JPH09200364A - Communication terminal equipment and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve transmission efficiency by effectively utilizing plural pieces of communication equipment connected to the same bus of a digital line network regardlessly of classification due to sub-addresses and to surely apply a response through the designated communication equipment concerning communication requiring secrecy. SOLUTION: Since the time from the reception of call setting message (SETUP) to the transmission of response message (CONN) is deviated for each of terminals 301-303, any one of terminals 301-303 desirable for a caller can be preferentially communicated, and a call can be received at the other one of terminals 301-303 according to the will of operator on the reception side. Thus, communication can be accelerated while considering secrecy. Whether it is voice communication with conversation or data communication due to non-audio signals can be discriminated from the contents of compatibility information contained in the call setting message (SETUP).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data communication communication terminal device and a plurality of communication terminal devices for performing communication of voice signals mainly for conversation and communication of non-voice signals without conversation such as facsimile. And a communication method in a communication system in which each communication terminal device has a sub address.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Currently, with the development of digital communication technology,
The use of ISDN (Integrated Service Digi-tal Network) networks is expanding.

Here, a plurality of communication terminal devices connected to the bus of one ISDN line have a sub-address for each communication terminal device, and the sender is one of the plurality of communication terminal devices. When transmitting to a desired communication terminal device, by designating and transmitting the sub-address, only the target communication terminal device can communicate.

When such communication by designating the subaddress is used, there is no problem when the line is free, but communication cannot be performed when the designated communication terminal device is in use. That is, since specifying a sub-address specifies a single communication terminal device, it is completely meaningless even if another communication terminal device connected to the same bus is vacant.

In order to solve this, it has been proposed that a plurality of sub-addresses are set in each communication terminal device, and that a plurality of communication terminal devices having matching sub-addresses can respond (for example, JP-A-4-56449). (See Japanese Patent Publication).

According to this, even if the originally designated sub-address is recognized and another communication terminal device responds, the communication destination is not unknown.

However, even a communication terminal device connected to the same bus may require confidentiality, and if a plurality of subaddresses are set in the communication terminal device, a problem may occur for the sender and the receiver. Therefore, simply sharing the same sub-address with a plurality of communication terminal devices while giving priority to only the transmission efficiency has a great adverse effect.

On the other hand, when a plurality of telephones mainly for conversation are connected to the same bus, an address (for example, extension number) for specifying each telephone is set and
In addition to this own extension number, set the extension number of another telephone to each telephone, shift the response timing of each,
A ringing technique has been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-168850).

In this case, when the caller designates a specific extension number, the telephone corresponding to the extension number of the caller first rings, and then another telephone rings one after another with a predetermined time difference. As a result, if the telephones on the same bus can eventually respond, the provision of a time difference allows the parties to be preferentially responded to if there is a person near the first telephone.

[0010]

However, this is possible because of the ringing control of the telephone. For example, in the case of non-voice signal data communication such as facsimile, the first communication terminal is used. When the device is in use,
At that point, a response indicating that the call is in progress is given, so that the transition to the next communication terminal device cannot be performed.

In addition, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, all the idle telephones finally ring and another caller cannot make a call at all.

In consideration of the above facts, the present invention effectively uses a plurality of communication terminal devices connected to the same bus of a digital line network regardless of classification by subaddress to improve transmission efficiency and communication requiring confidentiality. With regard to (1), it is an object to obtain a communication terminal device and a communication system that can reliably respond with a designated communication terminal device.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a communication terminal device connected to an integrated service digital network (ISDN), a plurality of subaddress information and a communication operation for the plurality of subaddress information are performed. Storage means for storing communication operation timing information up to,
When at least one sub-address information stored in the storage means matches the sub-address information included in the received message, control is performed to start a communication operation based on communication operation timing information for the matching sub-address information. And a control unit.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least one communication terminal device has a plurality of subaddresses, so that this communication terminal device has the same subaddress as other communication terminal devices. . Therefore, a difference in time until a response is made between the common sub-addresses is set. As a result, according to a predetermined order, it is determined whether or not reception is possible with respect to a plurality of communication terminal devices on the same bus. It can be avoided as much as possible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device connected to the integrated service digital network (ISDN), a plurality of called number information and a communication operation until shifting to the communication operation for the plurality of called number information. When the storage unit that stores the timing information and the at least one destination number information stored in the storage unit match the destination number information included in the received message, the communication operation timing information for the matching destination number information And a control unit for controlling the communication operation to be started based on the above.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of subaddress settings described above are replaced with called numbers, and transfer is possible not only in the same bus but in different buses. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the communication operation timing information indicates an incoming operation timing for sub-address information indicating its own communication terminal device, and a communication operation timing information indicating another communication terminal device. The feature is that it is set to operate earlier than the incoming operation timing for the address information.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the time until the response of its own subaddress is set to the shortest time,
After that, it is set so that it can respond to the separately set subaddress. As a result, the communication terminal device is vacant, and the communication to the communication terminal device corresponding to the separately set sub address (sub address other than itself) can be responded to and received instead.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the communication operation timing information indicates an incoming operation timing with respect to called number information indicating its own communication terminal apparatus, and indicates another communication terminal apparatus. The feature is that it is set to operate earlier than the incoming operation timing for the called number information.

According to the invention described in claim 4, a plurality of settings of the sub-address described above are replaced with the called number, and it is possible to transfer not only in the same bus but in different buses. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the communication operation timing information is operation timing of a ring back tone in response to voice communication and non-operation. It is characterized in that at least one of the operation timing of the response signal in response to the voice signal is set for the incoming operation timing.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, when the incoming call operation timing is set in the case of carrying out voice signal communication mainly for conversation, a time difference until ringing is set, and the time order is short. I'll try to ring the ones first. In this way, by substituting the time until ringing, it is possible to respect the designation of the sub-address, and there is no need to ignore the sub-address at all as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-56449 described in the prior art. In particular, various applications such as maximizing the time from the first ringing to shifting to the second rank and preventing two or more telephones from ringing at the same time can be performed.

When setting the operation timing of the response signal in response to the non-voice signal, the output timing of the response message to be output in response to the call setting message may be set.

Depending on the type of communication terminal device applied,
It is possible to set the incoming operation timing suitable for each communication terminal device to either one.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a communication system in which a plurality of communication terminal devices are connected to an integrated service digital network (ISDN), a plurality of sub address information and a communication operation for the plurality of sub address information are performed. The storage means for storing the communication operation timing of is provided in the plurality of communication terminal devices, and the matching sub-address information stored in the communication terminal device that stores the sub-address information that matches the sub-address information included in the message at the time of the incoming call. It is characterized in that communication processing of a communication terminal device capable of communication is performed based on communication operation timing information for the.

According to the invention described in claim 6, the above-mentioned communication terminal device is networked, and a certain specific communication terminal device (hereinafter, referred to as communication terminal device A in the description of claim 6). ) In consideration of confidentiality requirements, a transferable communication terminal device (hereinafter referred to as communication terminal device B in the description of claim 6) is selected, and the communication terminal device A is selected as the selected communication terminal device B. Set the sub address of. As a result, two types of sub-addresses are set in the communication terminal device B, but there is a time lag until they respond. Normally, its own subaddress is used as the response in the shortest time.

Here, when the communication terminal device A is received by the sub-address that specifies the communication terminal device A, first, only the communication terminal device A becomes a responding communication terminal device. At this time, if the communication terminal device A is not connected, communication is conventionally interrupted and communication is cut off. However, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the communication terminal device B becomes ready for reception and receives communication data. You can

By setting such settings among three or more communication terminal devices to have sub-addresses of other communication terminal devices and providing a time lag until responding to each, the same one after another according to the priority order. Transfer is performed between the communication terminal devices in the bus, and communication data can be received quickly.

In a communication system in which a plurality of communication terminal devices are connected to an integrated service digital network (ISDN), the invention according to claim 7 shifts to a plurality of called number information and a communication operation for the plurality of called number information. The storage means for storing the communication operation timing information until it is provided is provided in the plurality of communication terminal devices, and the callee number information that matches the callee number information included in the message at the time of the incoming call is stored in the communication terminal device. It is characterized in that communication processing of a communication terminal device capable of communication is performed based on the communication operation timing information for the matching called party number information.

According to the invention described in claim 7, a plurality of settings of the sub-address described above are replaced with the called number, and it is possible to transfer not only to the same bus but to different buses. .

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the sixth or seventh aspect of the invention, the incoming call operation timing information is an operation timing of a ringing tone responding to voice communication and a response responding to non-voice communication. It is characterized in that at least one of the signal operation timings is set to the incoming operation timing.

According to the invention described in claim 8, depending on the type of the applied communication terminal device, it is possible to set either one of the incoming call operation timings suitable for the communication terminal device.

Note that, for example, in the invention described in claim 6, even if the communication terminal devices are in the same bus, it may not always be possible to transfer all. There is also communication data that does not need to be transferred (does not want to transfer) only at a certain time, which is usually good. Therefore, if it is possible to freely set, change, add, and delete subaddresses of other communication terminal devices to / from the communication terminal device, it is possible to realize settings suitable for time, purpose, and situation. .

Further, it is desirable to set the time difference until a response is made by the output timing of the response message. For example, as an example of giving a time difference until a response is made for each subaddress, whether or not a predetermined communication terminal device matches a designated subaddress may be performed at each set time difference. In this case, matching must be performed multiple times. On the other hand, the output of the response message is simply waited for, and the subaddress matching is performed only once at the beginning, which simplifies the control.

[0035]

1 is a system configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of a communication apparatus of the present invention.

The facsimile apparatus 10 is connected to the ISDN line network and is configured to communicate via the ISDN interface 12.

The CPU 16 connected to the bus 14
All the controls of the facsimile machine 10 are executed. The control program is stored in the ROM 18, a necessary program is read out as appropriate, and processing is executed in accordance with the read program.

The facsimile machine 10 includes a keyboard 2
0, display 22, printer 24 and scanner 26
Equipment generally called peripheral equipment (user interface) such as is integrated with each other and connected to the bus 14 so that the operator and the CPU 16 can communicate with each other.

The facsimile apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has three RAMs 28, 30, 32 (hereinafter referred to as RAMs).
(1) 28, RAM (2) 30 and RAM (3) 32) are mounted, and the RAM (1) 28 is a temporary storage of various information (counters, flags, data, etc.) related to overall control. Is being used for.

The RAM (2) 30 is also used as an area for storing coding information when data is exchanged between the ISDN interface 12 and the coder / decoder section 34. Further, the RAM (3) 32 includes a scanner 26, a printer 24, and a coder / decoder unit 3.
It is used as an area in which image information is stored when data is exchanged with the memory 4.

That is, during transmission control, the scanner 26
When you read the original with, the image information is once in RAM
(3) Accumulated in 32, and then coder / decoder unit 3
4, the image information is compressed, stored as encoded information in the RAM (2) 30, and then transmitted via the ISDN interface 12.

On the other hand, during reception control, the ISD is reversed, contrary to the above.
The coded information received via the N interface 12 is decoded by the coder / decoder unit 34, decompressed, stored in the RAM (3) 32 as image information, and then the information is printed out by the printer 24. It is configured to.

The facsimile machine 1 of the present embodiment
Reference numeral 0 has a copy function, and image information read by the scanner 26 can be sent to the printer 24 via the RAM (3) 32 and printed out.

A plurality of the above-mentioned facsimile machines 10 can be installed on one ISDN bus (network), and in the following description of the present embodiment, an example in which three machines are connected (hereinafter referred to as 3 When distinguishing the units, they are referred to as terminal A, terminal B, and terminal C).

As shown in FIG. 2, the three facsimile machines 10 (terminal A, terminal B, and terminal C) have the ISDN 2
Since it is connected to a line (usually having one control channel and two communication channels), it has subaddresses for identifying each.

Therefore, the caller designates a subaddress in addition to the called number (so-called telephone number), so that a plurality of (three in the present embodiment) facsimile machines 10 are provided.
It is possible to specify.

Whether or not the sub address is designated is up to the sender. If there is communication in which the sub address is not designated, the control shown in FIG. 2 is performed. That is, when communication from the sender is started, the network 3
Call setup message (SETUP) from 6 to each terminal A, B, C
Is notified, if there is a terminal C that cannot communicate (or intentionally cut off communication), this SETUP is ignored or a release completion message REL COMP is output (ignored in FIG. 2). ), The responding terminals A and B output a call message (ALERT) (see the chain line in FIG. 2), and when responding, a response message (CONN) is output. In this case, select the terminal that responded to the response message (CONN) first (named terminal A in FIG. 2) and select the response confirmation message (CONN AC
K) is sent to this selected terminal A, and other than that (see FIG. 2).
Then, a release message (REL) is sent to the terminal B) to disconnect the call to the terminal B. In response to this, the terminal B sends a release completion message (REL COMP).

Here, by designating the subaddress, the first call setup message (SETUP) is sent only to a specific terminal, and even if it can be received by another terminal, it does not operate at all. .

The present embodiment is characterized in that the sub-address is set and the data can be transferred between terminals connected to the same network. As shown in Fig. 3, each terminal A, B, C is set with its own sub-address and the sub-address of another terminal (terminal A is 301, terminal B is 302, terminal C is 303) (in Fig. 3, terminal B is shown). Sub-address 301 of terminal A
The set). A plurality of sub-addresses are prioritized, and their own sub-addresses have the highest priority, and the following are set by the operator's intention.

This priority is based on the call setup message (SETU
It corresponds to the times T ₁ and T ₂ from the reception of P) to the transmission of the response message (CONN) (T ₁ <T ₂ ).
Therefore, when the caller attempts to communicate data to the terminal A, the call setup message (SETU) is sent to the terminal A and the other terminal (terminal B in FIG. 3) having the subaddress of the terminal A.
P) will be sent.

However, this call setup message (SETUP)
Sending the corresponding response message (CONN) or call message (ALERT) is, after the terminal A is T _1, the terminal B T
_{Since it is after 2} , the terminal A always responds as long as the terminal A is in the communicable state (see FIG. 3A). On the other hand, when the call is not possible on the terminal A (see FIG. 3B),
Since terminal B sends a response message (CONN) after T ₂ , communication is not interrupted.

Thus, the call setup message (SETUP)
By shifting the time from receiving the response message to sending the response message (CONN) for each terminal, it is possible to preferentially communicate with the terminal desired by the caller, depending on the intention of the receiving operator. , It is possible to receive at another terminal. This makes it possible to speed up communication while taking confidentiality into consideration.

It is possible to determine whether the voice communication involves a conversation or the data communication using a non-voice signal based on the contents of the consistency information included in the call setup message (SETUP). In this case, the timing of ringing is controlled, and in the case of data communication, the timing of sending the response message is controlled as described above.

The consistency information is a transmission capability (BC: Bearer).
Campatibility), High layer compatibility (HLC: High L)
ayer Compatibility), low layer compatibility (LLC: lo
wLayer Compatibility).

Basically, eight terminals can be connected to one network, and it is possible to set a plurality of subaddresses (maximum of seven) in addition to each subaddress. In this case, the response time difference of the response message when it matches with a subaddress other than its own subaddress is
It may be delayed at regular time intervals, or may be the same delay time. Also, these may be combined.

For example, four terminals are connected, and the timing operation setting of one of them is as shown in Table 1 below.

[0057]

[Table 1]

In Table 1 above, the terminal with the sub-address 300 responds without delay when it has its own sub-address, and the other sub-addresses 301 and 303 respond simultaneously. The sub address 302 is not set. Of course, the sub address 302 may be set, and each delay time may be different.

The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step 100, a variable I that changes according to the number of terminal devices in which subaddresses are duplicated is reset (0), and then it is determined in step 102 whether a call setup message (SETUP) has been received. In the next step 104, this received
SETUP is analyzed and it is determined whether or not a subaddress is designated (step 106).

If an affirmative decision is made here, step 10
In step 110, the matching sub-address is searched, and then it is determined in step 110 whether or not the number searched is plural. If an affirmative decision is made in this step 110, that is, if there is more than one, the process moves to step 112 to set the number S of the corresponding terminal devices, and the process moves to step 114.

In step 114, the terminal having the I-th priority (of course, the first is first) is selected, and the next step 1
In step 16, the output contents from the selected terminal are judged.

When the output content is the response message (CONN) in step 116, the process proceeds to step 118, the response confirmation message (CONN ACK) is output from the network side, and this is selected in the next step 120. Communication is started at the terminal.

Here, if the output content is absent or ALERT in step 116, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed after shifting to step 122. Since step 116 is repeated during this predetermined time, if the output content changes during this period, step 118 can be entered.

On the other hand, if the output contents are none or ALERT even after the lapse of the predetermined time, an affirmative decision is made in step 122, and the routine proceeds to step 124. In step 124, the variable I is incremented and then step 12
At 6, the selected number S and the variable I are compared. As a result of the comparison,
If an affirmative determination is made, it is determined that all the selected terminals cannot communicate, and the process proceeds to step 128 to execute the communication cutoff process. On the other hand, in the case of a negative determination in step 126, the process returns to step 114 and the same process as above is performed in the next terminal.

By the way, in step 110, when there are not a plurality of retrieved sub-addresses, that is, when a negative determination is made in step 110, the process proceeds to step 130 to determine whether or not only this single terminal can respond. . That is, in step 130, the contents of the designated terminal are confirmed, and if the output is none or ALERT, the process proceeds to step 128, and if it is CONN, the process proceeds to step 120.

Furthermore, when the negative determination is made in step 106, that is, when the subaddress is not specified from the calling side, the process proceeds from step 106 to step 132,
A call confirmation message (SETUP) is sent to all terminals connected to the corresponding network, and a response confirmation message (CONNAC) is sent to the terminal that sent the response message CONN first.
K) is transmitted and the process proceeds to step 120.

As described above, by setting a plurality of sub-addresses in each terminal and providing a time lag until responding to each, it is possible to preferentially select the terminal designated by the caller and If a response cannot be made, it can be received (transferred) by another terminal. Therefore, if a terminal that does not require confidentiality is selected in advance, communication can be speeded up while maintaining confidentiality.

In the above flow chart, the non-voice data communication is described as an example, but the same applies to the voice communication involving conversation. However, in the case of voice communication, the control target is ringing, and the ringing starts from the highest priority order.
Control may be performed such that the number of ringing telephones increases, or ringing time of a plurality of telephones may be divided so that any one of the rings rings. Moreover, you may combine both. For example, one telephone on each floor of a plurality of telephones on different floors may ring.

[0069]

As described above, the communication terminal device and the communication system according to the present invention effectively use a plurality of communication terminal devices connected to the same bus of the digital line network regardless of the classification by the sub-address, and the transmission efficiency. With respect to communication requiring confidentiality, there is an excellent effect that a designated communication terminal device can certainly respond.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case where an ISDN line network according to the present embodiment and each terminal has one subaddress.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a case where each terminal in the ISDN line network according to the present embodiment has a plurality of sub-addresses, and FIG.
(B) shows a case where a terminal with a lower priority receives.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart showing a procedure up to the start of communication during data communication.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Facsimile device (communication terminal device) 12 ISDN interface 36 network

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
In the communication terminal device connected to the storage means, storing means for storing a plurality of pieces of sub-address information and communication operation timing information until transition to a communication operation for the plurality of pieces of sub-address information, and at least one piece of sub-address information stored in the storage means. And a sub-address information included in the received message match, a control unit that controls to start a communication operation based on communication operation timing information corresponding to the matching sub-address information is provided. Communication terminal equipment. 2. Integrated services digital network (ISDN)
In the communication terminal device connected to, a storage unit that stores a plurality of called number information and communication operation timing information until the communication operation for the plurality of called number information is transitioned, and at least one storage unit stored in the storage unit. When the called number information and the called number information included in the received message match, a control unit that controls to start the communication operation based on the communication operation timing information for the matching called number information is provided. A communication terminal device characterized by the above. 3. The communication operation timing information is set so that an incoming operation timing for sub-address information indicating its own communication terminal apparatus operates earlier than an incoming operation timing for ab-address information indicating another communication terminal apparatus. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein 4. The communication operation timing information is set so that the incoming call operation timing for the called party number information indicating the own communication terminal apparatus is operated earlier than the incoming call operation timing for the called party number information indicating another communication terminal apparatus. The communication terminal device according to claim 2, wherein 5. The communication operation timing information is set with respect to at least one incoming operation timing of an operation timing of a ringing tone responding to voice communication and an operation timing of a response signal responding to a non-voice signal. The communication terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
In a communication system in which a plurality of communication terminal devices are connected to each other, storage means for storing a plurality of sub-address information and communication operation timing until transition to a communication operation for the plurality of sub-address information is provided in the plurality of communication terminal devices. At the same time, the communication processing is performed by the communication terminal device capable of performing communication based on the communication operation timing information for the matching sub-address information stored in the communication terminal device that stores the sub-address information matching the sub-address information included in the incoming message. A communication system characterized by the above. 7. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
In a communication system in which a plurality of communication terminal devices are connected to the plurality of communication terminal devices, a storage unit for storing a plurality of callee number information and communication operation timing information until a communication operation for the plurality of callee number information is performed. And a communication terminal device capable of performing communication based on communication operation timing information for the matching called party number information stored in the communication terminal device that stores the called party number information that matches the called party number information included in the incoming message A communication system characterized by performing communication processing of. 8. The incoming call operation timing information is set with respect to at least one incoming call operation timing of an operation timing of a ringing tone responding to voice communication and an operation timing of a response signal responding to non-voice communication. The communication system according to claim 6 or 7.