Communications apparatus and method

摘要

A communications apparatus includes a router 10 , a network address translator 12 and a connection controller 11 . The connection controller 11 governs the connection from LAN 1 to other networks such as the Internet. The LAN serves a number of terminals 2 to 7 . In the event that the connection controller determines that the link to a particular LAN is not used it will enter a short term hold process. After a predetermined time has elapse the connection is broken. However, this short term hold process can be circumvented by the network translator maintaining a record of the terminal use (or more particularly a port serving an application on the terminal). In the event that all the terminals are determined as not in use then a message is sent to the connection controller 11 indicating such and the connection is released. This avoids unnecessary connection cost and also enhances security of the LAN 1.