JP2004186843A - Voice gateway apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice gateway apparatus which keeps quality of voice by dynamically changing priority of a voice packet by each voice communication type so as to preferentially transmit a priority call. <P>SOLUTION: A voice packet measurement section 111 calculates the loss rate and the delay time of a voice packet by each communication opposite party and sets the result to a monitor object table 131. A voice communication quality decision section 112 compares the loss rate and the delay time of the voice packets in the monitor object table 131 with reference values in a discrimination reference value table 132, sets the voice communication quality to be 'defective' when either of them is more than the reference value, and sets the voice communication quality to be 'good' when both of them are lower than the reference values. A packet priority decision section 113 decrements the priority degree by one when the voice communication quality is 'good', and increments the priority degree by one when the voice communication quality is 'poor'. At packet transmission, the monitor object table 131 is referenced and the packet priority by each communication opposite party is set to a TOS. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a voice gateway device, and more particularly to a voice gateway device capable of monitoring an IP network and setting a priority of a voice packet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
VoIP (Voice Over IP) is a voice communication technology using an IP network, and is implemented by transmitting voice packets and call control packets over the IP network by IP. Further, this type of conventional VoIP is realized by connecting an IP telephone and an IP network via a voice gateway device.
[0003]
Also, voice packets and call control packets need to be transmitted preferentially over an IP network to ensure voice communication quality. Therefore, in voice communication using a conventional IP network, a priority is added to each IP packet by using TOS (Type Of Service) in an IP header (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-33763 A (page 3)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the prior art described above, when assigning a priority to a voice packet on an IP network, a unique priority is usually added in the network. Also, once determined, the priority was not dynamically changed. Therefore, in the prior art, the priority of all voice communication is uniform, and when a failure such as congestion occurs in the IP network, voice packets and call control packets are discarded, delayed, etc. There was a problem that it might be affected.
[0006]
In the voice communication, there are voice communication types having different priorities, such as a priority call for an emergency call and a general call for a general call. In the prior art, since all voice communications are treated equally, there has been a problem that a priority call cannot be connected due to congestion of an IP network or a call quality cannot be maintained due to a cut-off of sound.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the present invention dynamically changes the priority of a voice packet and a call control packet for each voice communication type so that a priority call is transmitted preferentially and a voice quality is improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a voice gateway device capable of maintaining the same.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that in voice communication using an IP network, a loss rate and a delay amount of a voice packet are measured, and the priority of the voice packet is changed during a call according to the measurement result. I do.
[0009]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in voice communication using an IP network, a loss rate and a delay amount of each voice packet are measured during a call, and if the measurement result holds a predetermined reference value, the voice packet It is characterized in that the priority is lowered, and when the measurement result does not hold a predetermined reference value, the priority of the voice packet is raised.
[0010]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in voice communication using an IP network, a packet loss rate and a delay amount of each voice packet are measured, and a predetermined judgment reference value is compared with a measurement value to compare the measured value. A network monitoring unit for determining a priority, a packet loss rate and an average delay amount measured by the network monitoring unit, and a monitoring target table for storing a voice packet priority determined by the network monitoring unit; A criterion value table for storing a criterion value for determining a packet loss rate and a delay amount, and a priority setting means for setting the priority for the voice packet and transmitting the voice packet to an IP network.
[0011]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the network monitoring means lowers the priority of the voice packet when the measured packet loss rate and delay amount exceed the criterion value, and decreases the priority when the measured packet loss rate and the delay amount fall below the criterion value. It is characterized by raising the priority of voice packets.
[0012]
The invention set forth in claim 5 is characterized in that the priority setting means sets the priority in the TOS in the IP header of the voice packet.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the voice gateway device of the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the voice gateway device of the present embodiment includes an IP network monitoring function 11, a priority setting function 12, and a management table 13.
[0014]
The IP network monitoring function 11 monitors a voice packet to measure a packet loss rate and a voice packet delay time, and a voice communication quality that determines a voice communication quality based on a measurement result and a criterion value. It has a determination unit 112 and a packet priority determination unit 113 that determines a packet priority based on voice communication quality.
[0015]
The priority setting function 12 has a function of referring to the priority in the monitoring target table 131 and setting the TOS in the IP header when transmitting a voice packet and a call control packet to the IP network.
[0016]
The management table 13 includes a monitoring target table 131 for storing a voice communication type, a packet loss rate, a delay time, a voice quality, and a voice packet priority for each monitored telephone number, and a determination criterion for determining the voice communication quality. A determination reference value table 132 for storing values (for priority calls and general calls).
[0017]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The voice gateway device sets in advance the voice type (priority call, general call) for each communication partner that performs voice communication in the monitoring target table 131. In addition, the voice gateway device sets a determination reference value for a priority call and a determination reference value for a general call in the determination reference value table 132 in advance.
[0018]
The voice packet measuring unit 111 is activated every time a voice packet is received, calculates the average of the voice packet loss rate and the voice packet delay time for each communication partner, and sets the average in the monitoring target table 131.
[0019]
Next, the voice communication quality determination unit 112 is activated, and compares the voice packet loss rate and voice packet delay time for each communication destination in the monitoring target table 131 with the reference value set in the determination reference value table. If one of the voice packet loss rate and the voice packet delay time exceeds the reference value, the voice communication quality in the monitoring target table 131 is set to “poor”.
[0020]
If both the voice packet loss rate and the voice packet delay time are below the reference values, the voice communication quality in the monitoring target table 131 is set to “good”. Further, the packet priority determining unit 113 is activated, and when the voice communication quality in the monitoring target table 131 is “good”, the priority in the monitoring target table 131 is lowered by one. Conversely, when the voice communication quality in the monitoring target table 131 is “defective”, the priority in the monitoring target table 131 is increased by one.
[0021]
Next, when transmitting the voice packet and the call control packet to the IP network, the TOS setting value is determined by referring to the monitoring target table 131 and using the packet priority of each communication partner.
[0022]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a VoIP network constructed using the voice gateway device of the present embodiment. Telephones 23 and 24 make a call through the voice gateway 21 and the voice gateway 22. Note that the voice call type of this call is a priority call. The operation focusing on the voice gateway 21 will be described below.
[0023]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the criterion value table in the voice gateway 21, in which a voice packet loss rate and a voice packet delay time of a priority call and a general call are set in advance. In this embodiment, the voice packet loss rate of the priority call is set to 2%, the voice packet delay time is set to 20 ms, the voice packet loss rate of the general call is set to 5%, and the voice packet delay time is set to 50 ms.
[0024]
When the telephones 23 and 24 are in a voice call state, voice packets are transmitted between the voice gateway 21 and the voice gateway 22. The voice packet measuring unit 111 is activated every time a voice packet is received by the voice gateway 21, measures a voice packet loss rate and a voice packet delay time, and outputs the result to the voice packet in the monitoring target table 31 shown in FIG. Set the loss rate and voice packet delay time. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the voice packet loss rate is 0% and the voice packet delay time is 30 ms.
[0025]
Further, the voice communication quality determination unit 112 compares the set value of the monitoring target table 31 with the reference value of the determination reference value table 41 in FIG. 4 to determine the voice communication quality. In the present embodiment, the voice packet loss rate is equal to or less than the criterion value, but the voice packet delay time exceeds the criterion value, so that the voice communication quality is determined to be “bad”. Next, the packet priority determination unit 113 is activated, and changes the priority of the monitoring target table. In the present embodiment, the priority “5” is changed to “6”.
[0026]
When transmitting the voice packet to the IP network, the priority is set in the monitoring target table 31 and set in the TOS. Since the priority of the destination telephone number 111-1111 in the monitoring target table 31 is "6", "6" is set in the TOS, and the voice packet is transmitted to the IP network.
[0027]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a telephone 54 and a telephone 56 perform voice communication through a voice gateway 51 and a voice gateway 52, and a telephone 55 and a telephone 57 perform voice communication through a voice gateway 51 and a voice gateway 53. I do. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the type of voice communication between the telephones 54 and 56 is a priority call, and the type of voice communication between the telephones 55 and 57 is a general call.
[0028]
The operation will be described below focusing on the voice gateway 51. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the criterion value table of the voice gateway 51. In the determination reference value table, reference values for the voice packet loss rate and the voice packet delay time are set for each of the priority call and the general call. In this embodiment, the voice packet loss rate of the priority call is set to 2%, the voice packet delay time is set to 20 ms, the voice packet loss rate of the general call is set to 5%, and the voice packet delay time is set to 50 ms.
[0029]
When the telephones 54 and 56 are in a voice call state, voice packets are transmitted between the voice gateway 51 and the voice gateway 52. The voice packet measuring unit 111 is activated each time a voice packet is received by the voice gateway 51, measures the voice packet loss rate and the voice packet delay time, and reports the result to the voice packet loss rate in the monitoring target table 61 in FIG. Rate and voice packet delay time. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the voice packet loss rate is 0% and the voice packet delay time is 30 ms.
[0030]
Further, the voice communication quality determining unit 112 compares the set value of the monitoring target table 61 with the reference value of the determination reference value table 71 in FIG. 7 to determine the voice communication quality. In the present embodiment, the voice packet loss rate is equal to or less than the criterion value, but the voice packet delay time exceeds the criterion value, so that the voice communication quality is determined to be “bad”.
[0031]
Next, the packet priority determination unit 113 is activated, and changes the priority of the monitoring target table. In this embodiment, the priority of the priority call is already the highest value “7”, and the priority cannot be raised any more. Therefore, the general call in the monitoring target table is searched, and if a general call exists, the priority of the general call is lowered. In the present embodiment, since the telephones 55 and 57 (telephone numbers 222-2222) are general calls, the priority is lowered from “5” to “4”. The priority of the voice packet addressed to the telephone set 56 (telephone number 111-1111) is set to "7", and the priority of the voice packet addressed to the telephone set 57 (telephone number 222-2222) is set to "4" in the TOS. Send to IP network.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
The first effect is that by monitoring the reception state of voice packets for each voice communication destination, the congestion state of the network is predicted to dynamically change the priorities of the transmission voice packets and the call control packets, thereby improving the voice communication quality. It is possible to secure.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a voice gateway device according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a VoIP network configuration in which the voice gateway device of the embodiment is used.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring table for the voice gateway 21.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a judgment reference value table for the voice gateway 21.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a VoIP network configuration according to a second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring target table for the voice gateway 51.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a judgment reference value table for the voice gateway 51.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Network monitoring function 12 Priority setting function 13 Management table 21 Voice gateway 22 Voice gateway 23 Telephone 24 Telephone 31 Monitoring target table 41 for voice gateway 21 Judgment reference value table 51 for voice gateway 21 Voice gateway 52 Voice gateway 53 Voice gateway 54 Telephone 55 Telephone 56 Telephone 57 Telephone 61 Monitoring target table 71 for voice gateway 51 Determination reference value table 111 for voice gateway 51 Voice packet measuring unit 112 Voice communication quality determining unit 113 Packet priority determining unit 121 Packet transmitting unit 131 Monitoring target table 132 Determination Reference value table

Claims (5)

In a voice communication using an IP network, a voice gateway device that measures a loss rate and a delay amount of a voice packet and changes the priority of the voice packet during a call according to the measurement result. In voice communication using an IP network, the loss rate and delay amount of each voice packet are measured during a call, and if the measurement result holds a predetermined reference value, the priority of the voice packet is lowered, and the measurement result is reduced. A voice gateway device wherein the priority of a voice packet is raised when a predetermined reference value is not held. In voice communication using an IP network, a network monitoring unit that measures a packet loss rate and a delay amount for each voice packet, compares a measured value with a predetermined determination reference value, and determines a priority of the voice packet. A monitoring target table for storing the packet loss rate and the average delay amount measured by the network monitoring means, and the voice packet priority determined by the network monitoring means; and determining the packet loss rate and the delay amount for each voice type. A voice gateway device comprising: a criterion value table for storing a reference value; and priority setting means for setting the priority for the voice packet and transmitting the voice packet to an IP network. The network monitoring means lowers the priority of the voice packet when the measured packet loss rate and delay amount exceed the criterion value, and raises the priority of the voice packet when the measured packet loss rate and delay amount are lower than the criterion value. 4. The voice gateway device according to claim 3, wherein: 5. The voice gateway device according to claim 3, wherein said priority setting means sets a priority to a TOS in an IP header of a voice packet.

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