JP3434304B2 - Packet network selection method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for selecting a plurality of packet networks provided by a plurality of carriers.

In recent years, various communication services have been provided by a plurality of telecommunications carriers (hereinafter referred to as carriers), and data communication (hereinafter referred to as packet communication) services performed via a packet switch are also provided. Now offered by multiple operators.

The service contents of a data communication network (hereinafter referred to as a packet network) composed of packet switches, including communication charges, differ depending on the provider, and will be changed in the future.
It tends to be more and more diverse.

Conventionally, the choice of business operator is left up to the user. The user communicates using only the packet network of the business operator registered in advance or specifies the business operator for each call. With the diversification of service contents, selection of operators tends to be complicated.

For this reason, there is a need for a method in which the user specifies only the communication conditions and the exchange selects a business operator that provides a service that meets the communication conditions.

[0006]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a communication network composed of a plurality of packet networks provided by a plurality of carriers, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are conventional call request packets (hereinafter, referred to as CR packets). Is described).

In a communication network in which there are a plurality of packet networks provided by a plurality of carriers as shown in FIG. 6, conventionally, a user selects a carrier to receive a service by one of the following methods. And have specified.

An operator to be used is registered in advance in a subscriber data file (not shown) in the exchange in which the terminal is accommodated, and communication is always performed via the packet network provided by the registered operator.

Each time a call is made, the operator is specified by adding the operator identification number before the called subscriber number in the called party number setting section in the CR packet. Each time an outgoing call is made, the X. A code designating a business operator is set in the facility section defined by the 25 protocol.

The X. 25 protocols are
CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Advisory Committee) 25 recommendations
Refers to the communication procedure of packet communication that complies with. Below, FIG.
In exchange 21a (hereinafter referred to as exchange A)
The terminal 23a (hereinafter referred to as terminal P) that is installed is the operator I ~
Packet network provided by K 22 _-1~twenty two_-3(Hereafter,
Exchange network 21b.
Terminal 23b accommodated in (hereinafter referred to as exchange B)
(Hereinafter referred to as terminal Q) and packet data communication
(Hereinafter, referred to as packet communication)
Will be described. The exchanges A and B are the above operators.
A packet switch provided by any of I to K
Is common, and in this case, the exchanges A and B are packets.
It will be included in any of the networks I to K.
The packet networks I to K will be described separately.

In any of the above cases, the terminal P makes a contract with the operator to be used in advance, and the operator who has made a contract with the accommodated exchange A is registered in advance. When the exchange A is registered, a subscriber data file (not shown) not shown
The business operator contract status is recorded in the recording area of the terminal P.
When the terminal P has contracts with a plurality of businesses, in the subscriber data file, the priority order of each business is given according to the registration from the terminal P.

In the case of the above method, when the terminal P sends a CR packet to the exchange A for packet communication with the terminal Q, the exchange A accesses the subscriber data file,
Confirm the operator with which terminal P has a contract. If the terminal P has a contract with the business operator I only, for example, the exchange A sends the calling information to the exchange B via the packet network I provided by the business I, and the exchange B sends the terminal Q to the terminal Q. An incoming call packet (hereinafter referred to as a CN packet) is sent.

An incoming call acceptance packet (hereinafter referred to as a CA packet) indicating that the terminal B accepts an incoming call is provided to the exchange B.
To the exchange A, the exchange B transfers the contents to the exchange A via the packet network I. Upon receiving this, the exchange A sends a connection completion packet (hereinafter referred to as a CC packet) to the terminal P, and packet communication is started between the terminal P and the terminal Q via the packet network I.

When the terminal P has a contract with, for example, the business operator J, but the priority is the business operator I, the exchange A can use the packet network J only when it cannot access the packet network I due to a failure or congestion. select.

In the case of the above method, the terminal P sets information for designating the selected carrier in the CR packet when making a call with the terminal Q for packet communication. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a CR packet in the case of adopting the method of, but in the method of (3), a predetermined operator identification is provided before the called subscriber number of the called party number setting part in the CR packet. A number (for example, the identification number of the business operator I) is added. Switch A
When the CR packet is received, the call information is sent to the exchange B via the packet network I provided by the business operator I. After that, packets are transmitted and received via the packet network I.
Since the subsequent operation is the same as, the description is omitted.

In the case of the method (1), when the terminal P makes a call with the terminal Q for packet communication, X. A code for identifying the business operator selected, for example, business operator I, is set in the facility section defined by the 25 protocol. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the CR packet in the case of adopting the method, but as shown in the figure, the operator identification code, for example, the operator I, is set in the parameter section of the facility section.
Set the code that identifies the. Although the facility section will be described later, FIG. 8 shows an example in which the parameter section is only 8 bits (1 octet).

When the exchange A receives this CR packet, it confirms that the operator I is designated in the facility section, and sends the received calling information to the exchange B via the packet network I provided by the operator I. send. Since the subsequent operation is the same as, the description is omitted.

[0018]

As described above, in the prior art, the exchange accommodating the terminal is the packet network provided by the operator registered in advance by the user or the operator specified by the user when making a call. Make a connection only to. That is, in the prior art, the choice of the operator is left to the user, and the exchange side is not involved in what kind of service content each packet network has.

However, in the conventional method, the number of business operators who provide a packet network increases, various services are provided by each business operator, or the service content of each business operator is frequently revised. Then, the user has a problem that it is difficult to find out which company provides the service he / she desires.

It is an object of the present invention to allow a switching system accommodating a calling terminal to select a packet network that meets the requirements of the calling terminal.

[0021]

1 and 2 are basic configuration diagrams of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an exchange that accommodates terminals,
2 _{-1 to} 2 _-n are provided by a plurality of operators and have a plurality of packet networks each having a different service content, 3 is a terminal accommodated in the exchange 1, and 10 is a call setup for performing a call setup process in the exchange 1. It is a processing unit.

11 to 13 are provided in the exchange 1, 11 is a service content storing means for storing the service content provided by the plurality of packet networks 2 _-1 to 2 _-n , and 12 is a communication condition from the terminal 3 accommodated therein. When a designated call is made, a packet network selection means for selecting a packet network that provides a service that meets the designated communication conditions via the service content storage means 11 and notifying the call setting processing unit 10 Is packet network selection means
Reference numeral 12 is a definite communication condition notifying means for notifying the calling terminal 3 of the communication conditions performed by the selected packet network as definite communication conditions.

[0023]

In FIG. 1, the service content storage means 11 in the exchange 1 stores in advance the service content provided by the plurality of packet networks 2 _-1 to 2- _n . Switch 1 in this state
When there is a call from the terminal 3 accommodated in the communication system, which specifies communication conditions, such as communication charges, the packet network selection means 12 in the exchange 1 accesses the service content storage means 11,
A packet network that provides a service that meets the specified communication conditions is selected from among the plurality of packet networks 2 _{-1 to} 2 _-n .

When the selection is completed, the packet network selection means 12 notifies the call setting processing unit 10 of the selected packet network, and the call setting processing unit 10 performs the call setting process via the selected packet network. Further, in FIG. 2, in addition to the above, the definite communication condition notifying means 13 sets the communication conditions performed by the packet network selected by the packet network selecting means 12 to the packet network selecting means.
It is received from 12 and notified to the calling terminal 3 as a definite communication condition.

As described above, the terminal 3 in FIG.
If you specify only the communication conditions, the exchange 1
Packet network (or business that provides compatible services)
Person) is selected.
Or multiple packet networks 2_-1~ 2 _-nYou have to choose
Yes.

Therefore, even if a variety of services are provided by a plurality of businesses, the user can save the trouble of searching for a business that provides a service that meets his own requirements.

Further, in FIG. 2, since the communication conditions performed by the packet network selected by the exchange 1 are notified to the calling terminal 3, the user of the terminal 3 confirms the service contents actually performed, for example, the communication charge. be able to.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a structural explanatory diagram of a CR packet of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a structural explanatory diagram of a CC packet of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same objects, 1a, 1b and 1c are exchanges (1a is an exchange containing the calling terminal 3a, 1b is an exchange containing the called terminal 3b, 1c is a transit exchange), 2 _-1 to 2 _-4 are packet networks provided by different operators (callers I to L), 3a and 3b are terminals (3a is a calling terminal, 3b 10 to 15 are respective units provided in the exchanges 1a and 1b.
Is a call setting processing unit, 11 is a service content storage unit, 12 is a packet network selection unit, 13 is a confirmed communication condition notification unit, 14 is a subscriber data file, and 15 is a link memory. In addition, exchange 1b
Then, the illustration of 10 to 15 is omitted.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the basic configuration of FIG. 2, but since the basic configuration of FIG. 1 is included in FIG.
The description of the embodiment according to the basic configuration will be included in the description of FIG. In FIG. 3, the carrier I provides a packet network I composed of the exchanges 1a, 1b and 1c (hereinafter, respectively referred to as exchanges A, B and C), and is also provided by the carriers J to L. The figure shows an example in which packet networks J to L exist. Although there are many cases where the exchange C accommodates a terminal, in the following description, it is assumed that the packet exchange is a relay packet exchange that does not accommodate a terminal.

Hereinafter, the terminal 3a housed in the exchange A
A case where (hereinafter, referred to as terminal P) makes a call for packet communication with the terminal 3b (hereinafter, referred to as terminal Q) accommodated in the exchange B will be described as an example.

The terminal P makes a contract with a carrier that provides a packet network to be used in advance, and registers it in the accommodation exchange A (the same applies to the terminal Q, but for the called side, the functions necessary for making a call, The description of processing is omitted). Here, it is assumed that the terminal P makes a contract with all of the business operators I to L, and the priorities to be used are the business operators I, J, K, and L in this order. Switch A
Records the information for identifying the registered operator from the terminal P and the priority in the subscriber data file 14 (details not shown).

In this state, it is assumed that the terminal P makes a call with the terminal Q for packet communication. Although it is possible for the terminal P to make a call by the method described in the prior art, when the present invention is applied, a carrier (packet network) is used when making a call.
The information indicating that the selection is left to the exchange (hereinafter referred to as an operator arbitrary selection code) and the communication conditions necessary for the communication are notified to the exchange A by a CR packet.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the CR packet according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the method for setting the communication conditions will be described below with reference to FIG. X. A CR packet according to the 25 protocol is configured in 8-bit units (hereinafter referred to as octets), but in FIG. 4, one line represents one octet. C
The facility part of the R packet is composed of a facility code part of 1 octet and a parameter part of 1 to a plurality of octets. By making the parameter part variable, for example, up to 109 octets can be arbitrarily set.

The size of the parameter part is identified by the first 2 bits of the facility code part. When these 2 bits are 00, 01, 10 (A, respectively,
(Classes B and C) indicate that the size of the facility part including the facility code part is 2, 3 and 4 octets, respectively.

When the first 2 bits are 11 (referred to as D class), the length is variable. In this case, the first 1 octet of the parameter part is used to specify the length of the parameter part.
When the present invention is applied, the communication condition is set in the parameter part, but when a plurality of communication conditions are set, it is necessary to set the variable length facility, that is, D class.

The information necessary for the present invention is set in the facility part of the CR packet having the above configuration. In the prior art, the user selects and specifies the operator to use by himself / herself, but in the present invention, the user specifies only the necessary communication conditions without specifying the operator, and the operator (packet network) The choice of is left to the exchange. The carrier arbitrary selection code is for distinguishing from the call originating in the prior art, and is set in the facility code part (6 bit part excluding the first 2 bits) of the CR packet as shown in FIG.

Although the communication condition is set in the parameter part, in the figure, as the communication condition, an example in which the condition of communication charge and the condition of data transfer time are set in the parameter part with 2 octets each (in the figure, R.・ Indicated by R, S ・ ・ S,
Actually, it is set with codes of "1" and "0").

When the exchange A receives the CR packet from the terminal P, the packet network selection unit 12 confirms whether or not the business operator designation by the prior art is made at the same time. For example, when the caller number setting part of the CR packet is set with the carrier identification number by the method of the prior art, or when the carrier identification code is set by the method of the method, this designation is performed. Priority, and selects the packet network provided by the operator specified by the user.

However, when the business operator is only registered in the subscriber data file 14 according to the conventional technique, the selection method according to the present invention is applied if the business operator arbitrary selection code is set in the facility code section. . The case where the selection method according to the present invention is applied will be described below.

The packet network selection unit 12 of the exchange A uses the terminal P
When it is identified that the operator optional code is set in the facility code section of the received CR packet, the communication condition set in the parameter section of the facility section of the CR packet, for example, the communication charge condition is analyzed. At the same time, the subscriber data file 14 is accessed to confirm the business operator with which the terminal P has a contract.

Next, the packet network selection unit 12 accesses the service content storage unit 11 and selects a service suitable for the communication condition requested by the terminal P from among the packet networks provided by the business contracted by the terminal P. Search the packet network that is performing. If, for example, "the communication fee is the cheapest" is specified as the communication condition, the packet network with the lowest communication fee for the terminal Q is selected, and "the communication fee is x yen or less per packet and the data transfer is performed." If the time is less than or equal to y milliseconds, a packet network that satisfies both conditions is selected.

In this case, if there are a plurality of packet networks having the same service content, the packet network provided by the operator having a high priority registered in the subscriber data file 14 is selected. In this example, it is assumed that the business operator I is registered as the highest priority, but even if the business operator I is not the highest priority, the exchange A prioritizes its own packet network (packet network I) in the case of the same service content. Then, the switch C may be connected to the switch B via the switch C.

Further, the packet network to be selected is not limited to one, and for example, a route from the packet network J via the packet network K may be selected. When the packet network selecting unit 12 finishes selecting the packet network, it designates the selected packet network, for example, the packet network J, and requests the call setting processing unit 10 for call setting. The call setting processing unit 10 sends the contents of the CR packet to the selected packet network J. At this time, the carrier arbitrary selection code and communication conditions designated by the terminal P are deleted and sent. When passing through a plurality of packet networks, for example, the packet network J and the packet network K, the operator number (in this case, the operator K) to be passed to the facility section is set and the first operator J (packet network J) is set. ) Is sent (note that this setting is performed by a known method).

The packet network selecting unit 12 requests the call setting processing unit 10 to set the call, and then the call from the terminal P is designated as the operator's arbitrary selection, and is provided by the selected packet network. Confirmed communication conditions (for example, communication charges)
Are stored in the link memory 15. If necessary, the communication conditions requested by the terminal P are also stored.

When the call setting processor 10 performs call setting by the known method described in the prior art, and the called terminal Q sends a CA packet indicating that the incoming call is accepted to the exchange B, the exchange B receives the contents. Is transferred to the exchange A. When the call setting processing unit 10 receives this information, the confirmed communication condition notification unit
Transfer the received information to 13.

Upon receipt of this information, the definite communication condition notifying section 13 accesses the link memory 15 and sends to the terminal P the information indicating that the call is a carrier arbitrary selection call stored in the link memory 15 and the definite communication condition. Set in the CC packet to be sent (connection completion packet).

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a CC packet according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the confirmed communication condition notifying section 13 sets a carrier arbitrary selection code in the facility code section of the facility section of the CC packet to notify the terminal P that the CC packet includes the notification of the confirmed communication condition. , The fixed communication fee (for example, the fee per packet) and the data transfer time are set in the parameter section, and the terminal P is made to confirm. If necessary, the requested communication conditions are also set and transmitted at the same time.

At the terminal P, the finalized communication condition is recorded in a storage device (not shown) or is displayed on the display unit to display the terminal P.
Ask the user to check. When the latter method is adopted, it is possible to disconnect without performing communication if the defined communication condition is not satisfied.

As described above, according to the present invention, the caller searches for a business operator who provides a service satisfying his or her request from a plurality of business operators, and when calling, the business operator number is used. The trouble of setting is unnecessary.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. However, FIGS. 3 to 5 merely show one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is illustrated. Of course, it is not limited.

For example, in the above, the packet network selection unit
Although the 12 and the confirmed communication condition notifying unit 13 are illustrated as separate configurations from the call setting processing unit 10, the packet network selecting unit 12 and the confirmed communication condition notifying unit 13 may be configured inside the call setting processing unit 10. It is clear that the effect of the present invention does not change. In addition, although there may be various modifications in the method of configuring the exchange A,
In any case, the effect of the present invention does not change.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a packet network with different service contents is provided by multiple operators, the user of the packet communication service only needs to specify the communication conditions that he / she needs when making a call. Since a suitable carrier is selected, there is no need to search for a carrier that provides services that meet the communication conditions required by oneself and register in advance, or to set a carrier number when making a call. . Therefore, even if the service contents are diversified or the service contents are frequently revised due to an increase in the number of providers of packet networks, the user does not have to make a labor for selecting the provider. Further, the user can confirm the communication conditions actually performed with respect to the requested communication conditions.

As described above, the present invention greatly contributes to improvement of convenience of packet communication service.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram (1) of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a basic configuration diagram of the present invention (2)

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a CR packet configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a CC packet configuration according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional technique.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the structure of a CR packet according to the related art (No. 1).

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of a CR packet of the related art (No. 2)

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Switch 2 _{-1 to} 2 _-n Packet Network 3 Terminal 10 Call Setting Processing Unit 11 Service Content Storage Means 12 Packet Network Selection Means 13 Confirmed Communication Condition Notification Means

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-23647 (JP, A) JP-A-1-180172 (JP, A) JP-A-4-341030 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A switching system for accommodating the terminals is provided by a plurality of carriers, a packet network selection method in a communication network for performing packet communications via a plurality of packet network with different service contents respectively, the the switching equipment, switching equipment and a service content storage means to store the service contents of the plurality of packet network provides a selection of Ri by terminus plurality of packet network that accommodates
When there is a call to the specified communication conditions required for the communication with the operators optional code left to the packet network that provides compatible services in the communication condition in which the service content is designated through the memory hand stage selected, provided with a packet network selection means to notify the call setting processing unit, the packet network selection method characterized by selecting a packet network that conforms to the communication condition. Wherein said switching equipment, said packet network selection hand
Packet network selection method according to claim 1, further comprising a deterministic communication condition notification hand stage stage notifying the calling terminal end of the communication conditions to be performed by the selected packet network as determined communication condition.