JP2003069969A - Multi-point conference system, directory server and conference terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need for a conference server on which video voice data are concentrated and a broadband channel required for the conference server and attains efficient multi-point conference. SOLUTION: A directory server which manages cross-reference between a user ID and a network address (attribute information) such as an IP address and a telephone number is provided onto a network and each conference terminal directly makes communication with other conference terminals not through the directory server by using the network address notified from the directory server.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multipoint conference system, a directory server, and a conference terminal.
The present invention relates to a multipoint conference system, a directory server, and a conference terminal in which a plurality of participants perform communication using video, voice, text, etc. via a communication network such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a system has been put into practical use for performing communication using video, music, text chat, etc. via the Internet or an intranet.
In such a conventional system, in order to communicate between a plurality of users, an MCU (Multipoint Connection Unit) usually installed on the network
Each conference terminal transmits video and audio to a conference server device called a reflector, a centralized device, etc.
Communication between multiple points is realized by relaying the received video and audio to other conference terminals.

Further, in most conventional systems, in order to specify a connection partner from a conference terminal, it is necessary for the calling party to know the network address such as the telephone number or IP address of the connection partner.

Some conventional systems use a directory server to resolve the network address of the other party. In such a system and a system capable of communicating with a large number of people, who and who are in the directory server Information about whether a conference is in progress is accumulated, and when the number of participants in the conference increases or decreases, the information is updated sequentially.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional multipoint conference system has the following problems.

[0006] First, by using the conference server, the hardware of the conference server is required, and the conference server requires a network connection of a remarkably wide band as compared with the terminal device. The problem is that it is usually expensive.

Further, there is a problem that a system which needs to know the network address of the other party to make a call cannot be used for the purpose of enjoying communication with an unknown party such as personal computer communication or Internet bulletin board. To do.

On the other hand, even in the system for solving the network address of the other party by using the directory server, the directory server needs to store the participants of the conference in order to enable communication by a large number of people. There is a problem that the load on the server becomes large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and does not require a conference server in which video and audio data is concentrated and a broadband line necessary for the conference server, and enables efficient multipoint conferences. An object is to provide a point conference system, a directory server, and a conference terminal.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

The present invention (Claim 1) is a multipoint conference system in which a plurality of participants can communicate by video, voice, text chat, etc. via a communication network including the Internet and ISDN, and is used on the network. User management table 130 that manages the correspondence between a person's ID and a network address including an IP address and a telephone number, a receiving unit 101 that receives information transmitted from the conference terminal 200, and a conference terminal 200 of the user of the ID.
To the conference terminal 200 that receives a participation response from the conference terminal 200 that made the inquiry, and if the participation response is returned, the conference terminals 200 participating in all the conferences. On the other hand, the new address notifying unit 103 for searching the network address of the newly participating conference terminal from the user management table and notifying the new address, and the conference terminal 200 participating in all the conferences for the newly participating conference terminal. A user who has already participated in the conference including himself / herself in the directory server 100 when the user makes a call to another user, and the directory server 100 has a participation address notifying unit 104 that notifies the network address. All IDs,
ID transmitting means 211 for transmitting the ID of a calling party who is expected to newly join, and a conference means for directly communicating with other conference terminals 200 by using the network address notified from the directory server 100, including video, voice, and text chat. 212 and.

The present invention (Claim 2) further comprises means for notifying the directory server of the user ID and the network address of the self terminal when the conference terminal 200 participating in the conference is connected to the network. However, the directory server 100 further includes means for accumulating the ID and the network address notified from the conference terminal 200 in the user management table.

According to the present invention (claim 3), the conference terminal 200 is connected to the network, and the conference terminal 2
00 notifies the directory server 100 of the ID of the terminal itself, the network address, and the attribute information of the terminal at any time during connection to the network, and the attribute information of the partner when calling the conference. The directory server 100 is further provided with a means for notifying, and in the directory server 100, the means for accumulating the attribute information notified from the conference terminal 200 in the user management table 130 and the attribute information requested from the conference terminal 200 match. It further comprises means for searching the conference terminal 200 for a conference terminal and inquiring about the conference participation to the conference terminal 200 thus searched.

The present invention (Claim 4) is a directory server in a multipoint conference system in which a plurality of participants can communicate by video, voice, text chat, etc. via a communication network including the Internet and ISDN. A user management table that manages the correspondence between the user ID and a network address including an IP address and a telephone number, a receiving unit that receives information transmitted from the conference terminal, and a conference terminal of the user of the ID. , An inquiry means for making a conference participation inquiry and accepting a return of the participation response from the conference terminal that made the inquiry, and to the conference terminals of all users participating in the conference when the participation response is returned. Search the network address of the newly joined conference terminal from the user management table. It has a new address notification means for knowledge, for new participants of the conference terminal, and the participation address notification means for notifying the network address of the conference terminal of all of the users who are participating in the conference.

The present invention (Claim 5) further comprises means for accumulating the ID and the network address notified from the conference terminal in the user management table.

According to the present invention (claim 6), a means for accumulating the attribute information notified from the conference terminal in the user management table and a conference terminal matching the attribute information requested from the conference terminal are searched from the user management table. , And means for inquiring about the conference participation to the retrieved conference terminal.

The present invention (Claim 7) is a conference terminal in a multipoint conference system, wherein a plurality of participants can communicate with each other through video, voice, text chat, etc. via a communication network including the Internet and ISDN. When a person makes a call to other users, it sends the IDs of all users who already participated in the conference, including themselves in the directory server, and the IDs of the callee terminals that are expected to newly join. The ID transmitting means and the conferencing means for directly communicating with other conference terminals including video, voice, and text chat by the network address notified from the directory server.

The present invention (claim 8) further comprises means for notifying the directory server of its own terminal ID and network address at the time of connection to the network.

According to the present invention (claim 9), the user ID, the network address of the own terminal, and the own terminal or the user are stored in the directory server at the time of connection to the network and at any time during connection to the network. And a means for notifying the directory server of the partner's attribute information when a conference call is made.

As described above, according to the present invention, a directory server for managing the correspondence between the user ID and the network address such as the IP address and the telephone number is provided on the network, and the network address acquired from the directory server is provided. Since the conference terminal directly exchanges the video and audio by using the conference server, the conference server and the broadband line used for the conference server which are required in the conventional system are not necessary.

Further, when a conference participant calls a new participant to the conference, the I of all the participants is stored in the directory server.
Since D is notified, it is not necessary for the directory server to remember who is in a meeting and who is in a meeting, and the load on the directory server is lighter than that of a system using a conventional directory server.

Further, since the ID and the network address are registered in the directory server when the user comes online, the call to the user who is using the conference terminal at the destination or the dynamic network address is registered. It is possible to make a call to the user of the allocated conference terminal.

By managing the attribute information notified from the conference terminal in the directory server, it is possible to make a call based on the attribute information instead of the ID of the other party. It is possible to make a call designated as "30s computer engineer".

[0024]

FIG. 2 shows a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The system shown in the figure comprises a directory server 100 and a plurality of conference terminals 200. Here, the conference terminals will be described as a newly participating conference terminal 200A, a conference terminal 200B as a communication partner, and a calling conference terminal 200C.

The directory server 100 includes a communication unit 11
0, a user management unit 120, and a user management table 130.

The communication unit 110 receives the IDs of all the conference participants from the calling conference terminal 200C, the IDs of the communication partners, or
The attribute information and the like are received and transferred to the user management unit 120.
Further, it transmits an inquiry about the participation in the conference to the conference terminal 200A and receives a response to the inquiry. Furthermore, the conference terminals 200B and C that require the ID, network address, attribute information, etc. of the new conference participant.
And the network address of the conference terminals 200B and 200C to the conference terminal 200A.

The user management unit 120 has a user ID and a network address transferred from the communication unit 110.
The attribute information and the like are stored in the user management table 130. Further, based on the information acquired from the communication unit 110, the information to be transferred to the communication unit 110 is selected and transferred.

The user management table 130 contains the user ID and IP address transferred from the user management section 120.
Correspondence with a network address such as a telephone number and attribute information are stored.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 3 is a sequence chart of the operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

The calling conference terminal 200C transmits to the directory server 100 the IDs of all the users who have already participated in the conference including the own terminal 200C and the IDs of the other parties (step 101). , Inquires about participation in the conference with respect to the conference terminal 200A of the user having the ID (step 102). The conference terminal 200A returns a response to the inquiry to the directory server 100 (step 103). The directory server 100 searches the user management table 130 and
The network addresses of the newly-joined conference terminals 200A retrieved are notified to the conference terminals 200B and C of all the participants (step 104). Further, for the newly participating conference terminal 200A, the user management table 130 is searched and the conference terminals 200B and 200C of all the existing participants are searched.
The network address of (step 10)
5). As a result, each conference terminal 200 can directly communicate with other conference terminals using video, voice, text chat, etc., by using the network address notified from the directory server 100.

[0033]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the multipoint conference system of one embodiment of the present invention.

The system shown in the figure comprises a directory server 100, a plurality of conference terminals 200, and a communication network 300 such as the Internet or ISDN.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below.

Numbers in circles in the figure correspond to numbers in circles in the following description.

It is assumed that the user of the conference terminal 200C, “Suzuki” in this example, and the user “Yamada” of the conference terminal 200B are conducting a communication conference.

At this time, when the user “Suzuki” of the conference terminal 200 C wants to add the ID “Tanaka” to the conference, for example, the call request is transmitted to the directory server 100.

This request contains at least the information {from "Suzuki" and "Yamada" to "Tanaka"}.

The directory server 100 searches the user management table 130 for the network address of the ID “Tanaka” using the requested ID “Tanaka” as a key.

The directory server 100 sends a request for communication from “Suzuki” and “Yamada” to the conference terminal 200 A of “Tanaka”.

The conference terminal 200 A inquires of the user via the input / output means such as GUI whether to accept the communication.

When the user of the conference terminal 200 A (“Tanaka” in this example) decides to receive a call, the conference terminal 200 A sends a call acceptance notification to the directory server 10.
Send to 0.

The directory server 100 receives the call acceptance notification of the conference terminal 200 C and the conference terminal 20.
0B is notified of the network address of the conference terminal 200A, and the conference terminal 200A is notified of the network addresses of the conference terminal 200C and the conference terminal 200B.

Conference terminal 200 B and conference terminal 200
C and the conference terminal 200A are the directory server 100.
Based on the network address of the other party notified from
Communication is performed without understanding the directory server 100.

The conference terminals 200A to 200N are provided with a video / audio output means and a user's operation means, but they are omitted because they are not an essential part of the present invention.

In the multipoint conference system of the present invention, the directory server 1 is connected to the network server when the user connects to the network prior to the above system operation.
It is also possible to notify 00 of the user's user ID and the network address (IP address or telephone number) at that time as a logon operation, and the directory server 100 can store the corresponding information in the user management table 130.

In addition, the directory server
In addition to D and the network address, the attribute information is also notified, and the directory server 100 stores the notified attribute information in the user management table 130 as well. Then
The conference terminal 200C) issues a call request by notifying the server of the attribute information (for example, "Ramen shop in the city", "computer engineer in thirties"), and thereby the directory server 100 is requested. When inquiring about the conference participation of the conference terminal of the user who matches the attribute information and returning a response indicating that the conference terminal participates in the inquiry, the directory server 100 determines that the network of the conference terminal is concerned. It is also possible to notify the conference terminal of the call request source of the address.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, the conference server where the video / audio data is concentrated and the broadband line required for the conference server, which are required in the conventional system, are not required.

Even if the conference terminal on the calling side does not know the network address of the conference terminal of the communication partner in advance, the call can be made by the ID of the partner or the attribute information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sequence chart of the operation in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the multipoint conference system in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 directory server 101 receiving means 102 means of inquiry 103 means for notifying new address 104 Participation address notification means 110 Communication unit 120 User Management Department 130 user management table 210 Communication unit 211 ID transmission means 212 Means of meeting

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Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A multipoint conference system in which a plurality of participants can communicate with each other through video, voice, text chat, etc. via a communication network including the Internet or ISDN, and the user's ID and IP address on the network. User management table for managing correspondence with network addresses including telephone numbers, receiving means for receiving information transmitted from the conference terminal, and a conference participation inquiry to the conference terminal of the user having the ID, Inquiring means for accepting return of participation response from the conference terminal that has made an inquiry, and when the participation response is returned, to the conference terminals participating in all conferences, the network of newly participating conference terminals A new address notifying means for retrieving and notifying an address from the user management table, A directory server having a participation address notifying means for notifying the newly participating conference terminals of the network addresses of the conference terminals participating in all the conferences, and the user calling for other users. In this case, the directory server includes the IDs of all the users who have already participated in the conference, including themselves, and the user IDs of the callers who are expected to newly join, and the directory server. A multipoint conference system comprising a conference terminal having another conference terminal and a conference means for performing communication including video, voice, and text chat directly by the network address notified from the conference terminal. 2. The conference terminal participating in the conference further comprises means for notifying the directory server of its own terminal or a user's ID and network address when the conference terminal is connected to the network. The multipoint conference system according to claim 1, wherein the server further comprises means for accumulating the ID and the network address notified from the conference terminal in the user management table. 3. The conference terminal, when connected to the network, and at any time during connection to the network, the directory server, the user ID, the network address of the own terminal, and the own terminal, or the user. And a means for notifying the directory server of the attribute information of the other party when the conference is called, and the directory server has the attribute notified by the conference terminal. Means for accumulating information in the user management table, and means for searching the user management table for a conference terminal that matches the attribute information requested by the conference terminal, and for inquiring about the conference participation to the retrieved conference terminal The multipoint conference system according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. A directory server in a multipoint conference system in which a plurality of participants can communicate with each other through video, voice, text chat, etc. via a communication network including the Internet and ISDN, and a user ID on the network. And a network address including an IP address and a telephone number, a user management table, receiving means for receiving information transmitted from the conference terminal, and a conference participation inquiry to the conference terminal of the user having the ID. An inquiring means for accepting the return of the participation response from the conference terminal that has made the inquiry, and, when the participation response is returned, the conference terminal newly participating in the conference terminals participating in all the conferences. Search the network address of the terminal from the user management table and notify. Directory server to the new address notification means, to said new participant of the conference terminal, characterized by having a participant address notification means for notifying the network address of the conference terminals participating in the all meetings. 5. The directory server according to claim 4, further comprising means for accumulating the ID and the network address notified from the conference terminal in the user management table. 6. A means for accumulating the attribute information notified from the conference terminal in the user management table, and searching the user management table for a conference terminal that matches the attribute information requested by the conference terminal, The directory server according to claim 4, further comprising means for inquiring of the conference terminal about the participation in the conference. 7. A conference terminal in a multipoint conference system in which a plurality of participants can communicate with each other through video, voice, text chat, etc. via a communication network including the Internet and ISDN, and the user is intended for other users. The ID of all users who have already participated in the conference, including themselves in the directory server, and the IDs of callers who are expected to newly join the directory server, A conference terminal comprising: a conference means for directly communicating with other conference terminals including video, voice, and text chat according to the network address notified from the directory server. 8. The conference terminal according to claim 7, further comprising means for notifying the directory server of its own terminal ID and network address when connecting to the network. 9. The directory server is notified of the user ID, the own terminal's network address, and the own terminal or the user's attribute information at the time of connection to the network and at any time during the connection to the network. 8. The conference terminal according to claim 7, further comprising means and means for notifying the directory server of attribute information of the other party when a conference call is made.