Communication method and communication system
First Claim
1. A communication system comprising:
- an internet;
a plurality of communication terminals which are to be connected to said internet through a public network; and
a plurality of connection management servers installed at nodes between said public network and said internet and transit points within said internet in order to relay and manage the communication between said communication terminals, each of said connection management servers including;
means for receiving a request of connection to a internet from one of said communication terminals, and a telephone number of communication terminal, and for assigning an IP address to said communication terminal;
a mapping table in which said IP address and said telephone number of said communication terminal are registered in pair;
a routing table in which routing information is registered in association with each of a plurality of telephone numbers managed by a connection management server;
means for receiving from one of said communication terminals a request of communication with another communication terminal, and a telephone number of said another communication terminal as a called-side terminal;
means for determining a communication route to said called-side communication terminal on the basis of said routing information; and
means for transferring said communication request and said telephone number through said communication route,wherein when said connection management server is a server to be connected through said public network to a called-side one of said communication terminals, said connection management server further including;
means for deciding if said called-side communication terminal is connected to said internet by examining said mapping table to detect the presence or absence of said telephone number of said called-side communication terminal received together with said communication request from a calling-side communication terminal;
when said called-side communication terminal is connected to said internet, said transferring means transfers said communication request to said called-side communication terminal; and
means for receiving from said calling-side communication terminal a communication end notice for said internet and deleting said IP address that is assigned to said calling-side communication terminal and registered in said mapping table.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A communication system and communication method adapted so that the user of one of the communication terminals can more easily communicate with another one connected to the internet through the public network. Connection management servers for relay and manage the communication are provided at nodes between the internet and the public network. Each of the connection management servers assigns an IP address to the communication terminal connected to the internet through the public network, and registers the IP address and the telephone number. When receiving a communication request, the connection management server specifies a communication route to the communication terminal on the basis of the telephone number of the called-side communication terminal set in the communication request. The server checks if the called-side communication terminal is connected to the internet on the basis of the above registration. If it is connected to the internet, the server relays the communication request. If it is not connected thereto, the notice that it is not connected is transmitted to the calling-side communication terminal. If it is not connected yet, the server regards the called-side terminal as having its telephone connected to the telephone channel, and causes speech transmission between that telephone and the calling-side communication terminal.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A communication system comprising:
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an internet; a plurality of communication terminals which are to be connected to said internet through a public network; and a plurality of connection management servers installed at nodes between said public network and said internet and transit points within said internet in order to relay and manage the communication between said communication terminals, each of said connection management servers including; means for receiving a request of connection to a internet from one of said communication terminals, and a telephone number of communication terminal, and for assigning an IP address to said communication terminal; a mapping table in which said IP address and said telephone number of said communication terminal are registered in pair; a routing table in which routing information is registered in association with each of a plurality of telephone numbers managed by a connection management server; means for receiving from one of said communication terminals a request of communication with another communication terminal, and a telephone number of said another communication terminal as a called-side terminal; means for determining a communication route to said called-side communication terminal on the basis of said routing information; and means for transferring said communication request and said telephone number through said communication route, wherein when said connection management server is a server to be connected through said public network to a called-side one of said communication terminals, said connection management server further including; means for deciding if said called-side communication terminal is connected to said internet by examining said mapping table to detect the presence or absence of said telephone number of said called-side communication terminal received together with said communication request from a calling-side communication terminal; when said called-side communication terminal is connected to said internet, said transferring means transfers said communication request to said called-side communication terminal; and means for receiving from said calling-side communication terminal a communication end notice for said internet and deleting said IP address that is assigned to said calling-side communication terminal and registered in said mapping table. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A communicating system comprising:
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an internet; a plurality of communication terminals which are to be connected through a public network to said internet; and a plurality of connection management servers installed at the nodes between said public network and said internet, and at transit points within said internet in order to relay and manage the communication between said communication terminals, each of said connection management servers including; an incoming connection request terminating processing unit for receiving from one of said communication terminals a connection request to said internet and the telephone number of a communication terminal, and for assigning an IP address to said communication terminal; a mapping table in which said IP address and the telephone number of said communication terminal are registered in pair; a routing table having routing information registered in association with each of a plurality of telephone numbers which a connection management server manages; a communication relay processing unit for receiving from said communication terminal a communication request to another communication terminal and the telephone number of said another communication terminal as a called-side communication terminal; and a transfer portion for transferring said communication request and said telephone number to said called-side communication terminal through a communication route based on said routing information, wherein when said connection management server is a server to be connected through said public network to a called-side one of said terminals, said server further including; an incoming connection request terminating retriever for deciding if said called-side communication terminal is connected to said internet by examining whether the telephone number of said called-side communication terminal is registered in said mapping table or not; when said called-side communication terminal is connected to said internet, said transfer portion transfers said communication request to said called-side communication terminal; and a connection end processing unit for receiving a communication end notice for said internet and deleting said IP address assigned to said calling-side communication terminal and registered in said mapping table. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A communication method in a communication system including an internet, a plurality of communication terminals which are to be connected to said internet through a public network, and a plurality of connection management servers provided at nodes between said public network and said internet and at transit points within said internet in order to relay and manage the communication with said communication terminals, comprising the steps of:
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receiving a connection request from a calling-side terminal of said terminals to said internet, and a telephone number of said calling-side communication terminal, and assigning an IP address to said calling-side communication terminal, by each of said connection management servers; registering said IP address and the telephone number of said calling-side communication terminal in pair in a mapping table; receiving a communication request to a called-side communication terminal from said calling-side communication terminal and a telephone number of said called-side communication terminal by a connection management server; determining a communication route to said called-side communication terminal by said connection management server on the basis of routing information registered in a routing table in association with said received telephone number together with said communication request so that said communication request and said telephone number are transferred through said communication route; when said connection management server is connected to said called-side communication terminal through said public network, examining whether the telephone number of said called-side communication terminal received together with said communication request is registered or not in said mapping table, thereby deciding if said called-side terminal is connected to said internet; when said called-side communication terminal is connected to said internet, transfer said communication request to said called-side communication terminal; receiving the notice that the connection to said internet has become unnecessary because of the end of the communication from said calling-side communication terminal, and deleting said IP address assigned and registered in said mapping table by said connection management server. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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Specification