JPH03101545A - Node equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is used for a notebook device of a multimedia transmission system using a single transmission medium, and in particular, it is used for quickly and efficiently controlling the configuration of a node device. The present invention relates to a node device that can perform

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a system to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 4, 1 is a system transmission line capable of transmitting a mixture of packet-based information and circuit-switched information on a single medium; 2A, 2B are node devices connected to the single transmission medium 1; 3A; ,3B,
is the node device 2A.

2B, packet-based information that relays information;
Terminal-side transmission lines 4A and 4B are capable of transmitting circuit-switched information or a mixture of both, communication terminals connected to terminal-side transmission lines corresponding to terminal-side transmission lines 3A and 3B, 5 is a management node device that is connected to the system transmission path 1 as necessary to manage the node devices 2A, 2B, which are system components.

FIG. 9 shows a conventional node device 2A shown in FIG.

FIG. 2B is a block configuration diagram showing an example of FIG. The node devices 2A, 2B have a receiving section 11 that takes in information from the system transmission path 1 to the node device 2A (herein explained as the node device 2A), and a receiving section 11 that sends information to the system transmission path 1 conversely. A transmitter 12 that assembles the information from the terminal side transmission path 3A, information generated by the node device 2A, and information that is repeated because it is unnecessary in the node device 2A, and a merger 13 that assembles the information from the terminal side transmission path 3A, the information that is repeated because it is unnecessary for the node device 2A, and all the information in the receiver 11. an information separation unit 14 that extracts information to be processed by the node device 2A and information to be relayed, and transfers other unnecessary information to the merging unit 13 for repeating; and an information separation unit 1
A control information extraction unit 15 extracts control information related to the control of the node device 2A from the packet-related information of No. 4, and analyzes the control information of the control information extraction unit 15 and notifies each unit of the node device 2A of predetermined operation instructions. By doing so, the device configuration information is changed, and the processing result is sent to all or a predetermined node device 2 of the node devices 2B1 configuring the system.
a configuration control unit 16 that generates information to be reported to B or the management node device 5 and sends it to the merging unit 13; and a configuration control unit 16 that generates information to be reported to B or the management node device 5 and sends it to the merging unit 13; A terminal-side transmitting unit 1 receives relay information and performs processing such as adapting the terminal-side transmission path 3A to a message that can be received by the communication terminal 4A or a communication speed.
8, and conversely, a communication unit or system transmission path 1 that can receive information from the terminal side transmission path 3A and process it as information from the terminal side transmission path 3A by the merging unit 13.
The relay control unit 17 includes a terminal-side receiving unit 19 that performs processing such as converting into a processing structure that can be transmitted to.

The operation in communication between the communication terminal 4A and the communication terminal 4B in FIG. 9 will be described below. In this communication, the information is relayed by the node devices 2A and 2B,
It will be repeated in the node device 2C. In this case, information from the communication terminal 4A reaches the terminal-side receiving section 19 of the relay control section 17 of the node device 2A via the terminal-side transmission path 3A on the terminal side of the node device 2A. The terminal-side receiving unit 19 that has received the information performs processing on the information, such as converting it into a communication unit that can be processed by the merging unit 13 or a processing structure that can be sent to the system transmission path 1, and transmits it to the merging unit 13. . The merging unit 13 merges the information and the information that is repeated in the node device 2A and sends the merged information to the system transmission path 1 via the transmitting unit 12.

In this case, if the information is packet-based information, the merging unit 13 uses a rule predefined in the system that allows the information to be inserted into the information frame flowing through the system transmission path 1, for example, if the device that captured the token As the transmission right is acquired, etc., the information is inserted into an area where packet-related information can be inserted. Furthermore, if the information is line-switched information, it is inserted into an area agreed upon with the partner node device 2B based on settings from the management node device 5 or instructions from the operation unit of the node device 2A.

The information of the communication terminal 4A sent from the node device 2A is
Receiving section 11 of node device 2B via system transmission path 1
reach. The information is sent to the information separation unit 14, and if it is packet type information, it is further sent to the control information extraction unit 15, but since the information is not control information for the node device 2B, the terminal of the relay control unit 17 It is sent to the side transmitting section 18. If the information is line conversion system information, it is sent from the information separation section 14 to the terminal side transmission section 18 of the relay control section 17 without going through the control information extraction section 15. Terminal side transmitter 18
Then, by adapting the sent information to the communication syntax and communication speed that the communication terminal 4B can receive and transmitting it to the terminal side transmission path 3B, the communication terminal 4B can receive the information. In addition, from the communication terminal 4B to the communication terminal 4A
The information transmission to is in the opposite direction of the operation described above, and the operation of the node device 2A and the node device 2B differs only in the difference between transmission and reception, so the explanation will be omitted.

In this state, the operation of the node device 2C does not involve any information regarding the relevant information. Therefore, regarding circuit switching information, the information from the receiving section 11 of the node device 2C is sent to the merging section 13 via the information separating section 14. Sent. Furthermore, although packet-related information is sent to the control information extraction unit 15 via the information separation unit 14, it is not information related to the control of the node device 2C or information to the communication terminal 4C via the node device 2C. Therefore, it is sent to the merging unit 13 in the same way as circuit switching information. Regarding the operation in the merging unit 13, the information is transmitted (repeat operation) to the frame flowing through the system transmission path 1 without changing its position, contents, etc.

Therefore, the operation of acquiring the transmission right to transmit packet-based information performed by the merging unit 13 in the node device 2A and the node device 2B is not necessary in the repeat operation.

Next, a case where communication between the communication terminal 4A and the communication terminal 4B is changed to the communication terminal 4A and the communication terminal 4C will be described.

If the communication between the communication terminals via the node devices 2A and 2B that constitute the system is only communication of packet information, the message including the destination address etc. is specified by the system. Since the unit or information structure is determined, the information separation unit 14 can identify the information added to the beginning of the message or the address addressed to the node device 2A, and extract the necessary control information in the node device 2A. This means that it is possible to control the device configuration based on extracted information without providing any special control means, and a mechanism such as the merging section 13 is also unnecessary.

However, the problem here is that the processing of control information related to the device control is handled in the same way as the relay information of the communication terminal 4A, so the processing taken into the node device 2A is processed in series. It is.

This means that if a message to be relayed to the communication terminal 4A remains in the node device 2A, it will appear as a processing delay.

Furthermore, if the information flowing through the system transmission path 1 is a mixture of packet-based information and circuit-switched information, the information separation unit 14 first divides the information from the receiving unit 11 into packet-based information and circuit-switched information. After separating the packet-related information into the above-mentioned information related to device control addressed to the node device 2A, and the information transmitted to the communication terminal 4A via the node device 2A, Information that is not included is sent to the merging unit 13. In addition, the information separation unit 14
Now, we separate the information that needs to be relayed to the communication terminal 4A via the node device 2A from the circuit switching system information,
Other circuit switching information is sent to the merging unit 13.

Therefore, regarding circuit switching system information, changing the communication with the communication terminal 4A from the communication terminal 4B to the communication terminal 4C means that the system transmission required for communication is With respect to the information frames flowing through path 1, this means notifying the information separation section 14 and the merging section 13 of control parameters that enable such operations regarding the setting and abandonment of areas of circuit-switched information that need to be relayed. The subsequent operation is based on communication terminal 4A.
Since the operation is the same as that described in connection with the communication with the communication terminal 4B, a description thereof will be omitted.

In this way, when the communication terminals 4A, 4B, and 4C communicate circuit-switched information, unlike the communication state of only packet-related information, the communication itself does not include control information or communication partner address, etc. , the node device 2A
, 2B and 2C, control information related to the communication of circuit switching system information, and information related to line setup or abandonment, etc. from the node device 2A accommodating the management node device 5 or the communication terminal 4A to the partner node devices 4B and 4C. The communication terminals 4A and 4C start communication only after the configuration control units 16 of the node devices 2B and 2C have finished changing and setting information such as control parameters related to device configuration management including the relay control unit 17. do. Therefore, a delay in the execution of processing related to information related to device control will have a significant impact on communication of circuit-switched information.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As explained above, in conventional node devices, information related to device control is packet-based information, so it is mixed with packet-based information for general relaying, and the amount of traffic for packet-based information is large. In this case, if the time required from transmission of control information to confirmation becomes enormous, it will not only have a large impact on the communication of circuit-switched information, but also make it difficult to actually use it from the perspective of system transmission line 1. However, there are some areas of information that are not covered, and this has the drawback of leading to a decrease in transmission efficiency. moreover,
Generally, the transmission speed of the terminal-side transmission paths 3A, 3B is lower than the transmission speed of the system transmission path 1, so when extracting control information from the packet information flowing through the system transmission path 1, the amount of relay buffer in the receiving section 11 is It is a prerequisite that there is no overflow, and therefore the circuit elements constituting the control information extracting section 15 are required to be faster, which has the drawback of causing a rise in the price of the device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a node device that can easily and efficiently control device control information without depending on the traffic volume of the entire system by eliminating the above-mentioned drawbacks.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides a node device constituting a multimedia transmission system capable of transmitting packet-based information including control information for controlling device configuration and circuit-switched information in a mixed manner on a single transmission medium. a separation means for separating information mixed in the information into packet type and circuit switching type, and extracting the control information from the packet type information output from this separation means, and extracting the control information from the packet type information output from the separation means, extraction and determination means for determining whether the information is transmitted from the node device; and notification means for notifying each part of the node device of the control information extracted by the extraction and determination means and of the processing results. and a sending means for merging packet-related information and circuit switching information transmitted from the node device including control processing results and information for repeating the node device and sending the merged information to the single transmission medium. Features.

Further, in the present invention, the separating means may include distinguishing and separating means for separating information mixed on the single transmission medium into at least a control packet system, other relay packet systems, and a circuit switching system. .

[Effect]

The separating means separates the received mixed information into packet type and circuit switching type, and the extraction and discrimination means extracts equipment control information from the packet type information output from the separating means, and determines whether the information is addressed to the node device. The notification means notifies each part of the control information and the processing results, and the sending means transmits the control processing results to other information. merged with the data and sent out on a single transmission medium.

That is, by efficiently separating the control information from other relay information and processing it appropriately, it is possible to construct a system that can control devices without depending on the traffic amount of the entire system.

Furthermore, by providing the separating means with a distinguishing and separating means for separating control packet systems, the control information of the apparatus can be processed more efficiently.

〔Example〕

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

First, the information frame used in the present invention will be explained.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an information frame in which packet-related information and circuit-switched information flowing through the system transmission path l in the present invention are mixed. The information frame 20 includes information frame start information 21, identification information 22 for identifying a packet-based information area and a circuit-switched area, and a packet-based actual information area 23 that can be used for communication of packet-based information.
and an actual information area 24 that can be used for communication of circuit-switched information.
a, 24b.

and a packet-related information limited area 25a that guarantees communication of a minimum amount of packet-based information even if the entire area that can be used for communication of packet-based information is allocated to communication of circuit-switched information.
25b and . Note that 26 is an execution area in which extraction or merging is actually executed by the node device for the circuit-switched communication terminal.

FIG. 3 shows the actual information area 23 of packet-related information separated by the information separation unit 14 and the packet-related information limited area 25.
a% 25b% stored in each node device 2A
, 2B, is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an asynchronous packet-based information frame transmitted to the control information extraction unit 15 of . The packet information frame 30 includes start information 31 of the packet information frame, a frame control area 32 containing an identifier of the information frame, a destination address area 33, a source address area 34, and an actual transmission information area 35. ,
It also includes an information confirmation area 36 containing error check information for packet-related information frames. Here, an asynchronous packet-based information frame has the structure shown in FIG. 3 if time is ignored.
If we focus on the reception status of the information in 3, since the packet information frame 30 is divided in the circuit-switched actual information area, a situation occurs locally in which the information frame cannot be received continuously or all at once. say.

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

This embodiment is based on the conventional node device 2 shown in FIG.
In A and 2B, the present invention is characterized in that information addressed to the node device 2A is extracted from the information in the destination address area 33 for the packet information frame 30 provided in the control information extraction unit 15, and A determining unit 40 serves as an extraction determining means for determining from the source address area 34 whether the information frame is transmitted from the relevant mate device 2A; It is determined whether the packet-related information frame 30 should be transmitted to the communication terminal 4A via In the case of the information frame 30, the filtering section 41 as a sending means that sends the information to the merge 113 and the information extracted by the determining section 40 are analyzed to generate instruction information necessary for the operation of each section of the node device 2A. An instruction unit 42 as a notification unit, a separation data unit 43 as a separation unit in the information separation unit 14 that stores control parameters from the instruction unit 42, and a separation data unit 43 in the merge unit 13 that stores control parameters from the instruction unit 42. It includes a merging data section 44 as a sending means, and an operation section 45 as an instruction means.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be explained.

It is assumed that predetermined control parameters are stored in advance in the separation data section 43 and the merge data section 44 in each node device 2A, 2B. The initial setting of this control parameter is for each storage node device 2A.
, 2B, and -, the input command is sent to the instruction section 42, and the instruction section 42 interprets the contents of the command from the operation section 45 as predetermined control parameter setting information. , is transmitted from the instruction section 42 to the information separation section 14 and the merging section 13. The information separating unit 14 and merging unit 13 that received the control parameters,
Separation data section 43 and merge data section 4, respectively.
Control parameters are stored in 4.

The control parameters that need to be set at least in the separation data section 43 include the position and size within the information frame 20 indicating the packet system actual information area 23, and the line switching system for relaying by the node device 2A to the communication terminal 4A. A circuit-switched real information area that actually needs to be extracted from the real information areas 24a and 24b, for example, area 24
This is information indicating a.

If this size is a fixed integer multiple of the minimum unit that can be allocated to circuit-switched information, for example, an integer multiple of bytes, the type of each multiple or minimum unit, for example, the unit extracted. Sometimes it may be specific bits or information indicating whether it is packet-based or circuit-switched. Furthermore, this information needs to be increased or decreased under the condition that the total real information area of the packet system real information area 23 and the circuit switching system real information areas 24a and 24b1 is kept constant. It circulates on the system transmission line 1 as the identification information 22 of the frame 20.

Therefore, when it is desired to provide the circuit-switched actual information area 24d, the bits or information set in the corresponding part of the identification information 22 indicating the packet-based actual information area 23 corresponding to that area are changed to the circuit-switched actual information area 24d. It is changed to a bit or information indicating the area 24d and circulates on the system transmission line 1.

Regarding the management of the identification information 22 of this information frame 20, the node device 2 constituting the multimedia transmission system
A, 2B.

It may be performed by any one of the above, or it may be performed by the node device 2D that accommodates the communication terminal 4D requesting the circuit-switched actual information area 24d, or by the management node device. You can also go with 5.

Note that the line switching system actual information area 24a that needs to be extracted on the node device 2A is different for each node device, so the separation data section 43 is used as information related to device control from the operation unit 45 or the management node device 5. The identification information 22 in the information frame 20 indicating the packet-related information area and circuit-switched area described above is compared each time the information frame 20 is circulated, and if there is a change, is static or quasi-static compared to dynamically setting the contents of the identification information 22.

In the above case, the circuit switching system actual information areas 24a, 24
This is a case where one-to-one communication is carried out between communication terminals individually and independently with respect to the circuit-switched actual information areas 24a, 2.
4b 1. - 3 or more communication terminals 4A, 4B, 4
When shared for inter-C communication, for example, when used in time division multiplexing, the area to be extracted by the node device W2A at least in the circuit switching system actual information area 24a, the execution area indicated by diagonal lines in FIG. 26 is required. Since this information is different for each node device 2A, 2B, it is not circulated by the identification information 22 in the information frame 20, and if it is necessary to set it in the initial state, it can be done from the operation unit 45. Alternatively, the information may be sent from the management node device 5 to the necessary node devices 2A, 2B, etc. as information related to device control.

In addition, in order to perform the relay operation under these conditions, the data received from the communication terminal 4A must be transferred to other parts of the information frame 20 flowing through the system transmission path 1 by the node device 2A, for example, a line that is not involved in the relay of the node device 2A. Exchange system actual information area 2
4b, 24C1 and the information separation section 14, excluding the execution area 26 to be extracted by the node device 2A, the control parameters are as follows: This is also a necessary parameter for the merge data section 44.

Assuming that the control parameters explained above are set,
The operation in this embodiment will be explained below. Here, communication between communication terminals is the same as that described for the conventional example shown in FIG. 9, and therefore will be omitted, and the explanation will be limited to communication regarding information related to device control.

Regarding activation of generation of information related to device control, as described above, the communication terminal 4A that requires the change issues a device control change request to the node device 2A that accommodates the communication terminal 4A. It may be activated, or a device control change request may be made to the management node device 5 instead of the node device 2A.

Here, when making a change request to the node device 2A, as shown in the second embodiment of the present invention in FIG. Control information as a separation means that separates packet-based information addressed to the node device 2A from packet-based information excluding information in which communication is intermittent within the terminal-side transmission path 3A and sends it to the configuration control unit 16. It is necessary to add a transmitter 48. The configuration control unit 16 that has received the information generates information related to device control as a multimedia transmission system, and sends it to the system transmission path 1 via the merging unit 13 and the transmission unit 12.

In the present embodiment, when making a request related to device control to the node devices 2A, 2B in which the communication terminals 4A, 4B are accommodated, the conditions are common.
In the embodiment, the following explanation will proceed assuming that a request for information related to device control from the system transmission line 1 side is activated. That is, when the control information is transmitted from the management node device 5, the control information transmitter 48 shown in FIG. It is sent to the system transmission path 1 via the merging section 13 and the transmitting section 12. When the sent information reaches the management node device 5,
The management node device 5 generates information related to device control as a multimedia transmission system, similar to the configuration control unit 16 in the node device 2A that received the device control change request from the above-mentioned direct communication terminal 4A. Send to system transmission line 1.

Among the information related to device control sent out in this way,
Information regarding changing the identification information 22 in the information frame 20 is a node device that can change the identification information 22 (hereinafter described as a node device 2x).
When reaching the determining unit 40 in the control information extracting unit 15 via the receiving unit 11 and information separating unit 14, information other than the information is sent to the filtering unit 41, and the information is immediately sent to the instruction unit 42. It will be done. Therefore, unlike the operation performed in the explanation of the conventional example shown in FIG. 9, independent and rapid processing can be performed without performing the processing in series. The instruction unit 42 that has received the information sends an instruction to change the control parameters of the separation data unit 43 of the node device 2X to the information separation unit 14, since the information is to change the identification information in the information frame 20. The transmitter 1 changes the identification information 22 in the frame 20 to predetermined information.
2 to the system transmission line 1. Each node device 2A, 2B changes the control parameters of the separation data section 43 based on the information of the identification information 22 in the circulating information frame 20.

In the above explanation, the operation was explained as the node device 2X, but the device that executes the above operation does not necessarily need to be provided as a special device on the system transmission path 1, and the node device configuring the multimedia transmission system 2A,
2B, and the management node device 5 may perform the process.

Regarding information related to other device control, the information corresponds to the node devices 2A, 2 corresponding to the communication terminals 4A, 4B,
Since it is necessary only for B, and is not necessarily necessary or the same for all node devices, it is sent for each device. In the following, since the result for each node device is that the transmission path of the control parameters is different, but the change operation is the same, the operation for information related to device control transmitted to the node device 2A will be explained as an example. .

Information related to the device control is stored in the circuit-switched actual information areas 24a, 24b, and 24b, and is simply deleted or added to the circuit-switched actual information area (here, referred to as 24d) due to a change in the identification information 22. information, the relevant node device 2 in the line switching system actual information area (here, 24a)
There are cases where either or both of the information related to extraction and insertion in A is performed. However, even if both of them are used, they can be treated as independent processes from the viewpoint of their respective operations. That is, simply deleting or adding the line-switched actual information area 24a means that the information area is extracted by the node device 2A from the line-switched actual information area 24a,
This means that the insertion execution area 26 is the entire area, so the control parameters sent from the instruction section 42 to the separation data section 43 in the information separation section 14 and the merging data section 44 in the merging section 13 are as follows: This is control parameter information that instructs to perform control operations for the entire area. On the other hand, if the extraction/insertion execution area 26 is to be changed, the content of the control parameter includes at least instruction content indicating a change in position and size for the relevant portion. In this case as well, the operations of the control information extraction unit 15 and subsequent steps in the node device 2x described in the change of the identification information 22 in the information frame 20 are performed in the same manner, so that the processing related to control information can be performed quickly and efficiently. is feasible.

As explained above, operations related to the processing of information related to device control can be executed independently of relay operations, so the effect is that the information is mixed with general packet information, and the amount of traffic is Even if the relay buffer provided in the relay control unit 17 or the like overflows, it is not only possible to reliably perform the processing from reception of the information to setting processing and notification of the results. There is no need for high-speed circuit elements constituting the control information extraction unit 15, and the node device 2A,
2B, - can be realized without causing a rise in equipment prices.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

This third embodiment is based on the node device 2A of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
, 2B, as a feature of the present invention, in particular, the information separation unit 14 identifies information related to device control based on the type of the frame control area 32 in the packet-related information frame 30 and sends the information to the determination unit 40. A frame type discriminator 49 is provided as a separation means for sending out a frame type discriminator 49, and the discriminator 40 further identifies whether information related to device control constituted by the frame type discriminator 49 is information addressed to the node device. A destination identifying section 5o is provided as an extraction determining means.

Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be explained.

In the explanation, parts similar to those of the first embodiment described above will be omitted, and only the unique operation of the third embodiment will be explained below.

At the same time that the information separation section 14 separates the packet-related information and circuit-switched information received by the reception section 11, the frame type discrimination section 49 provided in the information separation section 14 separates the packet-based information related to device control. According to the information in the frame control area 32 of the packet-related information frame 30, the general communication terminal 4A.

4B, Separate and extract from the packet-related information mixed with the packet-related information performed between. The information related to device control separated and extracted by the frame type discrimination unit 49 is sent to the destination identification unit 50.
It is determined from the destination address field 33 of the packet-related information frame 30 whether the information related to the device control is the control information addressed to the node device 2A. If the information is addressed to the node device 2A, the destination identification unit 50 is the identification unit 4 in the first embodiment of FIG.
It is transmitted to the instruction unit 42 in the same way as 0.

Regarding the operation after the instruction unit 42 receives the information,
The same operations as in the first embodiment are performed, and changes and settings related to device control are executed. Here, the separation and extraction performed by the frame type discrimination unit 49 may be performed by separating all received information data of the packet type information of the receiving unit 11 based on information related to device control, or by copying the information. You can.

In the case of this copying, all packet information including information related to device control is sent to the filtering unit 41, and in the process of extracting information sent from the node device 2A to the terminal side transmission path 3A, the node Even if the information related to device control addressed to the device 2A is packet type information that should be sent to the terminal side transmission path 3A, the merge unit 13 is used to repeat the node device 2A and send it to the system transmission path 1.
Since this information is not packet-related information to be sent to the filtering section 41, the information is deleted by the filtering section 41. Therefore, the separation and extraction by the frame type discrimination unit 49 does not necessarily mean physical separation and extraction.

In this way, in parallel with the separation of packet-based information and circuit-switched information by the information separation unit 14, in the case of packet-based information,
Frame control area 32 in packet-related information frame 30
Since the information related to device control can be separated and extracted from the information of You can expect results that can be implemented in a short amount of time.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The node devices 2A, 2B of the fourth embodiment are the node devices 2A, 2B of the third embodiment shown in FIG.

In particular, as a feature of the present invention, the information separation unit 14
Inside, the packet type information limited area 2 in the information frame 20
A packet-based limited information receiving section 51 serves as a distinguishing and separating means that receives the information of 5a and 25b as a series of packet-based information data flows, and the packet-based information limited areas 25a and 25b of the information frame 20.

A general communication system information receiving section 52 is provided as a distinguishing and separating means for receiving packet system information other than circuit switching system information and circuit switching system information, and the frame type discriminating section 49 is omitted.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described below assuming that the data received by the packet-based limited information receiving section 51 takes the format of the asynchronous packet-based information frame 30 shown in FIG.

When the information flowing through the system transmission path 1 is sent to the information separation section 14 via the reception section 11, the information separation section 14 analyzes the structure of the information frame 20 into the packet-related information limited area 2.
The information of 5a, 25b, - is transmitted to the packet-related limited information receiving section 51, and the remaining packet-based actual information area 23 and circuit-switched actual information area 24a, 24b.
, is transmitted to the general communication system information receiving section 52. Here, regarding the information received by the general communication system information receiving section 52, packet system information is sent to the filtering section 41, and circuit switching system information is sent to the communication terminal 4.
A normal node device 2A that performs the operation of transmitting the circuit switching system actual information area 24a necessary for A to the relay control unit 17, and if unnecessary, transmitting the repeated information to the merging unit 13,
2B.

Since the relay or repeat operation is the same as that of the first embodiment, the explanation will be omitted.

In this way, since the packet-related information received by the packet-related limited information receiving unit 51 is information related to device control, the packet-based information received by the packet-based limited information receiving unit 51 is transmitted to the determining unit 40 that determines whether the information is control information addressed to the node device 2A. and the node device 2
If the information is addressed to A, it is sent to the instruction section 42, and the same processing as in the first embodiment is executed. This control includes changing the identification information 22 in the information frame 20 in the node device 2x and changing control parameters for the separation data section 43 and merge data section 44 of the node devices 2A, 2B. .

As explained above, at least information related to device control and general communication information are provided independently in the information frame 20, and control related to device control can be executed independently based on information from the receiving unit 11 corresponding thereto. As a result, the effect is that it becomes possible to transmit device control information completely independent of the amount of communication traffic between the communication terminals 4A and 4B, and the relay control unit 17 can handle the situation even if the reception buffer overflows. This means that even if relay control becomes impossible, it is possible to control the device, and there are advantages such as being able to recover from system failure in a short time.

In addition, when the information to the packet-related limited information receiving unit 51 is completely only information related to device control, the packet-related information frame 30 applied to the information is the minimum necessary information specified by the system. The purpose can be achieved even if the frame contents include, for example, the frame control area 32 is missing.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

The present fifth embodiment is different from the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 7 in that, as a feature of the present invention, in particular, in the information separating section 14, instead of the packet-related limited information receiving section 51, a packet-based information limited area 25a, 25b, for example, (25a), (25b, 25c), (2
5d to 25x), purpose-specific packet receiving units 53a to 53X are provided as distinguishing and separating means that can be combined as 5d to 25x) and received as independent packet information.

The operation of the fifth embodiment is such that the packet-related limited information receiving unit 51 in the fourth embodiment is divided into groups of packet information-related limited areas 25a, 25b, and a structure is provided corresponding thereto. From the point of view of the individual purpose-based packet receiving units 53a to 53X, their operations are similar to those of the fourth embodiment, so a description of this operation will be omitted. In this case, the determination unit 40 includes the purpose-based packet reception units 53a to 53.
It may be provided corresponding to X, or it may be provided in common for all.

Due to such an operation and structure, in addition to the effects described in the fourth embodiment, certain specific controls such as changing the identification information 22 in the information frame 20 and the node device 2A, This means that it is possible to instruct changes to the control parameters of 2B and 2B independently or simultaneously, so there is an advantage that information related to device control can be transmitted more flexibly and quickly.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention efficiently separates information related to device control in a multimedia transmission system in which packet-related information and circuit-switched information flowing through the system transmission path 1 coexist, and controls the control by node devices. 2A, 2B
, - and the input/output of the information frame 20 of the entire system, which not only makes it possible to construct a system that can control devices without depending on the amount of traffic of the entire system. Therefore, there is an effect that an inexpensive system can be constructed without requiring high-speed control circuit elements.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an information frame used in the present invention. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a packet-based information frame used in the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a system to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a conventional example. 1... System transmission line, 2A, 2B,... Node device, 3A, 3B,... Terminal side transmission line, 4A, 4
B. , -... Communication terminal, 5... Management node device, 11
...Receiving section, 12... Transmission section, 13... Merging section, 14... Information separation section, 15... Control information extraction section,
16... Configuration control unit, 17... Relay control unit, 18.
...Terminal side transmitter, 19...Terminal side receiver, 20...
・Information frame, 21.31...Start information, 22...
-Identification information, 23... Packet system actual information area, 24a
, 24b... circuit switching system actual information area, 25a,
25b, . . . Packet information limited area, 26
...Execution area, 30...Packet system information frame,
32... Frame control area, 33... Destination address area, 34... Source address area, 35... Actual transmission information area, 36... Information confirmation area, 40...
Discrimination section, 41... Filtering section, 42... Instruction section, 43... Separation data section, 44... Merging data section, 45... Operation section, 48... Control information transmission section , 49... Frame type discrimination section, 50... Destination identification section, 51... Packet system limited information reception section, 52...
General communication system information receiving section, 53a to 53x...Purpose-based packet receiving section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a node device constituting a multimedia transmission system capable of transmitting packet-based information including control information for controlling device configuration and circuit-switched information in a mixed manner on a single transmission medium, the node device comprises: Separation means (14, 43, 48,
49), and extraction determination for extracting the control information from the packet-based information output from the separation means and determining whether the information is addressed to the node device or sent from the node device. means (15, 40, 50); notification means (42, 45, 50) for notifying each section of the node device of the control information extracted by the extraction/discrimination means and of the processing results; sending means (13, 41, 44) for merging packet-based information and circuit-switched information transmitted from the node device including the result and information for repeating the node device and sending the merged information to the single transmission medium; A node device characterized by: 2. In the node device according to claim 1, the separating means separates the information mixed in the single transmission medium into at least a control packet system, other relay packet systems, and a circuit switching system. Means (51, 52, 53a
~53x).