) in the upper list It is preferable to provide the calling terminal U1. In addition, the number retrieving unit 20 may display the location of the moving company when displaying list information on the actual telephone number of the moving company on the calling terminal U1.

In other words, if the user is in Gangnam, it is preferable to display in the order of 567-2424 (Gangnam), 567-2482 (Gangnam), 551-2424 (Samsung), 551-2482 (Samsung), 568-2424 (Daechi). Do.

An example of that displayed on the calling terminal U1 by the step S67 is as shown in FIG. 7. The telephone number shown in b of FIG. 7 is an actual telephone number.

When the actual telephone number list is displayed on the calling terminal U1 as described above, the user selects one of the displayed list information (for example, 123-2424) as the called number as shown in c of FIG. 7.

Then, the calling terminal U1 confirms the called number selected by the user (S618), and notifies the first soft switch 10 (S619).

Accordingly, the first soft switch 10 determines the second soft switch 11 that is in charge of the received called number and sets a call path with the second soft switch 11 to allow call processing (S620). .

Then, the second soft switch 11 checks the called terminal U2 corresponding to the received called number, and allocates a port to the called terminal U2 accordingly (S621), and thus the calling terminal U1 and the called terminal. The call is made between (U2) (S622).

Here, the phone number list information transmitted to the calling terminal (U1) is stored in the calling terminal (U1), and if the user releases the call path after the process (S618-S622), as shown in b shown in FIG. It is displayed, allowing the user to repeatedly perform the above processes (S618-S622).

The technical spirit of the present invention has been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but this is by way of example only and not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, it is obvious that any person skilled in the art can make various modifications and imitations without departing from the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

For example, a person skilled in the art can enter a higher number known in the workplace of the DOD section, and use a wildcard instead of the lower number to replace the representative number of the workplace.

The present invention can be a simple number guide service that does not go through the process of connecting the guide or directory service, etc., it is possible to generate new revenue due to the service fee received from the number guide target company.

In addition, it is possible to induce additional valid traffic from the service user, and there is an effect that can share the preferred phone number in the service provider which is a limited resource.

Claims (11)

In the number retrieval service method in the next generation network including a calling terminal, a receiving terminal, a plurality of soft switches and a global DB, A first step of checking the contents of the called number transmitted from the calling terminal when the user presses the called number by operating the calling terminal; If a wild card is included in the content of the called number, performing a search operation according to the form of the called number including the wild card; And And a third step of transmitting the phone numbers retrieved from the global DB as list information to the calling terminal for display. The method according to claim 1, The wild card is, The number search service method of the next generation network, characterized in that '#' or '*' formed on the dial pad of the calling terminal and the receiving terminal. The method according to claim 2, The first step, And determining whether the called number includes the wild card, whether the called number is an internal call, or whether the called number is an external call. The method according to claim 3, The form of the called number including the wild card of the second step is At least one of the total number of the telephone number is the wild card, the rest is a number search service method in the next generation network, characterized in that the first form. The method according to claim 3, The form of the called number including the wild card of the second step is And a second form in which the wild card is located in a station number and a number or letter informing a company is placed in the place of a preferred phone number. The method according to claim 4, The second step, The number search service method of the next generation network, which can replace the wild card by searching the global DB, and finds a number currently in use. The method according to claim 5, The second step, The number search service method of the next generation network, characterized in that for searching the global DB to find a phone number corresponding to the number or letter informing the company. The method according to claim 7, The third step, After determining the location of the calling terminal, the number search service method in the next-generation network, characterized in that to display the telephone number of the company close to the location of the calling terminal in the upper portion of the list. The method according to claim 7 or 8, The third step, The number search service method of the next generation network, characterized in that to display the location information of the company in addition to the phone number displayed in the list. The method according to claim 1, A fourth step of the user selecting one of the telephone numbers displayed in the list and transmitting the selected telephone number as a called number to a called terminal designated by the called number; and establishing a call between the called terminal and the calling terminal. And a fifth step of making a call. A first step of checking the contents of the called number transmitted from the calling terminal when the user presses the called number by operating the calling terminal; If a wild card is included in the content of the called number, performing a search operation according to the form of the called number including the wild card; And A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing a third step of displaying the telephone numbers retrieved from a global DB storing telephone numbers of all subscribers as list information for transmission to the calling terminal for display.