JP2000041118A - Selective automatic termination method, network control device, system using the same, and switching system for selective termination system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] Even when a terminal device at a customer's home is connected to a special adapter corresponding to a number display or the like, it does not require the presence of a person, etc. A network control device for automatically switching between such a terminal device and a specific remote control device such as a meter reading meter is provided. SOLUTION: At least one terminal device among a plurality of terminal devices has a function corresponding to a specific call signal other than a normal call signal, and at least one terminal device among other terminal devices is an automatic incoming call terminal. Connecting a call detecting means for detecting that a call signal received via the telephone line is a predetermined call pattern of the specific call signal, and a terminal device corresponding to the call pattern detected by the call detecting means to the telephone line. Connection means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic meter reading and remote control using a telephone line, a report, an announcement by voice, a selective automatic incoming call receiving method such as answering machine and facsimile, a network control device,
The present invention relates to a system using the device and a switching system for a selective call receiving system, and particularly to a selective automatic call receiving method, a network control device, and a device when a terminal device receives a signal other than a normal call signal such as a number display. The system used and the switching system for the selective termination system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a network control device has a telephone line and one
It is connected between one or more terminal devices and switches the connection between the telephone line and the terminal device. The network control device is connected to a central processing center via a telephone line, and is used in a system for automatically performing communication between the central processing center and a meter reading terminal.

A conventional system using a network control device for selective automatic reception of a terminal device includes an automatic meter reading system for automatically reading and controlling a meter reading meter in a customer's house.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of a conventional automatic meter reading system. The automatic meter reading system includes a customer house 1 to be metered, a telephone exchange 3 and a telephone line 4 connected to the customer house 1.
And an automatic metering center 2 connected via the network. The customer house 1 has a network control device 1 connected to the telephone line 4.
1 and a terminal device 12 and a meter reading meter 13 connected to the network control device 11. The terminal device 12 is, for example, a telephone or a facsimile, and the meter meter 13 is, for example, an electric, gas, or water meter. The automatic meter reading center 2 can provide a service for automatically acquiring a meter reading of the meter reading meter 13 or notifying a warning. For example, when the meter reading meter 13 is a gas meter, it is also possible to confirm the usage state of gas by the customer or to close the gas shutoff valve.

[0005] In such a network control device 11, as a system (automatic incoming call system) for switching connection between the telephone line 4 and either the terminal device 12 or the meter reading meter 13,
JP-A-6-62132 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2-2289.
5 has a ringing communication system. The ringing communication method is to read and control the meter reading meter 13 of the customer home 1 by calling from the automatic meter reading center 2 without using the no-ringing service and the F-net service provided by the communication carrier.

[0006] In order to realize this ringing communication system, the conventional network control device 11 is connected to the terminal device 1 connected thereto.
2 for detecting on-hook and off-hook
An off-hook detection circuit 111 is provided.

FIG. 15 is an operation flowchart of the network controller in the conventional ringing communication system. Hereinafter, description will be made along the flow.

The conventional ringing communication system is started by calling from the automatic meter reading center 2 (step 2).
01). First, the network control device 11 connects the telephone line 4 to the terminal device 12 such as a telephone.
Ringing is transmitted to the terminal device 12 as it is and sounds (step 202).

Next, the on / off hook detection circuit 111 of the network control device 11 enters a waiting state (step 203) to detect the off hook of the terminal device 12. When the person at the customer's house hooks the terminal device 12 off,
The off-hook detection circuit 111 detects the off-hook (step 204).

Next, since the telephone line 4 and the terminal device 12 are connected, a message from the automatic meter reading center 2 indicating that meter reading is to be performed now and that the terminal device 12 is to be hooked on is sent to the terminal device. 12 (step 20)
5). The message is, for example, "This is Tokyo Gas. I called you for reading the gas meter. Please take the phone down as it is."

Next, the on / off hook detection circuit 111 of the network control device 11 enters a waiting state (step 206) to detect the on hook of the terminal device 12. Then, in accordance with the above-mentioned message, the person who hooked the telephone 102 off-hook the telephone 12. Then, the on-hook detection circuit 111 detects the on-hook (step 207).

Next, the network control device 11 switches so that the telephone line 4 is connected to the meter reading meter 13 (step 208).

Finally, the automatic meter reading center 11 and the meter reading meter 13 are connected via the telephone line 4 and can communicate with each other (step 209).

[0014]

However, in the conventional automatic meter reading system described above, in order for the automatic meter reading center to communicate with the meter reading meter, a terminal device such as a telephone connected to the network control device must be turned on.・ Because an off-hook operation is required, there must be a person at the customer's home, or if no person is involved, the terminal device automatically performs an on-off hook operation upon receiving a call. I had to.

Further, there is a problem that the no-ringing service and the F-net service do not operate when the telephone exchange and the terminal adapter (TA) for the ISDN do not support such a service. Japanese Patent Application No. 2-
In 212895, a call can be received when a person is absent from the customer, but there is no effect when a telephone, which is a post-consumer terminal device, automatically receives a call.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present applicant has proposed the following selective automatic incoming call method. In this method, the network control device in the customer's house is called from the automatic meter reading center side with a specific ringing pattern. At the customer house side, the network control device detects this specific ringing pattern, receives a control signal or the like from the automatic meter reading center side, or calls back to the automatic meter reading center side.
Thereby, the automatic meter reading center can communicate with the meter reading meter.

However, the above-mentioned selective automatic call receiving method has the following problems when a customer has a contract for a number display or the like. Number display adapter (NDA) installed in customer's house
If the network control device is installed downstream (terminal device side) of the system, if the calling time from the automatic meter reading center is short, the call signal does not reach the network control device and communication with the meter reading meter cannot be performed.
Also, if a network control device is installed on the upstream side (automatic metering center side) of a number display adapter (NDA) installed in a customer's house, it will be connected to the meter meter with a specific call signal for number display information. There are cases.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve this problem, and the presence of a person or the like is required even when the terminal device at the customer's house is connected to a special adapter corresponding to a number display or the like. A selective automatic call receiving method for automatically switching between a terminal device such as a telephone and a specific remote control device such as a meter reading meter for a telephone line, a network control device, and a network control device And a switching system for a selective termination system.

[0019]

In order to solve the above problems, a selective automatic call receiving method according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a network control device (hereinafter, also referred to as an NCU) connected to a telephone line.
And a selective automatic reception method in a communication facility comprising a plurality of terminal devices connected thereto; at least one of the plurality of terminal devices supports a specific paging signal other than a normal paging signal. At least one of the other terminal devices is an automatic terminating terminal, and (a) detects a predetermined pattern of a specific call signal transmitted from a specific caller; The network is switched to an automatic receiving terminal according to a predetermined pattern of a call signal, and (c) communication is established between the caller and the automatic receiving terminal.

A selective automatic call receiving method according to a second aspect of the present invention is directed to a communication system including a telephone exchange, an NCU connected to the telephone exchange via a telephone line, and a plurality of terminal devices connected to the NCU. Wherein at least one of the plurality of terminal devices has a function corresponding to a specific paging signal other than a normal paging signal, and at least one of the other terminal devices. Is an automatic receiving terminal, (a) detects a predetermined pattern of the specific calling signal transmitted from a specific caller, and (b) switches the network to the automatic receiving terminal according to the predetermined pattern of the specific calling signal. , (C) establishing communication between the caller and the automatic receiving terminal.

The present invention is also a network control device connected between a telephone line and a plurality of terminal devices, for connecting the telephone line to any one of the plurality of terminal devices. At least one of the plurality of terminal devices has a function of responding to a specific call signal other than a normal call signal, and at least one of the other terminal devices is an automatic terminating terminal; Call detection means for detecting that the call signal received via the telephone call is a predetermined call pattern of the specific call signal, and connection means for connecting a terminal device corresponding to the call pattern detected by the call detection means to a telephone line. It is characterized by having. As a result, a terminal device such as a telephone having a number display function and a specific remote control device such as a meter reading meter can be automatically connected to a telephone line without requiring the presence of a person at a customer's house. Can be provided.

The present invention relates to a telephone exchange system including a service control station (hereinafter referred to as an SCP) and a destination exchange controlled by the SCP, wherein a call from a specific caller is transmitted by the SCP. A switching system for a selective termination system is provided for identifying and calling a called party via a destination exchange with a predetermined call pattern of a specific call signal other than a normal call signal.

Also, the present invention is a telephone exchange system comprising an SCP and a destination exchange controlled by the SCP, wherein a call to a specific called party is identified by the SCP, and the destination exchange is performed. An exchange system for a selective termination system for calling a called party with a predetermined calling pattern of a specific paging signal other than a normal paging signal through a station is provided.

Further, the present invention is a telephone exchange system comprising a SCP and a destination exchange controlled by the SCP, wherein a call originating from a specific caller to a specific callee is identified by the SCP. Then, there is provided an exchange system for a selective call receiving system for calling a specific called party with a predetermined calling pattern of a specific calling signal other than a normal calling signal via a destination exchange at the time of calling.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the call pattern may be defined by the number of calls and the call interval time. This allows control from the calling side.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the calling pattern is such that the calling is stopped after the specific calling signal has sounded a predetermined number of times, and the calling signal is restarted for a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time from the previous ringing. It may be a pattern in which the call is stopped after only ringing. This allows
A call pattern can be individually assigned to a plurality of terminal devices.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the calling pattern may be a combination of a plurality of patterns.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, it is also preferable that the connecting means can be controlled so as to go off-hook when connecting the automatic incoming call terminal corresponding to the call pattern to the telephone line. Thus, the switched automatic receiving terminal does not necessarily need to have the off-hook means.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the apparatus further comprises callback means for calling out a signal of a specific telephone number when the call detection means detects a predetermined call pattern. . Thus, there is no danger of accidentally off-hooking a call made by a third party, and charging for communication can be borne by the customer's home.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the callback means may be configured so that the specific telephone number to be called can be obtained from an automatic receiving terminal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the call detecting means determines that the call pattern has been detected when one or more types of the call patterns are detected. It is preferable that it is comprised as follows. By implementing the present invention in combination with the callback means, it is possible to prevent a call pattern of an important communication from being overlooked without rejecting a call signal that deviates from a predetermined call pattern at all.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, when the call detection means determines that the received specific call signal is not a predetermined call pattern, the call detection means outputs the specific call signal to a terminal other than the automatic receiving terminal connected to the subsequent stage. Is controlled so as to flow to the terminal device. Thereby, it is possible to automatically communicate with the automatic incoming call terminal without the telephone in the customer's house ringing.

According to the system using the network connection device of the present invention, the central processing center, the network control device connected to the central processing center via a telephone line, and the central processing center connected to the network control device. An automatic terminating terminal that communicates with the processing center, the central processing center issues a call to the network controller with a specific call pattern corresponding to the automatic terminating terminal in a predetermined call pattern, It is characterized in that the central processing center and the automatic incoming call terminal can communicate with each other in accordance with a predetermined call pattern.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the telephone line may be an analog telephone line.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the telephone line is a digital line such as ISDN, a line termination device is connected to the digital line, a terminal adapter is connected to the line termination device, A network controller may be connected to the terminal adapter.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a subaddress is set in the terminal adapter, and the central processing center attaches the subaddress to a call signal and makes a call in a predetermined call pattern. As a result, a call can be made only to the network connection device connected to a specific port.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the central processing center causes the call to be made again without adding a subaddress to the call signal when the connection for the call with the predetermined call pattern fails. It is configured. As a result, the call can be received at all ports, so that the call can be received even if the subaddress of the network connection device is changed.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of network controllers are connected in series, a different call pattern is set for each network controller, and a plurality of network controllers are connected to each other. It is also preferable that the automatic incoming call terminal can be selectively called according to different calling patterns. Alternatively, it is also preferable that a plurality of automatic incoming terminals are connected in parallel to the network control device, different calling patterns are set for each of the automatic incoming terminals, and the automatic incoming terminals are selectively called by different calling patterns. .

[0039]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In particular, an automatic meter reading system will be described as an example.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an automatic meter reading system using a telephone network according to the present invention. This automatic meter reading system includes a customer house 1 to be meter-read, and an automatic meter reading center 2 connected to the customer house 1 via a telephone exchange (station) 3 and a telephone line 4. The customer house 1 has a network control device 11 connected to the telephone line 4 and a network control device 11.
Number Display Adapter (NDA) connected to
And a terminal device 12 connected to the NDA. The terminal device 12 is, for example, a telephone or a facsimile, and the meter meter 13 is, for example, an electric, gas, or water meter. Further, the NDA 20 receives the temporary ringing from the telephone exchange 3, confirms the number (telephone number) of the sender, and determines whether or not to connect the line to the terminal device 12 or the like. The automatic meter reading center 2 can provide a service for automatically acquiring a meter reading of the meter reading meter 13 or notifying a warning. For example, when the meter reading meter 13 is a gas meter, it is also possible to confirm the usage state of gas by the customer or to close the gas shutoff valve.

The network control device in the system is ON
Off-hook detection means 111 and call detection means 112
, A network control unit 113, and a selective receiving terminal 114. The call detecting means 112 detects temporary ringing, the number of calls, a call interval time, and the like in order to detect a specific call pattern.

The automatic meter reading center 2 transmits a specified call pattern such as temporary ringing corresponding to the meter meter 13 from the telephone exchange 3 to the network controller 11 in order to communicate with the meter meter 13. The calling and stopping must be repeated. This temporary ringing means that the ringing time and ringing interval of normal ringing are each about 1 second, while the ringing time and ringing interval are each about 0.5 second.

For example, the telephone exchange 3 used in the present invention
Can be transmitted from the automatic meter reading center 2 by identifying that the telephone exchange 3 is an outgoing call from the automatic metering center 2, and can transmit a specific calling pattern.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a telephone exchange system in which a telephone exchange is constructed with IN facilities. The telephone exchange system connects a number of telephone exchanges 3 to a common channel signaling network 21.
And a service control station 7 that performs integrated control. The service control station 7 includes a control device 72 including a service control unit (SCF) 721 and a service management unit (SMF) 722 for controlling the entire service control station 7, and a database (SDF) 71. The control device 72 of the service control station 7 is connected to the information terminal 22 for inputting and changing service control information for each user. The service control information for each user is registered in the database 71 in advance by the input from the information terminal.
Based on the registered service control information, it is possible to identify a call from the automatic meter reading center 2 and send out a specific call pattern for each user. Therefore,
Even if a plurality of terminal devices 12 are connected to the network control device 11 of the customer house 1, a call pattern corresponding to the terminal devices 12 can be selected and transmitted from the telephone exchange 3.

As a method for the service control station 7 to identify a call from a specific caller, for example, a specific caller adds a specific selection signal to a normal selection signal and makes a call. There is also a method. Alternatively, the caller ID of a specific caller is stored in the database 7 of the service control station 7 in advance.
1 may be registered.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an automatic meter reading system using an ISDN network according to the present invention. The automatic meter reading system shown in FIG. 3 further includes a DSU (Digi) connected to an ISDN line 4 in the customer house 1 as compared with the configuration diagram of FIG.
tal Service Unit (line terminating device) 14 and the DSU 1
4 has a TA (Terminal Adapter) 15 connected thereto. The network control device 11 is connected to the port of the TA15. Note that an analog terminal device 16 such as a telephone is used.
Is directly connected to the port of the TA 15, and the digital terminal device 17 is directly connected to the DSU 14.

One or more terminals 12, 16, 17 connected to the DSU 14 and the TA 15 are connected to the automatic meter reading center 2
When a call originates from the ISDN line, the terminal devices 12, 1
By making a call at the subaddress of the port corresponding to 6 or 17, it becomes possible to make each of the terminal devices 12, 16 and 17 receive a call. Therefore, the sub-address of the port connected to the network control device 11 is used for the automatic meter reading center 2.
Is called, the network controller 11 can be called.

However, if the subaddress of the TA 15 has been changed or the connection has been changed to a port without a subaddress, etc., even if a specific caller adds a subaddress and makes a call, the network controller 11 You may not receive a call. In this case, when retrying after the first incoming call failure, a selection signal is sent without a sub-address, and all terminal devices 12, 16, and 17 are forcibly sounded,
It is also possible to make a call to the network control device 11.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration in which a plurality of network controllers 11 are connected in series to a telephone line 4 according to the present invention. FIG.
In the customer house 1, two network control devices 11 and 1
8 are connected in series, and the network controller 18 has an NDA
A terminal device 12 such as a telephone is connected via the terminal 20. In addition, terminal devices 13 and 19 such as meter reading meters are connected to the network control devices 11 and 18, respectively. The network controllers 11 and 18 have on / off hook detecting means 111 and 181, respectively, and can correspond to different call patterns respectively. As described above, when a specific call pattern is set in advance for each of the plurality of network controllers 11 and 18, either one of the network controllers 11 or 18 can be selectively called.
Although not shown, if a specific calling pattern is set in advance for each of the plurality of meter reading meters 13 and 19, the plurality of meter reading meters 13 and 19 can be connected to one network control device 11.

FIG. 5 is a ladder diagram showing an example of a calling pattern when the meter reading meter in the customer's house is called from the automatic meter reading center side. In FIG. 5, the vertical axis indicates the passage of time downward, and the horizontal axis indicates the flow of signals between the automatic meter reading center 2 and the customer home 1. First, the meter reading meter 13 installed in the customer house 1 is called from the automatic meter reading center 2 (501). At this time, the automatic meter reading center 2 starts a timer from the first call of the calling signal to monitor the elapse of time.

The telephone exchange (station) 3 detects from the service control information in the database 71 of the service control station 7 shown in FIG. As a result, the telephone exchange 3 makes an initial call to the customer home 1 by provisional ringing (502).
At this time, the telephone exchange 3 activates a timer from the first call for provisional ringing to monitor the elapse of time.

Since the ringing from the telephone exchange 3 is temporary ringing, the network control device 11 starts a timer and transmits the temporary ringing to the NDA 20 (503).
The NDA 20 goes off-hook, transmits a signal (number) to the telephone exchange 3, and temporarily goes off-hook (504). Upon receiving the signal from the NDA 20, the telephone exchange 3 calls the terminal device 12 of the customer home 1 by the actual ringing (505) after a predetermined time T0 seconds from the first provisional ringing call (502). A ringing tone (RBT: Ring Back Tone) is issued to the meter reading center 2 (50).
6). The automatic meter reading center 2 receives the first RBT and disconnects the telephone line 4 once (507). As described above, since the telephone line 4 is immediately disconnected from the automatic meter reading center 2, the terminal device 12 in the customer's home 1 emits a ring at most once. Therefore, the terminal device 12 in the customer home 1 is not connected by the first call from the automatic meter reading center 2.

Next, the automatic meter reading center 2 calls the meter reading meter again (508) after a lapse of a predetermined time T1 seconds from the first calling (501). Telephone exchange 3, Customer home 1
The network controller 11 and the NDA 20 function in the same manner as described above, and the NDA 20 transmits the number to the telephone exchange 3 (509, 510, 511). In the same manner as described above, the telephone exchange 3 calls this ringing to the network control device 11 of the customer's home 1 (512), and the automatic metering center 2 sends R
The BT is transmitted (513).

When the network control device 11 of the customer home 1 receives the second real ringing (512) from the telephone exchange 3, the reception of the real ringing (512) starts from the reception of the first real ringing (505). It is checked whether a predetermined time T0 ± α seconds has elapsed. If the main ringing (512) is after a lapse of a predetermined time T0 ± α seconds, the network control device 11 preempts the main ringing and connects to the meter reading meter 13. On the other hand, the automatic meter reading center 2
At the time of receiving the second RBT, it waits without disconnecting the telephone line 4 and waits for communication to be established with the meter reading meter 13 in the customer's house 1. In this way, even when the NDA 20 is connected to the terminal device 12 in the customer's home 1, the meter reading meter 13 can be reliably controlled from the automatic meter reading center 2.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flowcharts of the network control device of the present invention in an example of the ring preemption non-ringing response. Hereinafter, description will be given along a flow. In the description of FIG. 5, the specific ringing pattern is identified by the time interval between the temporary ringing and the ringing. However, in the following, the ringing pattern will be described in consideration of the number of rings.

First, the call detecting means 1 of the network control device 11
12 is initially in a ring detection standby state (step 60).
1). When a sound is generated (step 602), the sound is detected (step 603), and it is determined whether or not the sound is temporary ringing (step 604). Here, whether or not the ringing is temporary ringing can be determined based on whether or not the ringing time and ringing interval are each about 0.5 seconds. At this time, since it is difficult to detect the ringing time (about 0.5 seconds) of the initial temporary ringing, the determination may be made based on the ringing interval (ringing pause time) of about 0.5 seconds. If the ringing is not temporary ringing, normal non-ringing response processing is performed (step 60).
5) Return to the ringing detection standby state (step 601).

If the ringing is provisional ringing in step 604, the ringing occurs again from the telephone exchange 3 to the network control device 11 after the NDA 20 has temporarily gone on-hook. Network control device 1
1 judges whether or not the ringing is detected after a lapse of a predetermined time (T0) from the first ringing (step 60).
7). The detected sound is a predetermined time (T
0) If it is determined that the sound is a sound after the elapse, the number of times the sound is detected is counted (step 608). It is determined whether or not the counted number is a part of a specific calling pattern, that is, whether it is within a predetermined number of times (step 609). For example, in the case of the ladder diagram shown in FIG. 5, the predetermined number is one. If the sound does not stop within the specified number of times,
It is determined that there is an incoming call from a third party (step 609). If the ringing stops within a predetermined number of times, there is a possibility that the calling pattern is a specific calling pattern, so that the state shifts to a self-off-hook standby state (step 610). Note that the ringing at the T0 interval does not have to be performed once.

The self-off-hook standby state (step 61)
In (0), the apparatus is in a standby state to detect the sound again. Again, when a ringing occurs, it is determined whether or not the occurrence of the first ringing in that state is within a predetermined time T1 seconds (step 611). If it is not within T1 seconds, it is determined that there is an incoming call from a third party (step 620). If it is within T1, it is determined that it is a specific call pattern, the telephone goes off-hook, and the call from the automatic meter reading center 2 which is the caller is received. The apparatus enters a signal waiting state or a waiting state after transmitting a signal to the automatic meter reading center 2 (step 612).

If a signal from the automatic meter reading center 2 is not received (step 614) and a predetermined time has elapsed (step 617), it is determined that there is an incoming call from a third party (step 618), and no sound is generated. On-hook as it is (Step 6
19).

When a signal from the automatic meter reading center 2 is received (steps 613 and 614), the network controller 11
Controls the switching so that the telephone line 4 and the meter reading meter 13 are connected, and communication between the automatic meter reading center 2 and the meter reading meter 13 is established (step 615). When the communication between the automatic meter reading center 2 and the meter meter 13 is completed normally (step 616), the process shifts to the initial state. The communication time between the automatic meter reading center 2 and the meter meter 13 is managed by a timer, and when a predetermined time has elapsed (step 621), the processing is terminated and the state shifts to the initial state.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 609 that the detected ringing does not stop within a predetermined number of times and is determined to be an incoming call from a third party, the communication terminal device 12 such as a telephone connected to the subsequent stage of the network control device 11 , And detects whether the terminal device 12 has gone off-hook (step 631). When the call is stopped without being hooked off (step 63
In 5), the process ends and shifts to the initial state.

After the terminal device 12 goes off-hook (step 631), monitoring of the terminal device 12 at the subsequent stage on-hook is started (step 632). Terminal device 12 at the subsequent stage
Is on-hook (step 633), the NDA
20 disconnects the telephone line 4 from the terminal device 12 and ends the on-hook monitoring of the terminal device 12 at the subsequent stage. Next, the network controller 11 starts off-hook monitoring at the subsequent stage again (step 634), and ends the processing.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are flowcharts on the automatic meter reading center side with respect to the flowchart of the network control device described above. Hereinafter, the description will be made along the flow.

First, a communication request to the meter reading meter 13 is issued from the control section of the automatic meter reading center 2 (step 8).
01), dial the call destination (step 80)
2) Call up a predetermined number of times (step 80)
3). At this time, even if the terminal device 12 or the network control device 11 of the customer house 1 goes off-hook, the automatic meter reading center 2 goes on-hook and does not perform communication. That is, as described in FIG. 5, the telephone line 4 is disconnected in response to the reception of the first RBT signal.

Next, in accordance with a specific calling pattern, dialing is performed again when T1 seconds have elapsed from the first dialing (step 804). At this time, it is detected whether or not the network control device 11 of the customer house 1 has gone off-hook (step 805).

If off-hook is not performed after a predetermined time has elapsed (step 806), it is determined that the incoming call sequence has failed (step 812), and on-hook is performed to end communication (step 815). At this time, if the number of retries is equal to or more than the predetermined number (step 816), communication failure is displayed (step 817). If the number is less than the predetermined number, the call to the customer home 1 is made again.

When the network controller 11 of the customer home 1 goes off-hook (step 805), the network controller 11 is called by a modem and waits for a response from the network controller (step 807).

When a response from the network control device 11 is not notified even after a predetermined time has elapsed (step 80)
8, 809), it is estimated that the terminal device 12 connected to the network control device 11 is off-hook (step 81).
1) The process ends without notifying the talkie. The talkie here is "This is Tokyo Gas. I called for gas meter reading. Please do not pick up the phone the next time you call."
Etc. message. As described above, on-hook (step 815) is performed without notifying the talkie, and if the number of retries is equal to or more than the predetermined number (step 816), communication is disabled (step 817), and the process ends.

When a response from the network control device 11 is notified (step 808), communication is performed between the network control device 11 and the automatic meter reading center 2 (step 81).
0). If the communication has been completed normally (step 813), the communication device goes on-hook (step 814), shifts to the initial state, and ends. If the communication did not end normally,
On-hook (step 815), and if the number of retries is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (step 816), communication is disabled (step 817), and the process ends.

If the number of retries is less than a predetermined number,
First, a communication disabled retry request is displayed (step 818). Then, for example, when 30 seconds or more have elapsed from the last call (step 819), the call is made again. Where I
If an SDN line is used and a call is made using the subaddress in the first call pattern sending stage, then the call is made without using the subaddress (step 820). As a result, even if the subaddress of the network connection device 11 to be connected has been changed, the call can be connected.

In another embodiment, the pattern of the ringing signal received is some or one of the signals of the specific calling pattern.
If the network controller 11 determines that the elements match one specific call pattern, the network controller 11 does not go off-hook, and may call back a specific caller after the call is completed. That is, the network control device 11
The telephone number of the automatic meter reading center 2 is stored, or the communication terminal (the meter reading meter 13) connected to this phone number.
) Can be called back.

Even if all of the specified call patterns are matched, the network controller 11 may call back without going off-hook. This is because, for example, if an attempt is made to exclude a pattern that deviates from a specific call pattern at all, an urgent important communication is overlooked and a call cannot be received.

If the discrimination of the specific call pattern is loosened in order to prevent such an important communication from being missed and the incoming call is not received, the case where the network controller 11 erroneously goes off-hook the call from the third party may be considered. However, by performing the callback, there is no danger that the network control device 11 will off-hook the call of the third party by mistake, and the danger of overlooking the urgent important communication can be eliminated at the same time.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are flowcharts of the ringback without ringing. Hereinafter, description will be made along the flow.

Call detection means 112 of network control device 11
Is initially in a ringing detection standby state (step 100
1). When a sound is generated (step 1002), the sound is detected (step 1003), and the time when the sound is generated is stored. Then, it is determined whether the ringing of the ringing is the temporary ringing (step 1004). If the ringing of the ringing is not the temporary ringing, a normal non-ringing response process is performed (step 1005), and the state returns to the ringing detection standby state (step 1001).

If the ringing of the ringing is the provisional ringing, it waits for the ringing of the main ringing to occur next, and determines whether the ringing of the main ringing occurs after a predetermined time T0 seconds (step 1006). If it is not after the predetermined time T0 seconds, it is determined that the incoming call is from a third party (step 1026).
If it is after the predetermined time T0 seconds, there is a possibility that the pattern is a specific pattern, and the number of times of sounding is counted (step 1007).

Next, it is determined whether or not the count is a predetermined number (step 1008). If the ringing is stopped less than the predetermined number of times, there is a possibility that the pattern is a specific pattern.
Continue with 9).

Next, it is determined whether or not the second occurrence of temporary ringing occurs after a predetermined time T1 seconds (step 1).
010). If it is not after the predetermined time T1 seconds, it is determined that there is an incoming call from a third party (step 1026), and the predetermined time T1
If it is after seconds, it may be a specific pattern,
The number of sounds is counted (step 1012).

Next, it is determined whether or not the counted number is less than a predetermined number (step 1013). When the ringing stops after the predetermined number of times, the second dial for callback is read from the meter reading meter 13 (step 1014).

Next, the user goes off-hook and dials the automatic meter reading center 2 with the second dial read (step 10).
15). Then, it is detected whether or not the automatic meter reading center 2 goes off-hook (step 1016). If the automatic meter reading center 2 does not go off-hook even after the lapse of the predetermined time (step 1017), the dial is wrong (step 1).
024), if the number of retries is equal to or more than the predetermined number (step 1025), the processing is terminated, and the state shifts to the initial state. If the number of retries has not reached the predetermined number, the operation from step 1014 is retried.

If the automatic meter reading center 2 goes off-hook in response to the call from the network controller 11 (step 1016), the network controller 11 sends a specific signal to the automatic meter reading center 2 (step 1018). Automatic meter reading center 2
Responds to a specific signal from the network control device 11 with a specific signal. When the specific signal is received (step 1019), communication is performed between the automatic meter reading center 2 and the network control device 11 (step 102).
1). When the communication ends normally (step 1022)
Ends the processing and shifts to the initial state. When a predetermined time has elapsed without normal termination of communication (step 10
23), it is determined that the dial is wrong (step 102).
4) If the number of retries is equal to or more than a predetermined number (step 1)
025), ending the processing and shifting to the initial state.

On the other hand, steps 1008 and 10
In 13, if it is determined that the ringing does not stop for less than a predetermined number of times and the incoming call is made by a third party, it is connected to a communication terminal device 12 such as a telephone connected to the subsequent stage of the network control device 11. To detect if the user has gone off-hook (step 1
031). If the call is aborted without being hooked off (step 1035), the processing is terminated and shifts to the initial state.

After the terminal device 12 has gone off-hook (step 1031), on-hook monitoring of the terminal device 12 at the subsequent stage is started (step 1032). If the terminal device 12 at the subsequent stage goes on-hook (step 1033),
The NDA 20 disconnects the telephone line 4 from the terminal device 12 and ends the on-hook monitoring of the terminal device 12 at the subsequent stage. next,
The network control device 11 starts off-hook monitoring at the subsequent stage again (step 1034), and ends the process.

FIGS. 12 and 13 are flowcharts on the automatic meter reading center 2 side with respect to the flowchart of the network control device 11 for performing the above-described callback. Hereinafter, description will be made along the flow.

First, when a communication request to the meter reading meter is issued from the control part of the center (step 1201),
Dialing is performed to the call destination (step 1202), and the call is made a predetermined number of times (step 1203). At this time, the terminal device 12 such as the NDA 20 or the telephone of the customer house 1
Even if the network control device 11 goes off-hook, the automatic meter reading center 2 goes on-hook and does not perform communication. A predetermined time T1 from the first dialing according to a particular calling pattern
When a second has elapsed, dialing is performed again (step 1).
204). Then, it is called up a predetermined number of times (step 1205).

Next, it waits for a callback from the network controller 11 (step 1206). If the network controller 11 has been called back (step 1208), it waits for a call from the network controller 11 by a modem (step 1209). If the callback has not been made after a predetermined time has elapsed (step 1223), it is estimated that the incoming sequence has failed (step 1214), and the terminal goes on-hook to end the processing. At this time, if the number of retries is equal to or more than a predetermined number (step 1218), communication failure is displayed (step 1219). If the number of retries is less than the number, the call to customer house 1 is made again.

While waiting for a call from the network controller 11 by a modem (step 1209), if no response is notified after a predetermined time has elapsed (step 1211), an incoming call from a third party is received. (Step 121
3) Then, it waits for a callback from the network control device 11 again (step 1206). When the response is notified (step 1210), the network control device 11 switches so that the telephone line 4 and the meter reading meter 13 are connected, and communication is established between the automatic meter reading center 2 and the meter reading meter 13. (Step 1212). If the communication has been completed normally (step 1215), it goes off-hook (step 121).
6) to end the processing and shift to the initial state.

In the above description, an automatic meter reading system has been described as an embodiment of a system using the network control device of the present invention. However, application of the present invention to various selective automatic incoming call control devices will be described. Various changes, modifications, and omissions in the scope of ideas and viewpoints can be easily made by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the above description is merely an example and is not intended to be limiting. The invention is limited only as defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

[0089]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a plurality of communication terminal devices at a customer's house can be used by using a specific call pattern corresponding to the communication terminal device.
Selective automatic incoming call operation becomes possible. For this reason, even if the terminal device at the customer's home is connected to a special adapter corresponding to a number display or the like, it does not require the presence of a person, etc.
It is possible to automatically switch to a specific remote control device such as a meter reading meter.

Further, even if the pattern deviates from the specific pattern, it is possible to communicate with a specific sender without erroneous off-hook and without overlooking it.

Further, when the network control device detects a specific calling pattern, the network control device can automatically go off-hook without ringing a telephone or the like, which is a communication terminal device at the subsequent stage. Therefore, the network control device can perform communication between the automatic meter reading center and the communication terminal device without transmitting the call signal to the subsequent terminal device.

Further, when it is determined that the call signal is not a specific call pattern, the network control device determines that the call is from a third party, and transmits the call signal to the subsequent communication terminal device. The terminal will ring normally. At this time, if there is a person at the customer's home or a telephone terminal device having an automatic call receiving function is connected, the communication between the communication terminal device and the center is performed by off-hook of the subsequent communication terminal device. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an automatic meter reading system having a network control device connected to a telephone line according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a telephone exchange system having IN facilities.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an automatic meter reading system having a network control device connected to an ISDN line according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an automatic meter reading system in which network connection devices according to the present invention are connected in series.

FIG. 5 is a first part of a flowchart of a ring preemption non-ringing response of the network control device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart subsequent to the flowchart of the ring preemption ringing response of the network control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a first stage of a flowchart of a ring preemption non-ringing response of the automatic metering center according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is the second half of the flowchart of the ring preemption non-ringing response of the automatic meter reading center according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is the first stage of the flowchart of the ringing non-ringing callback of the network control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart subsequent to the flowchart of the ringing non-ringing callback of the network control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a first part of a flowchart of a ring non-ringing callback of the automatic meter reading center according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart subsequent to the flowchart of the ring non-ringing callback of the automatic meter reading center according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of an automatic meter reading system using a conventional network control device.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for automatic meter reading using a conventional network control device.

FIG. 15 is an operation flowchart of a network control device in a conventional ringing communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Consumer house 2 Automatic meter reading center 3 Telephone exchange 4 Telephone line 5 ISDN exchange 6 ISDN line 7 Service control station 11, 18 Network control device 12 Terminal device 13, 19 Meter reading meter 14 DSU 15 TA 16 Analog communication terminal device, Telephone 17 Digital Communication terminal device 20 NDA 21 Common line signal network 22 Information terminal 71 Database 72 Control device 111, 181 On / off hook detecting means 112, 182 Call detecting means 721 Service control unit 722 Service management unit

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tetsuya Hara 70, Yanagicho, Saiwai-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term in Toshiba Yanagicho Plant (reference) 2F073 AA06 AB05 BB09 BC01 CC01 CC01 CC12 DE13 FG03 GG01 5K048 AA05 BA36 DA02 DC07 EB01 HA01 HA02 5K101 KK12 LL01 LL03 MM07 NN03 NN18 NN21 NN32 PP07 UU05 UU16 UU20

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. A selective automatic incoming call method in a communication facility comprising a network control device (hereinafter also referred to as NCU) connected to a telephone line and a plurality of terminal devices connected thereto; At least one of the terminal devices has a function corresponding to a specific paging signal other than a normal paging signal, and at least one of the other terminal devices is an automatic terminating terminal; Detecting a predetermined pattern of the specific call signal transmitted from the caller; (b) switching a network to the automatic receiving terminal according to the predetermined pattern of the specific call signal; A selective automatic call receiving method comprising establishing communication with an automatic call receiving terminal. 2. A selective automatic call receiving method in a communication system including a telephone exchange, an NCU connected to the NCU via a telephone line, and a plurality of terminal devices connected to the NCU; At least one of the terminal devices has a function corresponding to a specific call signal other than a normal call signal, and at least one of the other terminal devices is an automatic incoming call terminal; Detecting a predetermined pattern of the specific call signal transmitted from the caller of (b), switching the network to the automatic call receiving terminal according to the predetermined pattern of the specific call signal,
And (c) establishing a communication between the caller and the automatic call receiving terminal. 3. The telephone line is a digital line, the specific call signal includes a subaddress, and the step (a) selects a terminal adapter (TA) in which the subaddress is set according to the subaddress. And
3. The selective automatic termination method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined pattern of the specific call signal transmitted from the specific caller is detected by the NCU connected to the TA. 4. The selection according to claim 3, wherein, if the establishment of the communication in the step (c) fails, the method further comprises (d) recalling the specific call signal without adding a subaddress. Automatic incoming call method. 5. The predetermined pattern of the specific call signal is characterized in that the specific caller or the telephone exchange terminates the call after a fixed time after transmitting the specific call signal. 5. The selective automatic incoming call method according to claim 1, wherein: 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined pattern comprises a combination of a plurality of patterns, and the step (c) includes the step of determining whether the specific caller is specified when at least one of the patterns is included in the call signal. The selective automatic call receiving method according to claim 1, wherein a call is made back to establish communication between the caller and the automatic call receiving terminal. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, in the step (c), prior to the callback, a telephone number of the specific caller used in the callback is referred to from the automatic receiving terminal. Incoming call method. 8. A terminal device other than the automatic incoming call terminal is connected to a subsequent stage of the NCU, the NCU waits in a state where a call signal to the terminal device is not always transmitted, and the step (a) includes: 8. The selective automatic call receiving method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting a call signal to a terminal device other than the automatic call receiving terminal connected to a subsequent stage when the received call signal is identified as being other than the predetermined pattern. 9. The predetermined pattern is prepared in a plurality of types of predetermined patterns, and when a plurality of NCUs are installed, the step (a) is performed according to the plurality of types of predetermined patterns. 9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising selectively calling an arbitrary NCU from the plurality of NCUs. 10. A network control device connected between a telephone line and a plurality of terminal devices and connecting the telephone line to any one of the plurality of terminal devices; At least one of the terminal devices has a function corresponding to a specific paging signal other than a normal paging signal, and at least one of the other terminal devices is an automatic terminating terminal; Call detection means for detecting that the received call signal is a predetermined call pattern of a specific call signal, and connection means for connecting a terminal device corresponding to the call pattern detected by the call detection means to the telephone line. A network control device, comprising: 11. The call pattern is a pattern defined by the number of calls and a call interval time,
Alternatively, the pattern is such that the calling is stopped after the specific ringing signal sounds a predetermined number of times, and the calling is stopped after the specific ringing signal sounds a predetermined number of times again within a predetermined time from the previous ringing. The network control device according to claim 10, wherein: 12. The network control device according to claim 10, wherein the call pattern is composed of a combination of a plurality of types of patterns. 13. The call detecting means is configured to determine that the call pattern has been detected when detecting one or more types of patterns among the plurality of types of the call patterns. Item 13. The network control device according to Item 12. 14. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said connecting means controls to go off-hook when said telephone line is connected to said automatic incoming call terminal according to said calling pattern. 15. The network control apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a callback unit for calling a signal of a specific telephone number when said call detection unit detects said call pattern. . 16. The network control device according to claim 15, wherein said callback means is configured to obtain said specific telephone number to be called from said automatic receiving terminal. 17. The paging detecting means, when judging that the received specific paging signal is not the predetermined paging pattern, sends the specific paging signal to a terminal device other than the automatic receiving terminal connected at a subsequent stage. 17. The network control device according to claim 10, wherein the network control device controls the flow. 18. A central processing center, a network controller according to claim 10 connected to said central processing center via a telephone line, and connected to said network controller to communicate with said central processing center. An automatic receiving terminal, the central processing center sends a specific paging signal corresponding to the automatic receiving terminal to the network control device in a predetermined call pattern, and the network control device A system characterized in that the central processing center and the automatic incoming call terminal can communicate with each other according to a predetermined call pattern. 19. The system according to claim 18, wherein said telephone line is an analog telephone line. 20. The telephone line is a digital line such as ISDN, a line termination device is connected to the digital line, a terminal adapter is connected to the line termination device, and the network control is connected to the terminal adapter. 19. The system according to claim 18, wherein the device is connected. 21. The system according to claim 20, wherein a subaddress is set in said terminal adapter, and said central processing center attaches said subaddress to a call signal and makes a call in a predetermined call pattern. . 22. The central processing center, when a connection to a call in the predetermined call pattern fails,
22. The system of claim 21, wherein the system is configured to place the call again without the subaddress. 23. A plurality of the network control devices are connected in series, different call patterns are set for each of the network control devices, and the automatic incoming call terminals connected to each of the network control devices are connected to the different call terminals. 23. The system according to claim 18, wherein the call is selectively performed by a pattern. 24. A plurality of automatic incoming terminals are connected in parallel to the network control device, and different call patterns are set for each of the automatic incoming terminals, and the automatic incoming terminals are selectively selected according to the different call patterns. 23. The system according to claims 18 to 22, wherein the system can be called at the same time. 25. The central processing center is an automatic meter reading center, the automatic reception terminal is a meter reading meter, and the network control device is capable of communicating with the automatic meter reading center and the meter reading meter. 25. The system according to claim 18, wherein the system is controlled. 26. Service control station (hereinafter referred to as SCP)
And a destination exchange controlled by the SCP, comprising: an originating call from a specific caller identified by the SCP; and a normal paging signal via the destination exchange. A specific paging signal other than a normal paging signal via the destination exchange is identified by calling the called party by a predetermined calling pattern of a specific paging signal other than the normal paging signal. Calling the called party with a predetermined calling pattern of the above-mentioned, or calling the called party from a specified calling party to the specified called party.
An exchange system for a selective call receiving system, which identifies a specific called party by a predetermined calling pattern of a specific calling signal other than a normal calling signal at the time of originating through the destination exchange, identified by P.