System and method for controlling group call, and mobile communication terminal

The present invention relates to a group call control system, a group call control method and a mobile communication terminal.

A group call in which a plurality of users make a call using a communication terminal via a communication network is realized as, for example, a conference call system or a video conference system. Further, conventionally, a method using a server has been proposed as a method for realizing a group call in a mobile communication network (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). Patent Document 1 below also discloses a method of not only realizing a group call but also reconnecting (rejoining) a mobile communication terminal disconnected from the group call due to reasons such as out of service area to the group call.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-195762</text></patcit>

<p> However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, only the mobile communication terminal that actually participates in the group call can be reconnected to the group call. That is, the mobile communication terminal that did not participate in the group call could not join the group call later.</p><p> Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a group call system, a group call control method, and a mobile communication terminal capable of allowing a mobile communication terminal that did not participate in the group call to participate in the group call later. The purpose is to do.</p>

<p> The group call control system of the present invention is a group call control system that controls a group call made between a plurality of mobile communication terminals, and is said to be the same when a group call start request signal is received from one mobile communication terminal. Participate in a group call to a group ID issuing means that issues a group ID for uniquely identifying the group call corresponding to the start request signal and another mobile communication terminal corresponding to the terminal ID included in the start request signal. A group call control means for establishing a group call and a group ID issuing means for establishing a group call when a participation request signal for requesting the participation is transmitted and a participation response signal indicating participation in the group call is received as a response to the participation request signal. A group ID transmission means for transmitting the group ID issued by the telephone to another mobile communication terminal and one mobile communication terminal, and among other mobile communication terminals, the response signal for the participation request signal is not transmitted. if the response the mobile communication terminal has received the halfway participation request signal for requesting participation in the group call halfway, midway the unresponsiveness mobile communication terminal, the group call corresponding to the group ID included in the middle participation request signal halfway to join It is characterized by including a participation control means.</p><p> Further, the group call control method of the present invention is a group call control method for controlling a group call made between a plurality of mobile communication terminals, and a group call control server requests to start a group call from one mobile communication terminal. A group ID issuance step that issues a group ID for uniquely identifying a group call corresponding to the start request signal when a signal is received, and another mobile communication terminal corresponding to the terminal ID included in the start request signal. A group call that establishes a group call when a participation request signal for requesting participation in the group call is transmitted to, and a participation response signal indicating participation in the group call is received as a response to the participation request signal. For the participation request signal among the group ID transmission step for transmitting the group ID issued in the control step and the group ID issuance step to another mobile communication terminal and one mobile communication terminal, and the other mobile communication terminals. When a non-answer mobile communication terminal that does not send a response signal receives a mid-term participation request signal that requests mid-term participation in a group call, the non-answer mobile communication terminal corresponds to the group ID included in the mid-term participation request signal. It is characterized by including an intermediate participation control step for joining the group call in the middle.</p><p> According to these inventions, when a group call start request signal is received, a group ID can be issued, and this group ID can be transmitted to all mobile communication terminals belonging to the group. Therefore, the non-response mobile communication terminal can transmit the intermediate participation request signal including this group ID. Therefore, by receiving the intermediate participation request signal transmitted from the non-answering mobile communication terminal, the non-answering mobile communication terminal can participate in the group call corresponding to the group ID included in the intermediate participation request signal from the middle. it can. That is, the mobile communication terminal that did not participate in the group call can be made to participate in the group call later.</p><p> The group call control system of the present invention further includes a storage means for storing the terminal ID included in the start request signal in association with the group ID issued by the group ID issuing means, and the storage means requests participation. When a response signal to the signal is received, it is preferable that the participation presence / absence information indicating whether or not to participate in the group call included in the response signal is further stored in correspondence with the terminal ID.</p><p> In this way, it is possible to manage whether or not the mobile communication terminal participates in the group call and whether or not the mobile communication terminal responds to the participation request signal for each group.</p><p> Further, the mobile communication terminal of the present invention is a mobile communication terminal capable of making a group call between a plurality of mobile communication terminals, and when a participation request signal requesting to participate in the group call is received, the mobile communication terminal is concerned. When the participation request signal is received from the storage means for storing the group ID included in the participation request signal in the incoming call history information and the incoming call history information displayed on the display screen according to the user's operation instruction, there is no response. The group ID included in the selected incoming call history information when the incoming call history information stored at the time is selected and an instruction to send a mid-term participation request signal for requesting mid-term participation to a group call is output. Is included in the midway participation request signal and transmitted, and is characterized by the present invention.</p>

<p> According to the group call control system, the group call control method, and the mobile communication terminal according to the present invention, the mobile communication terminal that did not participate in the group call can be made to participate in the group call later.</p>

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the group call system 1 in the embodiment. The group call system 1 includes a group call control server (group call control system) 10 and a plurality of mobile phones (mobile communication terminals) 20.

The group call control server 10 is connected to a mobile communication network (not shown), and provides each mobile phone 20 with a group call function between mobile phones 20 via the mobile communication network. The group call control server 10 is physically composed of, for example, a CPU, a memory, a communication device, and the like.

The group call control server 10 does not necessarily have to be configured as one server device, and may be configured as a group call control system including, for example, a plurality of communication nodes.

The mobile phone 20 is a mobile communication terminal that performs wireless communication with a base station (not shown) covering a wireless area in which the mobile phone is located and receives a call service or a packet communication service. The mobile phone 20 is physically composed of, for example, a CPU, a memory, a communication device, an input key, a display, and the like.

In the group call system 1 of the present embodiment, the mobile phone 20 is used as a specific example of the mobile communication terminal, but the specific example of the mobile communication terminal is not limited to this, and for example, a simple mobile phone ( It may be a mobile communication terminal such as a PHS) or a portable information terminal (PDA) having a communication function.

The group call provided by the group call control server 10 realizes a conversation by a plurality of people using a plurality of mobile phones 20. This group call also includes, for example, transmitting call data to a plurality of mobile phones 20 participating in a Push To Talk (PTT) call. Participating in a group call means that the mobile phone 20 is provided with a group call function from the group call control server 10 and is voice data with another mobile phone 20 participating in the group call. A state in which call data can be sent and received.

Hereinafter, the functional configurations of the group call control server 10 and the mobile phone 20 will be described.

First, the functional configuration of the group call control server 10 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the group call control server 10 includes a group call control unit 11 (group call control means, group ID transmission means, intermediate participation control means), a group ID issuing unit 12 (group ID issuing means), and the group ID issuing unit 12. It has a group information management unit 13 (storage means), a group ID transmission control unit 14 (group ID transmission means), and an intermediate participation control unit 15 (intermediate participation control means).

The group call control unit 11 provides the mobile phone 20 with a group call function and controls the group call made between the mobile phones 20. The group call control unit 11 performs the following processing when the group call is, for example, by PTT. First, the group call control unit 11 receives a group call start request signal (INVITE) for establishing a group call transmitted from the calling mobile phone 20. This group call start request signal includes a terminal ID for uniquely identifying the called party mobile phone 20 requested to participate in the group call, for example, SIP-URI (Session Initiation Protocol --Uniform Resource). Identifier) is included. The group call control unit 11 transmits a group call participation request signal to the called party mobile phone 20 corresponding to the SIP-URI included in the group call start request signal. When the group call control unit 11 receives a participation response signal indicating that the callee will participate in the group call from the mobile phone 20 on the called side, the group call is established by establishing a session between the mobile phones 20 by a protocol such as SIP. Let me. In addition, the group call control unit 11 copies and transfers voice data (packets), which is call data. In addition, the group call control unit 11 can establish a plurality of group calls, and manages the status and the right to speak of the mobile phones 20 participating in the group calls.

When the group call start request signal is received by the group call control unit 11, the group ID issuing unit 12 issues a group ID for uniquely identifying the group call established based on the group call start request signal. To do.

The group information management unit 13 registers and manages information about the mobile phone 20 that can participate in the group call in the group information table 19. That is, the group information management unit 13 manages the information regarding the mobile phone 20 belonging to the group of the group ID issued by the group ID issuing unit 12 as the group information.

Here, the data structure of the group information table 19 will be described with reference to FIG. The group information table 19 has, for example, a group ID, a terminal ID, a terminal status, an IP address, and a port number as data items. The group ID stores an ID for uniquely identifying the group call. In the terminal ID, for example, SIP-URI is stored as identification information for uniquely identifying the mobile phone 20. The terminal status stores the status of the mobile phones 20 that can participate in group calls. The status of the mobile phone 20 is, for example, "participation" indicating that it has responded to participate in a group call, "non-participation" indicating that it has responded to not participate in a group call, and no response. There is a "non-response" or the like indicating. The IP address of the mobile phone 20 is stored in the IP address, and the port number of the mobile phone 20 is stored in the port number.

The group ID transmission control unit 14 controls the group call control unit 11 so as to transmit the group ID issued by the group ID issuing unit 12 to the mobile phone 20 belonging to the group corresponding to the group ID. Specifically, for example, when the destination of the group ID is the mobile phone 20 on the called side, the group ID transmission control unit 14 includes the group ID in the group call participation request signal and transmits the group call. Instruct the control unit 11. Further, for example, when the destination of the group ID is the mobile phone 20 on the calling side, the group ID transmission control unit 14 causes the group call control unit 11 to transmit the group ID after the group ID is issued. Instruct against.

When the intermediate participation control unit 15 receives an intermediate participation request signal for a group call from the mobile phone 20 on the called side for which the response signal for the group call participation request signal has not been transmitted, the intermediate participation control unit 15 receives the group call participation request signal. 20 is joined in the middle of a group call corresponding to the group ID included in the halfway join request signal. Specifically, the intermediate participation control unit 15 transmits the group ID included in the intermediate participation request signal to the group call control unit 11. As a result, the group call control unit 11 controls the mobile phone 20 that has transmitted the intermediate participation request signal to join the group corresponding to the group ID in the middle based on the received group ID.

Next, the functional configuration of the mobile phone 20 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile phone 20 includes a group call control unit 21, an incoming call history update unit 22 (storage means), and an intermediate participation control unit 23 (transmission means).

The group call control unit 21 controls the group call function provided by the group call control server 10. Specifically, the group call control unit 21 transmits the group call start request signal to the group call control server 10. The group call start request signal includes a terminal ID, for example, a SIP-URI, which uniquely identifies the called party mobile phone 20 requested to participate in the group call. Further, the group call control unit 21 receives the group call participation request signal transmitted from the group call control server 10. This group call participation request signal contains information that identifies the group ID and group members. When the group call control unit 21 receives the group call participation request signal, the group call control unit 21 sends a response signal including participation presence / absence information indicating whether or not to participate in the group call to the group call control server 10 according to the operation instruction of the user. Send. In addition, the group call control unit 21 has major functions in group calls such as access to the group call control server 10 via the mobile communication network, transmission / reception of call data, and control of the input / output device provided in the mobile phone 20. To control.

The incoming call history update unit 22 registers and manages incoming call history information from another mobile phone 20 in the incoming call history table 29. Specifically, for example, when a ringing signal by a normal voice call is received, the incoming call history update unit 22 registers the incoming call history information including the caller name, the outgoing telephone number, and the incoming call date and time in the incoming call history table 29. To do. Further, for example, when a ringing signal (group call participation request signal) by a group call is received, the incoming call history update unit 22 receives the incoming call history information including the caller name, the outgoing telephone number, the incoming date and time, the group ID, and the group member. Is registered in the incoming call history table 29.

Here, with reference to FIG. 4, the data structure of the incoming call history table 29 for storing the incoming call history information will be described. The incoming call history table 29 has, for example, a caller, a telephone number, an incoming date and time, a group ID, a group member, and a response status as data items. The caller stores the address book registration name of the user of the calling mobile phone 20. In the telephone number, the telephone number of the calling mobile phone 20 is stored. The incoming date and time stores the date and time when an incoming call is received from the calling mobile phone 20. In the group ID, the group ID of the group call established by the calling mobile phone 20 is stored. In the group member, the address book registration name of the user of the mobile phone 20 who can participate in the group call is stored. The response status stores information indicating whether or not an incoming call was answered.

The midway participation control unit 23 selects the incoming call history information registered when there is no response when receiving the group call participation request signal from the incoming call history information displayed on the display screen according to the user's operation instruction. And, when the start request button of the group call is pressed, the halfway participation request signal for requesting the halfway participation in the group call is transmitted. The group ID included in the selected incoming call history information is added to the intermediate participation request signal.

Next, the group call processing executed in the group call system 1 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, the mobile phone 20 that establishes a group call is called a calling terminal 20a, and the mobile phone 20 that participates in a group call in response to a participation request from the calling terminal 20a is called a participating terminal 20b. The mobile phone 20 that participates in the group call from the middle without responding to the participation request is called the halfway participation terminal 20c.

First, when the group call start request button is pressed according to the operation instruction of the user of the calling terminal 20a (step S1), the group call control unit 21 of the calling terminal 20a sends the group call start request signal to the group call control server. Send to 10 (step S2). As a result, the group call control unit 11 of the group call control server 10 receives the group call start request signal transmitted from the calling terminal 20a.

Next, the group ID issuing unit 12 of the group call control server 10 issues a group ID of the group call established based on the group call start request signal received by the group call control unit 11 (step S3).

Next, the group information management unit 13 of the group call control server 10 includes the group ID issued by the group ID issuing unit 12 and the SIP-URI included in the group call start request signal received by the group call control unit 11. The group information is registered in the group information table 19 based on (step S4).

Next, the group call control unit 11 of the group call control server 10 sends a group call participation request signal including the group ID to the participating terminal 20b and the intermediate participating terminal 20c according to the instruction from the group ID transmission control unit 14. Send (step S5). Further, the group call control unit 11 transmits the group ID to the calling terminal 20a according to the instruction from the group ID transmission control unit 14.

Next, when the incoming call history update unit 22 of the participating terminal 20b and the intermediate participating terminal 20c receives the group call participation request signal, the incoming call history information from the calling terminal 20a is registered in the incoming call history table 29 (step S6).

Next, when the user of the participating terminal 20b performs a participation response operation for the participating terminal 20b to participate in the group call (step S7), the group call control unit 21 of the participating terminal 20b participates in the group call. The participation response signal indicating the above is transmitted to the group call control server 10 (step S8). As a result, the group call control unit 11 of the group call control server 10 receives the participation response signal transmitted from the participating terminal 20b.

Next, the group information management unit 13 of the group call control server 10 changes the terminal status of the participating terminal 20b stored in the group information table 19 to "participating", and sets the IP address and port number of the participating terminal 20b to the group. Update the group information by storing it in the IP address and port number of information table 19 (step S9).

Further, the group call control unit 11 of the group call control server 10 establishes a session between the outgoing terminal 20a and the participating terminal 20b to establish a group call (step S10). This makes it possible to make a group call between the calling terminal 20a and the participating terminal 20b.

Next, according to the operation instruction of the user of the intermediate participation terminal 20c, among the incoming call history information displayed on the incoming call history screen, the incoming call history registered when there is no response when the group call participation request signal is received. When the information is selected and the group call start request button is pressed (step S11), the intermediate participation control unit 23 of the intermediate participation terminal 20c transmits an intermediate participation request signal including the group ID to the group call control server 10. (Step S12). As a result, the group call control unit 11 of the group call control server 10 receives the intermediate participation request signal transmitted from the intermediate participation terminal 20c.

Next, the group information management unit 13 of the group call control server 10 changes the terminal status of the mid-participating terminal 20c stored in the group information table 19 to "participating", and the IP address and port number of the mid-participating terminal 20c. Is stored in the IP address and port number of the group information table 19 to update the group information (step S13).

Next, the intermediate participation control unit 15 of the group call control server 10 transmits the group ID included in the intermediate participation request signal to the group call control unit 11. The group call control unit 11 causes the intermediate participation terminal 20c to join the group corresponding to the received group ID in the middle (step S14). As a result, it becomes possible to make a group call between the outgoing terminal 20a, the participating terminal 20b, and the intermediate participating terminal 20c.

As described above, according to the group call system 1 in the present embodiment, the group call control server 10 includes the group ID issuing unit 12 to issue the group ID when the group call start request signal is received. The group call control server 10 includes the group ID transmission control unit 14, so that the issued group ID can be transmitted to all the mobile phones 20 belonging to the group.

Further, since the mobile phone 20 includes the incoming call history updating unit 22, the group ID can be stored in the incoming call history of all the mobile phones 20 belonging to the group, and the mobile phone 20 includes the intermediate participation control unit 23. , When the incoming call history information registered when there was no response when receiving the group call participation request signal is selected and the group call start request button is pressed, the mid-term participation request including the group ID is made. The signal can be transmitted to the group call control server 10.

Further, since the group call control server 10 includes the mid-term participation control unit 15, when the mid-term participation request signal is received from the mobile phone 20 for which the response signal to the group call participation request signal has not been transmitted, the mobile phone 20 is used. , It is possible to join the group call corresponding to the group ID included in the halfway participation request signal in the middle.

Further, since the group call control server 10 includes the group information management unit 13, it is possible to manage whether or not the mobile phone 20 participates in the group call and whether or not the mobile phone 20 responds to the participation request signal for each group.

<figref num="1">It is a figure which illustrates the system configuration of the group call system and the functional configuration of the group call control server in the embodiment.</figref><figref num="2">It is a figure which illustrates the functional structure of the mobile phone in embodiment.</figref><figref num="3">It is a figure which illustrates the data structure of the group information table.</figref><figref num="4">It is a figure which illustrates the data structure of the incoming call history table.</figref><figref num="5">It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the group call processing executed by the group call system in embodiment.</figref>

Code description

1 ... Group call system, 10 ... Group call control server, 11 ... Group call control unit, 12 ... Group ID issuing department, 13 ... Group information management department, 14 ... Group ID Transmission control unit, 15 ... Midway participation control unit, 19 ... Group information table, 20 ... Mobile phone, 21 ... Group call control unit, 22 ... Incoming call history update unit, 23 ... Participation control unit on the way, 29 ... Incoming call history table.