Packet transmission control method, packet transmission control apparatus and packet transmission control program product

1. A packet transmission control method comprising the steps of:

subtracting previous data group input time from current data group input time in order to obtain a difference time each time a data group is input;

subtracting said difference time from a packet transmission interval in order to obtain an interval difference;

adding said interval difference to a total difference time;

determining whether or not said total difference time is greater than a first predetermined value;

transmitting the input data group as a packet, if said total difference time is not greater than said first predetermined value; and

discarding the input data group and initializing said total difference time to a non-zero value obtained by subtracting said packet transmission interval from said total difference time, if said total difference time is greater than said first predetermined value.

2. The packet transmission control method according to claim 1 ,

wherein if said difference time is greater than a second predetermined value, the step of adding said interval difference to said total difference time is substituted by a step of initializing said total difference time to a third predetermined value.

3. The packet transmission control method according to claim 2 ,

wherein said third predetermined value is in a range between a value obtained by subtracting said packet transmission interval from said first predetermined value and said total difference time.

4. A packet transmission control apparatus comprising:

means for subtracting previous data group input time from current data group input time in order to obtain a difference time each time a data group is input;

means for subtracting said difference time from a packet transmission interval in order to obtain an interval difference;

means for adding said interval difference to a total difference time;

means for determining whether or not said total difference time is greater than a first predetermined value;

means for transmitting the input data group as a packet, if said total difference time is not greater than said first predetermined value; and

means for discarding the input data group and initializing said total difference time to a non-zero value obtained by subtracting said packet transmission interval from said total difference time, if said total difference time is greater than said first predetermined value.

5. The packet transmission control apparatus according to claim 4 ,

wherein if said difference time is greater than a second predetermined value, the means for adding said interval difference to said total difference time is substituted by means for initializing said total difference time to a third predetermined value.

6. The packet transmission means method according to claim 5 ,

wherein said third predetermined value is in a range between a value obtained by subtracting said packet transmission interval from said first predetermined value and said total difference time.

7. A packet transmission computer readable medium storing a control program product embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising codes that, when executed, cause a computer to perform a packet transmission control method, the packet transmission control method comprising the steps of:

subtracting previous data group input time from current data group input time in order to obtain a difference time each time a data group is input;

subtracting said difference time from a packet transmission interval in order to obtain an interval difference;

adding said interval difference to a total difference time;

determining whether or not said total difference time is greater than a first predetermined value;

transmitting the input data group as a packet, if said total difference time is not greater than said first predetermined value; and

discarding the input data group and initializing said total difference time to a non-zero value obtained by subtracting said packet transmission interval from said total difference time, if said total difference time is greater than said first predetermined value.

8. The packet transmission computer readable medium according to claim 7 ,

wherein if said difference time is greater than a second predetermined value, the step of adding said interval difference to said total difference time is substituted by a step of initializing said total difference time to a third predetermined value.

9. The packet transmission computer readable medium according to claim 8 ,

wherein said third predetermined value is in a range between a value obtained by subtracting said packet transmission interval from said first predetermined value and said total difference time.

10. The packet transmission control method according to claim 2 ,

wherein if said difference time is greater than the second predetermined value, muting of voice data is determined to have taken place, and

wherein the second predetermined value is set to a value about 10 times greater than the packet transmission interval.

11. The packet transmission control apparatus according to claim 5 ,

wherein if said difference time is greater than the second predetermined value, muting of voice data is determined to have taken place, and

wherein the second predetermined value is set to a value about 10 times greater than the packet transmission interval.

12. The packet transmission computer readable medium according to claim 8 ,

wherein if said difference time is greater than the second predetermined value, muting of voice data is determined to have taken place, and

wherein the second predetermined value is set to a value about 10 times greater than the packet transmission interval.