JP2006217149A - Conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that, when the time piece of each terminal is deviated, a conference cannot be reproduced correctly if conference data are transmitted to the terminal which is requested by each terminal by recording the conference data of each terminal, transmitting a conference regenerating request to each terminal in regenerating the recorded conference data, and transmitting the conference data to the terminal which is requested each terminal, in a conference system by conducting the conference between the terminals connected to a network. <P>SOLUTION: The conference system includes a means for informing a time between each terminal, and a means for calculating differences of the time with each terminal from the informed time. In the conference regenerating demanding time, the time is calculated from the difference between the time of a part which reproduces the conference and the time in each of terminals, and the reproducing request is transmitted to each terminal at its calculated time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a conference system that performs a conference using a plurality of terminals that can communicate with each other.

  There is a system such as a video conference system in which a plurality of terminals simultaneously communicate video and audio via a computer network. In such a system, when recording video and audio of a conference, it is usual to place a recording server for recording the conference and record video and audio of the conference participants for each participant or collectively. It is.

  However, in this method, an excessive load is applied to record a large number of videos and sounds, and a recording server that can withstand this load must be used, so the conference system becomes expensive.

  Therefore, a method of recording video and audio for the conference at each terminal of the conference participant and recording for each terminal of the conference participant is considered. For example, in the conference system configured as shown in FIG. 8, the video and audio recorded by the terminal A are recorded on a recording device such as the hard disk of the terminal A, and the video and audio of the terminal B are recorded on the recording device of the terminal B. The video and audio of the terminal C are recorded in the recording device of the terminal C together with the conference identifier (ID) and time. When a past video is reproduced from the middle, communication is performed with each terminal using a network, and a conference file to be reproduced and a reproduction start location are designated by a conference ID and a reproduction time.

  The instructed terminal transmits video and audio data to the instructed terminal. For example, when the terminal A reproduces the conference video, the terminal A issues a request to the terminals B and C, and reads and reproduces the conference data transmitted from the terminals B and C and the data of its own recording device.

As another conventional example, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can be cited.
JP 08-297624 A JP 09-219851 A

  However, in the above conventional example, when the time of each terminal is crazy, the conference start to be played is overlapped because the playback start location of each transmitted conference data is different, and the time is greatly distorted. In the case, there was a problem that the conversation of the meeting being played was not established. Also, changing the time of a device has an effect on other running applications of the device and is often undesirable.

  Each terminal that participates in the conference has means for notifying the time, means for recording the difference between the notified time and the time of its own terminal for each terminal, and means for recording the meeting data with the time of its own terminal added. When a past meeting is played back, the time to be played back is calculated for each recorded terminal, and a playback request is made to each terminal at the calculated time, so that there is a time lag between the terminals participating in the meeting. Even if it is, it can be played back without deviation.

  As described above, this is a TV conference system in which a plurality of terminals communicate with each other via a computer network for video and audio, each terminal records the respective meeting data, and participates in the meeting to reproduce the meeting data. When the terminal that has received the conference data playback request is configured to perform playback by transmitting data to the terminal that plays back the conference data, each terminal transmits a data playback request to each terminal. Means for the terminal notifying the time of each terminal, means for calculating and recording the time difference of other terminals, means for adding the time to the conference data to be recorded, means for recording the time when making a data reproduction request By calculating the time for each terminal from the time of the playback request and making a playback request at that time, even if there is a difference in the time of each terminal, it is recorded separately for each terminal. Conference data can be reproduced correctly.

  FIG. 1 shows a format for recording conference data to which the present invention is applied. It consists of the video and audio of its own terminal, the time when the video and audio were taken, and the ID of the conference participant participating at that time. This is added as a unit every certain time, for example, every 0.5 seconds.

  FIG. 2 shows a participation request packet when participating in a conference. A value indicating “participation request” is entered in the conference ID and CMD of the conference to be joined. The participation ID is the participant's ID, and the time is the time when the packet is transmitted thereto. In order to communicate with a communication protocol known as TCP / IP, an IP header and UDP are added to form a conference participation request packet.

  FIG. 3 shows a packet of conference data that is transmitted periodically during a conference, for example, every 0.5 seconds. CMD contains a value indicating “conference data” as a command. Unlike the participation request packet, there are video data and audio data. Each time the terminal participating in the conference receives this packet, it decodes and reproduces the video and audio.

  FIG. 9 shows a table for subtracting the time lag from the participant ID.

  FIG. 10 is an external view of a conference system to which the present invention can be applied. Reference numeral 40 denotes a camera for taking video of the conference participant, 41 denotes a speaker for reproducing audio data, 45 denotes a microphone for picking up the voice of the conference participant, 25 denotes a display for displaying the conference video, and 36 denotes A network cable for transmitting conference data, a terminal main body 50 storing a CPU, a hard disk, etc., a keyboard 27 for inputting characters, and a mouse 28 as a pointing device.

  FIG. 11 is an example of a screen displayed on the terminal of the conference system. A, B, and C correspond to the conference participation terminals A, B, and C in FIG. 10 is a conference control window, 11 is a past video fast-forward button, 12 is a past video playback request transmission button, 13 is a past video rewind button, 14 is a past video playback stop request button, and 15 is a past video playback from any point in time. It is a time input part for designating.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a terminal of a system to which the present invention can be applied. 21 is a ROM, 22 is a RAM, 23 is a memory bus connecting the CPU 24 and the ROM 21 or RAM 22, 24 is a CPU, 25 is a CRT which is a display for displaying as shown in FIG. 11, 26 is a hard disk 29, keyboard 27, etc. I / O bus for connecting O devices, 27 a keyboard, 28 a mouse, 29 a hard disk for storing past video or conference programs, 30 a VRAM for developing video on a CRT, 34 Is a network transmission / reception unit that is connected to the network 36 and transmits / receives conference data and the like, 35 is a video input unit that is connected to the camera 40 and acquires video from the camera, and 37 is connected to the microphone 45 to input audio. An audio input unit 38 is connected to the speaker 41 for reproducing the received conference audio. Voice output section, 39 is a time management unit that manages the current time.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for joining a conference. The case of participating in the conference will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 2, 10, and 11. Assume that the terminal C participates in a place where the terminals A and B shown in FIG.

  First, the terminal C reads the time from the time management unit 39 (step 402), and generates a packet as shown in FIG. 2 (step 403). The conference ID is the ID of the conference to participate in, and the CMD is a command, which is a value indicating a participation request. The participation ID is an ID of a person who participates in the conference from the terminal C. Then, this packet is transmitted (step 404). Since communication in this example uses a protocol known as TCP / IP, an IP header and a UDP header are added. At this time, an IP multicast address is used as a destination IP address. When an IP multicast address is used, packets can be transmitted to a plurality of terminals at a time, so that terminal C does not need to transmit packets to terminals A and B, and only one transmission is required. In addition, since a terminal that does not use the corresponding IP multicast address does not receive a packet, even if there is a terminal D (not shown), a packet issued by terminal C is not received.

  The operation of terminal A that has received the participation packet will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The terminal A that has received the participation packet transmitted by the terminal C reads out the participation ID. Next, the time is read from the time management unit 39, and the own time is subtracted from the time of the terminal C stored in the packet. If the time of the terminal C stored in the packet is C_TIME, and the time of the terminal A at that time is A_TIME, C_TIME-A_TIME is calculated, and the time difference is obtained. Then, a table as shown in FIG. The file name is given with an extension such as “table” and stored in the hard disk 29 (step 502). The conference window of terminal C is displayed (step 503), and a reply packet is generated and transmitted (step 504). The reply packet has a value indicating reply in the CMD of the packet in FIG. At this time, the destination address of the IP header is not the previous IP multicast address but the address to the terminal C. In this way, it can be configured so that other terminals do not receive extra packets. Terminal B performs the same operation.

  The operation of the terminal C that has received the reply packet from the terminal A will be described using the flowchart of FIG. Read the participation ID of terminal A. Next, the time is read from the time management unit 39, and the own time is subtracted from the time of the terminal A stored in the packet to obtain the time difference. If the time of the terminal A stored in the packet is A_TIME, and the time of the terminal C read from the time management unit 39 of the terminal C is C_TIME, A_TIME-C_TIME is calculated to obtain the time difference. Then, a table as shown in FIG. The file name is given with an extension such as “table” and stored in the hard disk 29 (step 602). Then, the conference window of terminal A is displayed (step 605). The same applies to the operation when a reply packet from terminal B is received.

  The transmission of the conference packet will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The video of the camera 40 is read from the video input unit 35 and the voice of the microphone 45 is read from the voice input unit (step 704), and the conference ID and the participant ID are added (step 705) to form a packet as shown in FIG. Transmit (step 706). The CMD of the packet shown in FIG. 3 is a value representing conference data. The transmitted data is recorded (step 707). Thereafter, the user's own image is displayed (step 709). For example, in the case of the terminal A, the user's own image is displayed at the position A in FIG. If the conference has not ended, the process returns to step 704 (step 708). The conference data is transmitted every certain time, for example, every 0.5 seconds.

  FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of the recording portion of step 707 in FIG. Time data is added to the video and audio created in step 706 (step 802). Then, it is checked whether or not there is a participant (step 803). If there is a participant, participant data is added (step 804). For example, in the case of the terminal A, since there are B and C participants, the data is as shown in FIG. The resulting data is the conference ID. Record with an extension such as stream. This data is added every time data is transmitted.

  FIG. 13 shows a flowchart for receiving and displaying a conference packet. When the conference data is received (step 1302), the video data is read and the video is displayed (1303). For example, if terminal A receives a packet from terminal B, the packet is displayed at a position B in FIG. Next, the audio data is read and the audio is reproduced (step 1304). The table of FIG. 9 is data recorded in the RAM 22 and always holds new data. If the conference has not ended, the process returns to step 1302. This is done for each conference participant, for example, terminal B and C for terminal A, respectively.

  Next, a case of requesting playback of a past conference of a conference from another terminal will be described with reference to FIG. Assume that terminal A requests terminals B and C. First, the user wishes to input the time at which the past video of the conference is to be reproduced (step 1402). Then, the table of FIG. 9 is searched, and if it is the terminal B, the time when the reproduction request should be made is calculated from the time lag of the terminal B (step 1404). Assuming that the time to be played is PLAY_TIME and the time difference of the terminal B stored in the table is B_DIFF_TIME, PLAY_TIME + B_DIFF_TIME is calculated, and the time at which a playback request should be made is obtained. Then, a reproduction request packet is generated and transmitted (step 1405). The reproduction request packet has a format as shown in FIG. 2, and a value indicating a reproduction request command is entered in the CMD. As the time, the calculated time at which a reproduction request is to be made to the terminal is entered. It is checked whether there is another terminal participating in the conference (step 1406), and if there is, return to step 1403. If not, the conference data of the terminal is searched using the time as a key, and playback is started. The conference data is the conference ID and. A file in which an extension such as stream is recorded.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation of the terminal that has received the past conference data reproduction request packet.

  The operation of the terminal that has received the reproduction request packet will be described. The terminal that received the conference ID reads the time of the request packet, and the conference ID and. The playback position is searched from the conference file with an extension such as stream using the time as a key, and the data is read and transmitted (step 1603). Then, it is checked whether a conference data reproduction end command has been received or data has been lost (step 1605). If it is not ended, the process returns to step 1603. Transmission is performed while matching this loop with the time added to the conference data.

This is a format for recording conference data to which the present invention is applied. By adding this in time series, it becomes conference data capable of reproducing continuous video and audio. This is a format of a communication packet for requesting participation in a conference or requesting reproduction of past conference data. It is a format of a communication packet for transmitting conference data. When joining a meeting, it is a flowchart for transmitting a meeting participation request packet. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the terminal which received the meeting participation request packet. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the terminal which received the reply packet with respect to a participation request packet. It is a flowchart in the case of transmitting conference data. It is a flowchart of the recording for the past meeting reproduction | regeneration of the meeting data to transmit. It is a table for storing and searching a time difference between terminals calculated when a terminal participates in a conference. It is an example of the external view of the conference system which can apply this invention. It is an example of the screen of the terminal of the conference system of this invention. It is an example of the block diagram of the terminal of the conference system which can apply this invention. It is a flowchart at the time of receiving meeting data. It is a flowchart for transmitting a past meeting data reproduction request packet. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the terminal which received the past meeting data reproduction | regeneration request packet.

Explanation of symbols

40 Camera for Taking Video of Conference Participant 41 Speaker for Reproducing Audio Data 45 Microphone for Picking Up Voice of Conference Participant 25 Display for Displaying Conference Video 36 Network Cable for Sending Conference Data 50 Terminal body storing CPU, hard disk, etc. 27 Keyboard for inputting characters 28 Mouse as pointing device 10 Conference control window 11 Past video fast forward button 12 Past video playback request transmission button 13 Past video rewind button 14 Past Video playback stop request button 15 Time input section 21 ROM for designating from which time point past video is to be played back 21 ROM
22 RAM
23 memory bus 24 CPU
26 I / O bus 29 Hard disk 30 VRAM for developing video on CRT
34 Network transmission / reception unit 35 Video input unit 37 Audio input unit 38 Audio output unit 39 Time management unit

Claims (4)

  In a conference system in which a plurality of terminals communicate with each other via a communication network, time addition means for each terminal to add the time of each terminal to the conference data of each terminal, time addition for recording the conference data to which the time is added Based on the time notified by the time notification means, the meeting data recording means, the meeting data reproduction means for reproducing the time-added meeting data recorded by each terminal, the time notification means for each terminal notifying the other terminals of the time When the terminal time difference management means for calculating and recording the time difference with other terminals and reproducing the conference data at an arbitrary time, the terminal time difference management means determines the time difference with each other terminal. 2. The conference system according to claim 1, wherein a reproduction request is issued to each terminal at the time obtained by the reproduction time calculation means.   In a conference system where multiple terminals communicate via a communication network, each terminal is configured to record the time of each terminal added to the conference data of each terminal, and each terminal notifies the other terminals of the time Then, when calculating and recording the time difference with other terminals based on the notified time, and reproducing the conference data at any time, the time difference between the other terminals An information processing method comprising: obtaining a time to be reproduced, and performing a reproduction request to each terminal at the obtained time.   In a conference system where multiple terminals communicate via a communication network, each terminal is configured to record the time of each terminal added to the conference data of each terminal, and each terminal notifies the other terminals of the time Then, when calculating and recording the time difference with other terminals based on the notified time, and reproducing the conference data at any time, the time difference between the other terminals A computer-readable recording medium storing a program, characterized by having a procedure for obtaining a time to be reproduced and performing a reproduction request to each terminal at the obtained time.   In a conference system where multiple terminals communicate via a communication network, each terminal is configured to record the time of each terminal added to the conference data of each terminal, and each terminal notifies the other terminals of the time Then, when calculating and recording the time difference with other terminals based on the notified time, and reproducing the conference data at any time, the time difference between the other terminals A method processing program for obtaining a time to be reproduced and causing each terminal to execute a procedure for making a reproduction request at the obtained time.

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