JPH1051753A - Two-way image communication method and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conduct a 2-way image communication smoothly even in the case where image communication is biased in one direction such as the case where a throughput of a communication terminal equipment is changed during a communication. SOLUTION: For example, when decoding processing by a decoding processing section 10b is finished earlier than coding processing by a code processing section 10a (2nd screen), since a coding processing for a 2nd image is still in progress in a code processing section 10a, a code processing flag is not set. Then the decoding processing section 10b interrupts tentatively the decoding processing till the processing by the code processing section 10a is finished. When the processing of the 2nd image by the code processing section 10a is finished and a code processing flag is set, the code processing section 10a clears a decoding processing flag and the decoding processing section 10b clears the coding processing flag respectively and communication processing of image data of a succeeding image is started. Thus, the communication is conducted so that the 2-way communication processing speeds are not deviated by matching the start timing of the coding processing with the start timing of the decoding processing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a two-way image communication method which is connected to another communication terminal and is performed with the other communication terminal, and a communication terminal which performs two-way image communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional two-way image communication system, a communication terminal device and a communication path dedicated to two-way image communication are used. Therefore, the communication capability and communication path of the communication terminal device change rapidly during communication. I never did. Therefore, according to the conventional two-way image communication system, it is possible to perform all necessary settings for subsequent communication by checking the processing capability of each communication terminal device and the state of the communication path before starting communication. did it.

On the other hand, in recent years, it has become possible to perform bidirectional image communication using a standard communication terminal device not dedicated to bidirectional image communication, such as a personal computer. Generally, in a standard communication terminal device such as an information processing device, various applications may operate simultaneously in the same environment, unlike a case where a communication terminal device dedicated to bidirectional image communication is used. It is also conceivable that an application unrelated to image communication operates when performing bidirectional image communication. Further, when communication is performed using the information processing apparatus, one of the problems is that the communication environment such as a communication path is not fixed.

Therefore, in order to perform bidirectional image communication using a communication terminal device that is not a communication terminal device dedicated to bidirectional image communication, a communication control device dedicated to bidirectional image communication is separately prepared, or A method has been considered in which a CPU is controlled so that a plurality of processes including two-way image communication are performed by synchronizing with software.

[0005]

However, when a communication control device dedicated to two-way image communication is prepared, the system configuration becomes complicated, expandability may be lost, and the cost may be increased. was there.

On the other hand, when the bidirectional image communication is controlled only by the CPU without using the communication control device dedicated to the bidirectional image communication, the expandability is excellent as compared with the case where the dedicated communication control device is adopted. . However, other applications running at the same time as performing bidirectional image communication and the overall operating environment greatly affect the operation of bidirectional image communication. In particular, there is a problem that the control of the CPU becomes more difficult since a recent operating system is multitasking.

For example, when a certain communication terminal device performs two-way image communication, the image data is received, a decoding process α required to display the received image data, and a format required to transmit the image data. And a coding process β for compressing image data are simultaneously executed in one communication terminal device. These processes α and β are processed by the limited CPU capability of the communication terminal device used. That is, when a communication control device dedicated to bidirectional image communication is separately prepared,
The CPU in the communication control unit can be used up to the capacity limit (100%) for the processes α and β.

However, when the two-way image communication is controlled only by the CPU in the standard communication terminal device without using the communication control device dedicated to the two-way image communication, an application unrelated to the two-way image communication also operates. Therefore, the CPU capacity that can be used for the processes α and β naturally decreases.

That is, when another application γ operates in the communication terminal device during the two-way image communication, the decoding process α ′, the encoding process β ′, and the application γ operate simultaneously, and these three types of Processing splits and shares CPU power. However, since the distribution of the CPU power depends on the system in which the application is operating, the distribution ratio of the CPU power before the application γ operates (α: β) and the distribution ratio when the application γ is operating (α: β) α ′: β ′) is not always the same.

For example, after the CPU capacity used at α = 50% and β = 50% is changed to the application γ that requires 30% CPU capacity to operate, the application γ
Are the same as before operation (α ′ = 35%, β ′ = 35
%), Α ′ = 20%, β ′ = 50%,
It is also conceivable that the CPU capabilities are distributed such that γ = 30%. In such a case, one-way communication processing (that is, encoding processing β ′) is performed 2.5 times more frequently than the other communication processing (that is, decoding processing α ′). Therefore, there has been a problem that the bidirectional image communication is extremely biased.

[0011] Also, when there is a difference in the communication processing capability between two connected communication terminal devices, there may be a case where communication is biased in one direction.

Further, a standard communication path, such as Ethernet, which is not a dedicated communication path for bidirectional image communication may be used as a communication path for the information processing apparatus. However, there is a problem that data used for other than the two-way image communication is mixed in the communication path, and the amount of communicable data changes.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and is intended for a case where image communication is biased in one direction, such as when the processing capability of a communication terminal device changes during communication. It is another object of the present invention to provide a bidirectional image communication method and a communication terminal device capable of performing bidirectional image communication smoothly.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, a two-way image communication method according to the first aspect of the present invention is connected to another communication terminal device and performs two-way image communication with the other communication terminal device. A two-way image communication method in a communication terminal device that performs the one-way communication processing capability and the other-direction communication processing capability different from the one-way communication, the recognized one-way communication processing capability and the If there is a difference between the recognized communication processing capability in the other direction, one of the one-way communication processing capability and the other-direction communication processing capability such that the two communication processing capabilities are the same. A two-way image communication method.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to the first aspect, when the one-way communication processing capability is lower than the other-direction communication processing capability, The communication processing in the other direction is controlled to be stopped until the communication processing in the one direction ends.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to the first aspect, when the one-way communication processing capacity is lower than the other-direction communication processing ability, The present invention is characterized in that control is performed such that the ratio of the distribution of the CPU capacity used for the communication processing in the direction increases.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the communication processing capability is such that the image to be processed for communication within a predetermined time is provided. It is characterized by including a data amount.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to the fourth aspect, the image data amount is an image data amount inside the communication terminal device. .

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to the fourth aspect, the image data amount is determined by a communication path connecting the communication terminal device and the other communication terminal. Is the amount of image data.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the communication processing capability is a data buffer used for transmitting and receiving image data. Characterized by including a capacity of

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to the seventh aspect, the data buffer includes a transmission data buffer and reception data different from the transmission data buffer. And a buffer.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to the seventh aspect, the data buffer shares a transmission data buffer and a reception data buffer. I do.

According to a tenth aspect, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the communication processing capability includes an image data amount for one screen. It is characterized by the following.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to the tenth aspect, the image data amount for one screen is the amount of compressed image data. .

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to the tenth aspect, the amount of image data for one screen is an amount of uncompressed image data. I do.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the tenth to twelfth aspects, the image data amount for one screen is a data related to a screen size. It is characterized by including.

According to a fourteenth aspect, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the tenth to thirteenth aspects, the image data amount for one screen is related to the number of colors of the screen. It is characterized by including data.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the communication processing capability is required for processing one screen of image data. It has a characteristic CPU capability.

According to a sixteenth aspect, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the communication processing capability is used for processing image data for one screen. It is characterized by a possible CPU capability.

A seventeenth aspect of the present invention is the two-way image communication method according to the fifteenth or sixteenth aspect, wherein the image data for one screen is compressed image data.

An eighteenth aspect of the present invention is the two-way image communication method according to the fifteenth or sixteenth aspect, wherein the image data for one screen is uncompressed image data.

According to a nineteenth aspect, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the fifteenth to eighteenth aspects, the processing of the image data is performed after the image data is input. It is a series of processing until image data is transmitted.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the fifteenth to eighteenth aspects, the image data is processed after the image data is received. It is a series of processes until image data is displayed.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the communication processing capacity is a moving image to be processed within a predetermined time. It is characterized by the number of data screens.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the two-way image communication method according to any one of the first to third aspects, the one-way communication process and the other-direction communication process are performed in the two-way image communication method. It is characterized by being performed asynchronously.

A first communication processing means for performing one-way communication processing for performing two-way image communication with another communication terminal device connected to the other communication terminal device. And a second communication processing means for performing communication processing in the other direction different from the one direction,
A first unit for recognizing a communication processing capability of the first communication processing unit;
Recognizing means, second recognizing means for recognizing the communication processing capability of the second communication processing means,
If there is a difference between the communication processing capability of the communication processing unit and the recognized communication processing capability of the second communication processing unit, the first and second communication processing units are set to the same communication processing capability. And a control unit for controlling an operation of any one of the communication processing unit and the second communication processing unit.

A first communication processing means for performing one-way communication processing for performing two-way image communication with another communication terminal device connected to the other communication terminal device. And a second communication processing means for performing communication processing in the other direction different from the one direction,
Notification means for sending a notification indicating that the communication processing by the first communication processing means has been completed to the other communication terminal device;
The second communication processing means stops the communication processing by the second communication processing means until the notification sent from the other communication terminal apparatus is received after the communication processing by the second communication processing means is completed. Control means for controlling the communication processing means.

[0038]

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

(First Embodiment) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the image data to be communicated is moving image data. That is, the transmission process and the reception process of the image data are performed for each screen.

Also, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that two communication terminal devices performing bidirectional image communication are configured to operate in the same manner. The communication method will be described.

In the communication terminal device described below, it is assumed that a multitask that performs a plurality of processes at the same time is used. That is, the decoding process and the encoding process when performing bidirectional image communication are performed simultaneously. It has been done.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication terminal device capable of realizing the two-way image communication method according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the communication terminal device 10 includes a code processing unit 10a, a decoding processing unit 10b, and a network control unit 14 that controls communication between the communication terminal device 10 and a network line 18. Network control unit 14
Transmits image data to the communication terminal device of the communication partner,
Also, it receives image data sent from the communication terminal device of the communication partner.

The code processing section 10a includes an input section 11 for inputting image data captured by a camera or a scanner, an encoding section 12 for compressing and encoding image data input from the input section 11, and a compression encoding section. And a transmission unit 13 for converting the compressed image data (hereinafter referred to as image compressed data) into a data format that can be interpreted by the communication terminal device of the communication partner. Also, the code processing unit 10a
CPU (not shown) serving as control means and recognition means for monitoring decoding processing section 10b and controlling the operation timing of code processing section 10a in accordance with the operation state of decoding processing section 10b
have.

The decoding processing unit 10b converts the received compressed image data into a data format that can be decompressed and decoded, and a decoding unit 16 that decompresses and decodes the compressed image data received by the receiving unit 15. And a display unit 17 for displaying the decompressed image data. Also, the decoding processing unit 10a controls the operation of the decoding processing unit 10b, monitors the encoding processing unit 10a, and controls the operation timing of the decoding processing unit 10b according to the operation state of the encoding processing unit 10a. It has a CPU (not shown) as control means and recognition means.

In the above configuration, the decoding processing unit 10b constitutes first communication processing means and second recognition means, and the code processing unit 10a constitutes second communication processing means and first recognition means. The CPU in the code processing unit 10a and the CPU in the decoding processing unit 10b constitute control means.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an image data transmission procedure executed in the code processing section 10a of the communication terminal device having the above configuration.

First, image data for one screen is input to the input unit 11 (step S21). If necessary, the input unit 11 may have a function of performing digital conversion of image data.

Next, in the encoding unit 12, compression encoding of the image data is performed in order to express the image data for one screen input from the input unit 11 with a smaller data amount (step S22). For compression encoding of image data,
Various methods such as the H261 image compression method and the MPEG compression method, which are international standards, can be used. The compressed image data is added with a header or the like by the transmission unit 13 and converted into a data format that can be transmitted to the network line 18 and then transmitted to the network line 18 via the network control unit 14 (step S23).

In step S23, the image-compressed data for one screen, which has been compression-encoded by the encoding unit 12, is divided into a form most suitable for actual communication, and a header is added. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the compressed image data of 44 bytes is divided into 5 packets of 8 bytes of compressed image data and 1 packet of the remaining 4 bytes of compressed image data (FIG. 3A). . Then, a 1-byte header is added to each packet (FIG. 3B). Accordingly, the total data amount of the actually transmitted compressed image data is 50 bytes (FIG. 3C). The header usually indicates the content of the data (indicating whether the data to be transmitted is image data, audio data, or other data), the number of bytes of data immediately following the header, and data. The screen size and the number of colors are stored.

When the compression encoding of the image data for one screen and the transmission of the image compression data have been completed, the encoding flag indicating that the processing of the image compression data for one screen has been completed is turned on (step). S24). Thereafter, in order to confirm whether or not the process of receiving the image data transmitted from the communication terminal device of the communication partner in the decoding processing unit 10b has been completed, whether or not a decoding process flag described later is ON is determined. Is determined (step S25). If the decryption processing flag is not ON, the transmission processing is interrupted for a predetermined time (step S26), and the processing of steps S25 and S26 is repeated until it is determined that the decryption processing flag is ON. .

When it is determined in step S25 that the decryption processing flag has been turned ON, the transmission processing is restarted,
The decryption processing flag is turned off (step S27),
It returns to the processing procedure of step S21.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for receiving image data executed by the decoding processing unit 10b shown in FIG.

The data received by the network controller 14 via the network line 18 is transmitted to the receiver 15
The header is removed, and only the compressed image data to be actually decompressed and decoded is extracted (step S4).
1).

When the compressed image data configured as shown in FIG. 3 is received, the received compressed image data is 5
0 bytes, and for each 1 to 8 bytes of compressed image data,
A 1-byte header indicating the content of the compressed image data is added. Therefore, from the 50 bytes of compressed image data, 1 byte is extracted first as a header, and 1 to 8 bytes of compressed image data are extracted according to the content indicated by the header. By repeating this process, in the example of FIG. 3, 5 packets of 8-byte image compressed data and 1 packet of 4-byte image compressed data, for a total of 44
Bytes of compressed image data are extracted as compressed image data for one screen.

Next, the image compression data for one screen is decompressed and decoded by the decoding unit 16 (step S42). For decompression decoding of the compressed image data, a method suitable for a compression method when the compressed image data is created is adopted.
The decompressed image data is displayed on the display unit 17 (step S43).

When the decompression and decoding of the compressed image data for one screen is completed, a decoding flag indicating that the processing of the image data for one screen is completed is turned on (step S44).

Thereafter, in order to confirm whether or not the process of transmitting the image data for one screen has been completed in the encoding unit 10a, it is determined whether or not the encoding process flag is ON (step S45). ). Encoding flag is ON
Otherwise, the receiving process is interrupted for a predetermined time (step S46), and the processes of steps S45 and S46 are repeated until the encoding process flag is determined to be ON.

If it is determined in step S45 that the encoding processing flag has been turned on, the reception processing is restarted,
The encoding processing flag of the encoding processing unit 10a is turned off (step S47), and thereafter, the process returns to the processing procedure of step S41.

Next, a method for synchronizing the encoding processing performed in the encoding processing section 10a with the decoding processing performed in the decoding processing section 10b will be described with reference to the timing chart shown in FIG. .

At the start of bidirectional image communication, both the encoding process flag and the decoding process flag must be OFF. In this state, when the communication terminal apparatus 10 starts transmitting and receiving the image data of the first screen and ends the encoding processing of the image data of the first screen, the code processing unit 10a
Turns on the encoding flag and checks whether the decoding flag of the decoding unit 10b is ON. When the decoding processing of the image data of the first screen is completed, the decoding processing unit 10b turns on the decoding processing flag and checks whether or not the coding processing flag of the coding processing unit 10a is on. .

According to the example shown in FIG. 5, the encoding process of the first screen to be transmitted and the decoding process of the received first screen are almost completed at the same time. Therefore, the code processing unit 10a and the decoding processing unit 10b confirm that the flag is ON, and the code processing unit 10a sets the decoding processing flag to
The decoding processing unit 10b sets the encoding processing flag to OF
After setting to F, the processing of the second screen is started.

In the processing of the second screen, the decoding processing by the decoding processing unit 10b ends earlier than the encoding processing by the encoding processing unit 10a. In this case, the decryption processing unit 10b that has completed the processing of the second screen sets the decryption processing flag to O.
At N, it is confirmed whether or not the encoding processing flag is ON. However, since the encoding processing of the second screen is still being performed in the encoding processing unit 10a, the encoding processing flag is not ON. . Therefore, the decoding processing unit 10b
The decoding process is temporarily suspended until the process of a ends. In practice, a time period for interruption is set in advance using a timer or the like, and the encoding process flag is checked again after the timer time elapses.

When the processing of the second screen by the encoding processing unit 10a is completed and the encoding processing flag is turned ON, the encoding processing unit 10a and the decoding processing unit 10b confirm that the processing has been completed. it can. Therefore, the code processing unit 1
0a turns off the decoding processing flag, and the decoding processing unit 10b turns off the encoding processing flag, and then starts the processing of the third screen.

In the processing of the third screen, the decoding processing unit 10b takes a longer time to complete the processing, so that the state is opposite to that of the second screen. That is, the encoding processing unit 10a temporarily suspends the encoding processing until the processing of the decoding processing unit 10b ends, the processing of the third screen by the decoding processing unit 10b ends, and the decoding processing flag is turned on. And the code processing unit 10a and the decoding processing unit 10b can confirm that the processing has been completed. Therefore, the encoding processing unit 10a sets the decoding processing flag to OFF, and the decoding processing unit 10b sets the encoding processing flag to OFF, and then starts the processing of the fourth screen.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when bidirectional image communication is performed, the communication processing status in each direction is recognized as needed, and when the communication processing in each direction is biased, Since the processing timing is adjusted so that the same amount of data is processed in each direction, there is a change in the distribution ratio of the processing power of the CPU such as a change in the communication environment during the two-way image communication. However, it is possible to perform smooth bidirectional image communication by controlling the processing so as not to be biased in one direction.

According to the present embodiment, it is determined that the bidirectional image communication is biased in one direction by the flag indicating the end timing of the image data processing for one screen. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a flag indicating the start timing of screen processing may be used. That is, if a parameter indicating the amount of data to be processed is appropriately selected and the number of screens subjected to compression encoding processing and the number of screens subjected to decompression decoding processing can be maintained at the same number, the present embodiment The same effect as in the embodiment can be obtained.

When the image data to be bidirectionally communicated is not a moving image, the fact that the bidirectional image communication is biased in one direction is determined by focusing on the time required to process a predetermined amount of data, that is, the communication processing speed. It is also possible to configure to make a determination or to make a determination based on the amount of unprocessed image data or the amount of processed image data temporarily stored in a buffer (not shown) at the time of image processing. is there.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the image data to be communicated is moving image data. That is, the transmission process and the reception process of the image data are performed for each screen.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a two-way image communication system configured by connecting two communication terminal devices capable of realizing the two-way image communication method according to the present embodiment. In the figure, a communication terminal device 100 and a communication terminal device 200 have the same configuration and are connected to each other via a network line 18.

In communication terminal apparatuses 100 and 200, receiving sections 75 and 79 and decoding sections 76 and 80 respectively include transmitting section 7
The third embodiment differs from the communication terminal device 10 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Other configurations are the same as those of the communication terminal device 10 described above.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show the communication terminal devices 100 and 2
It is a flowchart which shows the communication processing procedure of 00. Here, only the one-way communication in the two-way image communication will be described in detail, but it goes without saying that the same operation is performed in the other one-way communication.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for receiving image data in communication terminal apparatus 100.

First, the image compression data for one screen is received by the receiving unit 75 (step S61), and the decoding unit 76
(Step S62). Next, a notification Ack indicating that the decoding processing of the first screen has been completed is:
Communication terminal device 200 from decoding unit 76 via transmitting unit 73
(Step S63). Then, when the decompressed and decoded image data is displayed on the display unit 77 (step S64), the process returns to step S61, and the reception of the image data of the next screen is started.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transmitting image data in communication terminal apparatus 200.

In the communication terminal device 200, first, image data for one screen is input by the input unit 84 (step S65), and the encoding unit 83 performs compression encoding processing of the image data (step S66). .

When the compression encoding process of the image data is completed, the communication terminal device 100 transmits the image compression data immediately before from the communication terminal device 200 in order to determine whether or not the image compression data may be transmitted immediately. It is determined whether the process of receiving the compressed image data has been completed (step S6).
7). This determination is made by checking whether or not notification Ack has been transmitted from communication terminal apparatus 100 to communication terminal apparatus 200 in step S63 of FIG.

If it is determined that the notification Ack has not been transmitted, that is, if the answer to step S67 is NO (No), the transmission process is interrupted for a predetermined time. This predetermined time is measured using a timer (not shown) or the like. Then, the notification Ack is transmitted, and the answer in step S67 is YE
When S is reached, the transmission of the compressed image data is performed (step S68). When the transmission of the compressed image data is completed, the process returns to step S65, and the image data of the next one screen is input.

Thus, in the communication terminal device 100 performing the two-way image communication, the code processing unit 100a
Monitors the reception processing of the decoding processing unit 200b. If the reception processing speed of the decoding processing unit 200b is lower than the transmission processing speed of the code processing unit 100a, the operation of the code processing unit 100a is temporarily stopped, and the transmission processing speed Is controlled to match the reception processing speed. In addition, the communication terminal device 200
, The decoding processing unit 100
b is monitored, and when the reception processing speed of the decoding processing unit 100b is lower than the transmission processing speed of the code processing unit 200a, the operation of the code processing unit 200a is temporarily stopped.
The transmission processing speed is controlled to match the reception processing speed. That is, the communication speed in each direction is always adjusted to the processing speed of a communication terminal device having a low processing speed. Therefore, even when there is a difference in the processing capability between the two communication terminal devices performing the two-way image communication, it is possible to always perform the optimum communication processing.

[0080]

As described above, according to the two-way image communication method of the first aspect, a difference occurs between the one-way communication processing capability and the other-direction communication processing capability different from the one-way communication processing capability. In such a case, one of the one-way communication processing capability and the other-direction communication processing capability is controlled so that the two communication processing capabilities become the same. Therefore, it is possible to perform control so that the processing is not biased toward, and therefore, it is possible to obtain an effect that smooth two-way image communication can be performed.

According to the two-way image communication method of the second aspect,
When the one-way communication processing capability is lower than the other-direction communication processing capability, the two-way communication process is stopped until the one-way communication process ends, so during the two-way image communication, It is possible to perform control so that processing that is biased in one direction is not performed, and it is possible to obtain an effect that smooth bidirectional image communication can be performed.

According to the two-way image communication method of the third aspect,
If the one-way communication processing capacity is lower than the other-direction communication processing capacity, C used for the one-way communication processing is used.
Since the control is performed so that the PU power distribution ratio is increased, it is possible to perform control such that processing that is biased in one direction is not performed during bidirectional image communication. The effect that can be performed is obtained.

According to the communication terminal device of the twenty-third aspect, the first
If there is a difference between the communication processing capacity of the communication processing means of the second communication processing means and the communication processing capacity of the second communication processing means, the control means controls the first communication processing so that the two communication processing capacities become the same. Since the operation of either one of the processing means and the second communication processing means is controlled, a change in the processing power distribution ratio of the CPU due to a change in the communication environment or the like during bidirectional image communication. Even in the case where such a situation occurs, the control is performed so as not to perform the processing that is biased in one direction, and the effect that smooth bidirectional image communication can be performed can be obtained.

According to the communication terminal device of the twenty-fourth aspect, the second
Since the communication processing by the second communication processing means is stopped after the communication processing by the communication processing means is completed and until a notification sent from another communication terminal apparatus is received, the first and the second communication processing means are stopped. The processing speed of the second communication processing means is:
The processing speed is adjusted to the processing speed of the first and second communication processing means in the communication terminal device having the lower processing speed among the communication terminal devices performing bidirectional image communication. Therefore, even if there is a difference in the processing capability between the two communication terminal devices performing the two-way image communication, an effect is obtained that the optimum communication processing can always be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a communication terminal device capable of realizing a two-way image communication method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an image data transmission procedure executed in a code processing unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of compressed image data.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an image data receiving procedure executed in the decoding processing unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing a synchronization procedure of an encoding process performed by the encoding processing unit and a decoding process performed by the decoding processing unit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a two-way image communication system in which two communication terminal devices capable of realizing a two-way image communication method according to a second embodiment of the present invention are connected.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of receiving image data in the decoding processing unit shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of transmitting image data in a code processing unit illustrated in FIG. 6;

[Description of Code] 10, 100, 200 Communication terminal device 10a, 100a, 200a Code processing unit 10b, 100b, 200b Decoding processing unit

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. A two-way image communication method for a communication terminal device connected to another communication terminal device and performing two-way image communication with the other communication terminal device, comprising: Recognize the communication processing capability in the other direction different from the one-way direction, and if there is a difference between the recognized one-way communication processing capability and the recognized communication processing capability in the other direction, A two-way image communication method, wherein one of the one-way communication processing capability and the other-direction communication processing capability is controlled so that the communication processing capabilities are the same. 2. When the one-way communication processing capacity is lower than the other-direction communication processing capacity, control is performed such that the other-direction communication processing is stopped until the one-way communication processing ends. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein: 3. When the one-way communication processing capacity is lower than the other-direction communication processing capacity, control is performed such that the ratio of the distribution of CPU capacity used for the one-way communication processing is increased. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein the communication processing capability includes an amount of image data to be processed within a predetermined time. 5. The two-way image communication method according to claim 4, wherein the image data amount is an image data amount inside the communication terminal device. 6. The two-way image communication method according to claim 4, wherein the image data amount is an image data amount in a communication path connecting the communication terminal device and the another communication terminal. 7. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein said communication processing capability includes a capacity of a data buffer used for transmitting and receiving image data. 8. The bidirectional image communication method according to claim 7, wherein the data buffer comprises a transmission data buffer and a reception data buffer different from the transmission data buffer. 9. The two-way image communication method according to claim 7, wherein the data buffer shares a transmission data buffer and a reception data buffer. 10. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein the communication processing capability includes an image data amount for one screen. 11. The two-way image communication method according to claim 10, wherein the amount of image data for one screen is the amount of compressed image data. 12. The two-way image communication method according to claim 10, wherein the image data amount for one screen is an amount of uncompressed image data. 13. The two-way image communication method according to claim 10, wherein the image data amount for one screen includes data relating to a screen size. 14. The image data amount for one screen includes data relating to the number of colors of the screen.
14. The bidirectional image communication method according to any one of 0 to 13. 15. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein said communication processing capability is a CPU capability required for processing one screen of image data. 16. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein said communication processing capability is a CPU capability that can be used for processing one screen of image data. 17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the image data for one screen is compressed image data. 18. The two-way image communication method according to claim 15, wherein the image data for one screen is uncompressed image data. 19. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processing of the image data is a series of processing from input of the image data to transmission of the image data. Two-way image communication method. 20. The image processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processing of the image data is a series of processing from when the image data is received until the image data is displayed. Two-way image communication method. 21. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein said communication processing capability is the number of screens of moving image data processed within a predetermined time. 22. The two-way image communication method according to claim 1, wherein the one-way communication processing and the other-direction communication processing are performed asynchronously. 23. A first communication processing means which is connected to another communication terminal apparatus and performs one-way communication processing for performing two-way image communication with the other communication terminal apparatus, and is different from the one-way communication processing means. In a communication terminal device comprising second communication processing means for performing communication processing in the other direction, a first recognition means for recognizing a communication processing capability of the first communication processing means; Second recognition means for recognizing the communication processing capacity, and a difference between the recognized communication processing capacity of the first communication processing means and the recognized communication processing capacity of the second communication processing means. When the first communication processing means and the second communication processing means
And a control means for controlling the operation of any one of the communication processing means. 24. A first communication processing means which is connected to another communication terminal apparatus and performs one-way communication processing for performing two-way image communication with the other communication terminal apparatus, and is different from the one-way communication processing means. A communication terminal device comprising: a second communication processing unit that performs a communication process in the other direction; a notification unit that sends, to the other communication terminal device, a notification indicating that the communication process by the first communication processing unit has been completed; The second communication processing means stops the communication processing by the second communication processing means until the notification sent from the other communication terminal device is received after the communication processing by the second communication processing means is completed. And a control means for controlling the communication processing means.