HK1253739B - Data-updating system, remote setting device, and method for updating data - Google Patents

Description

Data updating system, remote setting device and data updating method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a data updating system, a remote setting device, and a data updating method that allow a user to update data on a server while maintaining security.

Background Art

A voice communication system that uses a server (call control controller) on a network and conducts voice communication via this server has become practical (e.g., Non-Patent Document 1). In this voice communication system, a second server (configuration server) is provided on the network to set configuration data (settings data) that regulates the operation of a transceiver-shaped communication terminal. When powered on, the communication terminal connects to the network, downloads the setting data (configuration data) from the configuration server, and stores it in memory (configuration processing). The communication terminal uses this data to conduct PTT communication via the call control controller.

In a voice communication system, multiple communication terminals are owned by system users (e.g., businesses utilizing communication services), while call control controllers and configuration servers are managed by the system's provider (communication service provider). Each of these multiple communication terminals has its own unique configuration data. During operation of a voice communication system, it may be necessary to modify the settings of some or all of the communication terminals.

In the past, to maintain the security of voice communication systems, system users were not provided with access to or authorized to the server used to update configuration data. This meant that system users could not access the server to update the configuration data for their own (or their company's) communication terminals. Therefore, system administrators wrote the configuration data for all of the system users' communication terminals to the configuration server. Writing configuration data to the configuration server was necessary not only at the start of voice communication system operation but also after the system began operating to change its operational methods.

Prior art literature

Non-patent literature

Non-Patent Document 1: ICOM Co., Ltd., “IP Transceiver System IP-500H,” [online], [retrieved on November 4, 2015], Internet <URL: https://www.icom.co.jp/products/land_mobile/products/ip_transceiver/IP500H/index.html>

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

While this approach maintains the security of the configuration server, system users must contact the system administrator for every minor configuration change. Furthermore, even minor configuration changes require the system administrator to perform the work on behalf of the system user. Consequently, implementing configuration changes takes time, preventing rapid operational changes. For system administrators, each configuration change requires additional work, increasing system operation and management costs.

The present invention aims to provide a data updating system, a remote setting device and a data updating method that maintain the security of a server while enabling a user to update the data of the server.

Means for solving problems

The present invention comprises: a main server that stores setting data; a terminal device that inputs update data for updating part or all of the setting data; a remote setting device that communicates with the terminal device, receives the update data input to the terminal device, and stores the updated data; and a communication server that communicates with the main server and the remote setting device. The remote setting device transmits the update data received from the terminal device to the communication server. The communication server uses the update data received from the remote setting device to update the setting data stored in the main server.

The remote setting device comprises: a first protocol stack for managing the process of sending and receiving communication packets with a main server or a communication server that stores setting data; a second protocol stack for managing the process of sending and receiving communication packets with a terminal device that inputs update data for updating part or all of the setting data; and a control unit that, upon receiving a communication packet carrying update data from the terminal device, carries the update data in a communication packet that complies with the first protocol stack and sends the update data to the main server or the communication server.

The remote setting device forwards update data input from the terminal device, but does not relay communications between the terminal device and the communication server. The communication server transmits update data received from the remote setting device to the main server to update the setting data, but does not relay communications between the remote setting device and the main server.

Effects of the Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide users (clients) with a service for updating setting data stored in a main server while maintaining the security of the server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is a block diagram of a call control system of a voice communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG2 is a block diagram of a communication terminal.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing configuration data (setting data) set in the communication terminal.

FIG4 is a block diagram of a terminal setting system of a voice communication system.

FIG5 is a block diagram of a remote setting device.

FIG6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration data updating process in the voice communication system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The voice communication system of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a call control system 2 of a voice communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a terminal setting system 3 of the voice communication system.

As shown in Figure 1, in the call control system 2, communication terminals 11 (11-1 to 3) perform voice communication with each other via a call control controller 14. As a communication infrastructure, an LTE network 10, which is a communication network for mobile phones, is used. The LTE network 10 has a base station 10A as a wireless communication base. The communication terminal 11 accesses the LTE network 10 by communicating with the base station 10A. In the present invention, the call control controller 14 of Figure 1 and the communication server 12 and configuration server 13 of Figure 4 are set in a closed network that is inaccessible to anyone other than the system setter (communication service provider). Therefore, the configuration server 13 is also inaccessible to the client (system user, communication service utilization company) described later. The communication infrastructure is not limited to the LTE network.

FIG2 is a block diagram of the communication terminal 11. As shown in FIG1 , the communication terminal 11 is a wireless network device that has the appearance of a handheld transceiver but functionally transmits and receives voice signals via the base station 10A of the LTE network 10. The control unit 40 that controls the operation of the device is composed of a microprocessor. The control unit 40 has a storage unit 41 that stores various data. The storage unit 41 has a configuration data storage area 41A. In the configuration data storage area 41A, various configuration data (setting data) such as shown in FIG3 are stored. An operation unit 42, a display unit 43, an audio circuit 44, and an LTE communication unit 45 are connected to the control unit 40. The operation unit 42 includes a push button switch such as the PTT switch 220, which accepts the user's operation and inputs the operation signal to the control unit 40. The display unit 43 includes a liquid crystal display. The identification number of the communication object selected by the user's operation, the identification number of the incoming communication object, etc. are displayed on the liquid crystal display.

The audio circuit 44 includes a microphone 240 and a speaker 241. The control unit 40 decodes the received voice signal and inputs it to the audio circuit 44. The audio circuit 44 converts the decoded audio signal into an analog signal and outputs it from the speaker 241. In addition, the audio circuit 44 converts the voice signal input from the microphone 240 into a digital signal and inputs it to the control unit 40. The control unit 40 converts the digital audio signal into a voice packet and inputs it to the LTE communication unit 45. The LTE communication unit 45 includes a circuit for wireless communication using the LTE communication method, transmits packets input from the control unit 40 to the base station 10A, and inputs packets received from the base station 10A to the control unit 40. An earphone connector 242 is provided in the audio circuit 44. When an earphone microphone (not shown) is connected to the earphone connector 242, the microphone 240 and speaker 241 provided in the main body of the communication terminal 11 stop functioning, and the microphone and speaker (earphone) of the earphone microphone become effective.

When the user presses the PTT switch 220 and inputs a voice into the microphone 240 using the communication terminal 11 having the above structure, the communication terminal 11 edits the voice signal into a voice packet and transmits it to the call control controller 14 via the base station 10A.

FIG3 illustrates the structure of configuration data storage area 41A of storage unit 41. Configuration data storage area 41A stores the following provisioning data. In this embodiment, the configuration server address is written to the nonvolatile memory when communication terminal 11 is shipped and is not included in the configuration data.

Configuration server address: IP address of the configuration server 13 shown in FIG4

Call control controller address: IP address of call control controller 14

Transceiver port number: the transceiver port number of the call control controller 14 when communicating with the call control controller 14

Call ID: Call ID of the communication terminal 11 itself

Notification sound settings: selection of notification sounds for incoming calls, etc.

Option button settings: information on the assignment of functions to option buttons provided on the operation unit 42

Headset settings: Setting information for whether to perform full-duplex communication when a headset microphone is connected

Address book: a list of caller IDs of the communication terminals 11 that can be called.

Volume setting: call volume setting information

The configuration server address and call control controller address in the above data are common to all communication terminals 11 used in the same voice communication system. The call ID, transmit/receive port numbers, notification tone settings, option button settings, headset settings, address book, and volume settings are unique to each communication terminal 11. The call ID is unique to each communication terminal 11 and cannot be changed from within the communication terminal 11. Configuration data other than the configuration server address, call control controller address, and port number can be changed by the user operating the communication terminal 11.

FIG4 is a diagram showing the structure of a terminal setting system 3 for writing configuration data to a communication terminal 11. In addition to the call control controller 14 described above, a communication server 12 and a configuration server 13 are provided in the communication center 4. Each server and controller is connected to the LTE network 10. When the power is turned on, that is, when operation starts, the communication terminal 11 performing voice communication accesses the configuration server 13 to receive configuration data. The received configuration data is written to the configuration data storage area 41A. By referring to the configuration data written to the configuration data storage area 41A, the communication terminal 11 can access the call control controller 14 and communicate with other communication terminals 11. The configuration server 13 and the call control controller 14 correspond to the main server of the present invention.

The configuration server 13 stores configuration data for setting the multiple communication terminals 11 (11-1 to 3) shown in Figure 1. The configuration data is input by a configuration person using a configuration terminal 16. The configuration terminal 16 is composed of, for example, a personal computer. The configuration terminal 16 corresponds to the terminal device of the present invention. The configuration person is a person who is responsible for setting the configuration data of the voice communication system 1 at a client (communication service user) that owns multiple communication terminals 11. He or she does not need to be a system setter (communication service provider) who owns the call control controller 14 and the configuration server 13. The configuration data (hereinafter referred to as update data) input from the configuration terminal 16 is sent to the remote setting device 15 and stored in the remote setting device 15. The remote setting device 15 sends the stored update data to the communication server 12 via the LTE network 10. In addition, the remote setting device 15 can only communicate with the communication server 12 via the LTE network 10. The communication server 12 can communicate with the configuration server 13 and the call control controller 14 via the internal network 5. The communication server 12 updates the configuration data stored in the configuration server 13 using the update data received from the remote setting device 15. Furthermore, a system administrator, who is equivalent to the supervisor of the configuration person in the client, can use the configuration terminal 16 to input data for updating the settings of the call control controller 14. The remote setting device 15 transmits the inputted change data to the communication server 12. The communication server 12 updates the settings of the call control controller 14 using the update data received from the remote setting device 15. The call control controller 14 stores a list of the call IDs of the communication terminals 11, etc.

Update data and commands for sending and receiving this update data are exchanged between the remote setting device 15 and the communication server 12. However, commands generated by operating the configuration terminal 16 do not reach the communication server 12 via the remote setting device 15 or the LTE network 10. Because the remote setting device 15 can only communicate with the communication server 12, it cannot directly send commands to the configuration server 13 or call control controller 14 from outside the communication center 4.

FIG5 is a block diagram of remote setting device 15. Remote setting device 15 connects setting terminal 16 to communication server 12 (LTE network 10). Remote setting device 15 includes a LAN interface 112 for communicating with setting terminal 16, an LTE interface 114 for communicating with communication server 12 via LTE network 10, an R/W control unit 110, and a setting file storage unit 111.

The LAN interface 112 includes a protocol stack 113 (second protocol stack) for communicating with the configuration terminal 16. This protocol stack 113 may be a protocol stack for executing a protocol that complies with a general LAN standard. The LTE interface 114 includes a protocol stack 115 (first protocol stack) for communicating with the communication server 12 via the LTE network 10. This protocol stack 115 complies with the standard of the LTE network 10. The configuration file storage unit 111 stores update data for updating the configuration data of the configuration server 13. The R/W control unit 110 controls reading and writing to the configuration file storage unit 111.

Thus, the LAN interface 112 and the LTE interface 114 share the configuration file storage unit 111. However, since the configuration does not relay communications, the configuration terminal 16 cannot directly send commands to the communication server 12. Furthermore, since the configuration terminal 16 (or the LAN connected to the configuration terminal 16) is not visible from the LTE network 10, the configuration terminal 16 (or the LAN connected to the configuration terminal 16) cannot be accessed from the LTE network 10.

Alternatively, the configuration file storage unit 111 may store configuration files containing the same contents as the configuration data tables for all communication terminals 11 stored in the configuration server 13. In this case, when the configuration person updates the configuration data for the communication terminal 11, they can simply update the configuration file of the remote setting device 15 from the configuration terminal 16 and transfer the updated contents to the configuration server 13 via the communication server 12. The same applies to the data set in the call control controller 14.

The operation of the configuration system 3 including the remote configuration device 15 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG6 . The remote configuration device (RSB) 15 operates in accordance with operations from the configuration terminal (PC) 16. This description will focus on a case where the configuration data table stored in the configuration server 13 and the registration data table of the call control controller 14 are also stored as storable configuration files in the communication server 12 and the remote configuration device 15, and a portion of these files are updated from the configuration terminal 16.

The configuration person, who is the operator of the configuration terminal 16, operates the configuration terminal 16 to update the configuration data and registration data (hereinafter referred to as configuration data) stored in the remote configuration device 15 (S101). When the voice communication system 1 is in its initial state, for example, the configuration person may also update (rewrite) all the configuration data for each communication terminal 11. The remote configuration device 15 updates the configuration file stored in the configuration file storage area 111 using the data input from the configuration terminal 16 (S102). When the configuration data update is complete, the configuration person operates the configuration terminal 16 to notify the remote configuration device 15 of the completion of the update (S103). The above process is performed on the LAN interface 112 side of the configuration terminal 16 and the remote configuration device 15.

Upon receiving the notification of configuration completion from the configuration terminal 16, the remote configuration device 15 accesses the communication server 12 via the LTE interface 114 to notify the communication server 12 that the configuration data has been updated (S104). The communication server 12 then sends a list of configuration files containing the update history to the communication server 12 (S105). Based on the list of configuration files, the communication server 12 sends a message to the remote configuration device 15 requesting the transmission of the difference configuration file (update data) for this update (S106). The remote configuration device 15 transmits the requested difference file (update data) to the communication server 12 (S107).

The communication server 12 updates its own stored configuration file using the update data received from the remote configuration device 15 (S108). The communication server 12 then sends the update data to the configuration server 13 (S109). The configuration server 13 receives the update data and updates its own configuration file (S110).

When an update is required to the data configured in the call control controller 14, the communication server 12 accesses the call control controller 14 and transmits the updated data (S111). The call control controller 14 receives the data and updates its own registration data file (S112). This completes the configuration data update. The communication server 12 notifies the remote setting device 15 of the completion of the update (S113). Upon receiving this notification, the remote setting device 15 notifies the configuration terminal 16 of the completion of the update (S114). Based on this notification, the configuration terminal 16 may display a message indicating that the configuration data update has been completed.

In the above process, when the communication terminal 11 is restarted (or powered on), it accesses the configuration server 13 (S120). The configuration server 13 reads the configuration data for the accessed communication terminal and sends it to the communication terminal 11 (S121). The communication terminal 11 receives the configuration data and writes it into its own configuration data storage area 41A (S122). The communication terminal 11 uses the configuration data to access the call control controller 14 and sends a registration request to the call control controller 14 (S123). When the call control controller 14 receives the registration request, if it is a registration request from a communication terminal 11 registered in its own terminal table, it registers the communication terminal 11 so that voice communication can be carried out with the call control controller 14 as the server (S124).

In addition, in the above process, when the communication server 12 receives a configuration data update notification from the remote setting device 15, it requests the remote setting device 15 to update the data. However, even if there is no update notification, the communication server 12 can periodically poll the remote setting device 15 (S130), and the remote setting device 15 can respond to the polling (S131).

In this embodiment, the voice communication system 1 using the LTE network 10 is described, but the network used is not limited to the LTE network 10 .

In this embodiment, an example of updating the configuration data of the communication terminal 11 stored in the configuration server 13 or the registration data stored in the call control controller 14 is described, but the data to be updated is not limited to the configuration data of the communication terminal 11. The configuration data or the registration data corresponds to the setting data of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Voice Communication System

2 Call Control System

3 Terminal Setting System

10 LTE network

11 Communication Terminal

12 Communication Server

13 Configuration Server (Master Server)

14 Call Control Controller (Main Server)

15 Remote Setting Device

16 Setting terminal (terminal device)

41A Configuration data storage area

111 Sets the file storage unit.

Claims (6)

1. A data update system, comprising: The main server stores the configured data; The terminal device inputs update data, either part or all, for updating the set data; The remote setting device communicates with the terminal device, receives and stores the update data input to the terminal device; and The communication server communicates with both the main server and the remote setting device. The remote setting device sends the update data received from the terminal device to the communication server. The communication server uses the update data received from the remote setting device to update the setting data stored in the main server. The remote setting device stores a setting file with the same content as the main server, updates the setting file according to instructions from the terminal device, and sends a message to the communication server indicating that the setting data has been updated. The communication server, in response to the message, obtains the updated setting file from the remote setting device as the update data, and uses the setting file to update the setting data of the main server. 2. The data update system according to claim 1, wherein, The main server writes the set data to the communication terminal that is conducting voice communication. 3. The data update system according to claim 1, wherein, Configure multiple master servers. The communication server updates the configuration data stored in each master server. 4. The data update system according to claim 1, wherein, The remote setting device includes: The first protocol stack manages the sending and receiving process of communication packets with the communication server; The second protocol stack manages the sending and receiving of communication packets with the terminal device; and When the control unit receives a communication packet carrying updated data from the terminal device, it reads the updated data and sends it to the communication server in a communication packet conforming to the first protocol stack. 5. A remote setting device, comprising: The first protocol stack manages the sending and receiving process of communication packets with the master server or communication server. The master server stores configuration data, and the communication server relays communication with the master server. The second protocol stack manages the sending and receiving of communication packets with the terminal device, whereby the terminal device inputs update data for updating part or all of the set data; and The control unit, upon receiving a communication packet carrying updated data from the terminal device, reads the updated data and sends it to the main server or communication server by including the updated data in a communication packet conforming to the first protocol stack. The storage unit stores configuration files containing the same content as the configuration data of the main server. The control unit uses the updated data to update the setting file and sends the updated setting file to the main server or communication server. 6. A data update method, wherein a remote setting device and a communication server are provided between a main server storing setting data and a terminal device that inputs update data for updating part or all of the setting data. The remote setting device communicates with the terminal device, receives the update data input to the terminal device, and stores it. The communication server communicates with the main server and the remote setting device. The remote setting device sends the update data received from the terminal device to the communication server. The communication server uses the update data received from the remote setting device to update the setting data stored in the main server. The remote setting device stores a setting file with the same content as the main server, updates the setting file according to instructions from the terminal device, and sends a message to the communication server indicating that the setting data has been updated. The communication server, in response to the message, obtains the updated setting file from the remote setting device as the update data, and uses the setting file to update the setting data of the main server.