CN118075043A - Conference system and conference management method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present specification provides a conference system and a conference management method, the conference system including: the media server is used for transmitting the media data generated by the conference communication function and realizing the corresponding conference management function according to the received conference control instruction; gateway equipment, which is used for realizing the butt joint with the media server; wherein the external conference device supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol; the conference room management subsystem is used for registering the external conference equipment to a conference room where the external conference equipment is located and maintaining the binding relation between the external conference equipment and the conference control equipment in the conference room where the external conference equipment is located; and the conference control subsystem is used for sending the target conference control instruction to the media server to perform conference management on the conference participated by the external conference equipment under the condition that the target conference control instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received.

Description

Conference system and conference management method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of computer technologies, and in particular, to a conference system and a conference management method.

Background

With the development of internet technology, web conferences are becoming a major channel for mutual communication and communication among large organizations or individuals. In the network conference, each participant needs to use a respective conference device to participate in the conference, however, because the types of the conference devices used by different participants are generally different, it is difficult for a session protocol supported by part of the conference devices to implement a specific function that can be provided by the corresponding conference, which further results in a reduction in conference communication efficiency.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the present specification provides a conference system and a conference management method to solve the deficiencies in the related art.

Specifically, the specification is realized by the following technical scheme:

according to a first aspect of embodiments of the present specification, there is provided a conference system supporting a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first session protocol; the conference system includes:

The media server is used for transmitting the media data generated by the conference communication function and realizing the corresponding conference management function according to the received conference control instruction;

The gateway equipment is used for realizing the butt joint between the external conference equipment and the media server and transmitting the media data between the external conference equipment and the media server for the conference participated by the external conference equipment; wherein the external conference device supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol;

The conference room management subsystem is used for registering the external conference equipment to a conference room where the external conference equipment is located and maintaining a binding relation between the external conference equipment and a conference control device in the conference room where the external conference equipment is located, wherein the conference control device supports the first session protocol;

And the conference control subsystem is used for determining external conference equipment corresponding to the conference control equipment according to the binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem under the condition that a target conference control instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received, and sending the target conference control instruction to the media server so as to carry out conference management on conferences participated by the external conference equipment.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present specification, there is provided a conference system compatible with a third party device, the conference system comprising an external conference device, a conference control device and an original conference subsystem; the conference system supports a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first session protocol, the external conference equipment supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol, and the conference control equipment supports the first session protocol; wherein:

The external conference equipment is used for accessing the original conference subsystem and participating in the conference in the original conference subsystem;

The conference control device is used for accessing the original conference subsystem and sending a target conference control instruction aiming at the external conference device to the original conference subsystem;

The original conference subsystem is used for transmitting media data generated by the corresponding conference based on a conference communication function between the original conference subsystem and the external conference equipment aiming at the conference participated by the external conference equipment; and registering the external conference equipment to a conference room where the external conference equipment is located, maintaining a binding relation between the external conference equipment and a conference control device in the conference room where the external conference equipment is located, and performing conference management on a conference participated by the external conference equipment according to the binding relation under the condition that the target conference control instruction is received.

According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, there is provided a conference management method applied to a conference control subsystem in a conference system supporting a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first session protocol; the conference system also comprises a conference room management subsystem, wherein the conference room management subsystem maintains a binding relation between external conference equipment and conference control equipment in a conference room where the conference room management subsystem is located, the conference control equipment supports the first session protocol, and the external conference equipment supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol; the method comprises the following steps:

receiving a target meeting control instruction initiated by the meeting control equipment;

according to the binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem, external conference equipment corresponding to the conference control equipment is determined;

and associating the target meeting control instruction to the external meeting equipment so as to conduct meeting management on the meeting in which the target meeting control instruction participates.

In the technical scheme provided by the specification, by introducing the conference control device supporting the first session protocol, the external conference device originally supporting the conference communication function based on the second session protocol can use the conference control device corresponding to the binding relationship maintained in the conference room management subsystem to realize supporting the first session protocol, namely after the conference control subsystem receives the target conference control instruction initiated by the conference control device, the external conference device can be determined through the binding relationship, and the target conference control instruction is sent to the media server to perform conference management on the conference participated by the external conference device. The conference control device replaces the external conference device to execute the conference management function on the conference participated by the external conference device through the binding relation established with the external conference device, so that the problem that the external conference device cannot realize the specific function of the external conference device due to the difference of session protocols between the external conference device and the corresponding conference is avoided, and the conference communication efficiency is effectively improved.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present description or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are required in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present description, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings for a person having ordinary skill in the art.

Fig. 1a is a schematic architecture diagram of a conference system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another conference system shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an interactive schematic diagram of an external conferencing device creating and joining a conference, as shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present description;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating interaction of an external conferencing device with other conferences according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a conference management method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device shown in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of a conference management device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present specification.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the accompanying drawings, the same numbers in different drawings refer to the same or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary examples do not represent all implementations consistent with the present specification. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with some aspects of the present description.

It should be noted that: in other embodiments, the steps of the corresponding method are not necessarily performed in the order shown and described in this specification. In some other embodiments, the method may include more or fewer steps than described in this specification. Furthermore, individual steps described in this specification, in other embodiments, may be described as being split into multiple steps; while various steps described in this specification may be combined into a single step in other embodiments. It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used in this specification to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one type of information from another. For example, the first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as first information, without departing from the scope of the present description. The word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at … …" or "at … …" or "in response to a determination" depending on the context.

User information (including but not limited to user equipment information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data for analysis, stored data, presented data, etc.) referred to in this specification are both information and data authorized by the user or sufficiently authorized by the parties, and the collection, use and processing of relevant data requires compliance with relevant laws and regulations and standards of the relevant country and region, and is provided with corresponding operation portals for the user to choose authorization or denial.

In the related art, a network conference is generally based on a unified session protocol such as session initiation protocol (Session Initiation Protocol, SIP) to establish a communication session connection between a plurality of conference devices, however, as users corresponding to diversification and complicacy of network conference scene requirements, the role of the network conference is not limited to implementing transmission of media data such as audio and video signals between different conference devices in terms of conference communication functions, but a targeted conference management function can be provided for a participant, which can enable the participant to timely and efficiently manage a conference state according to the conference content, implementation form and the like, and to implement the conference management function, different conference service providers begin to push out a session protocol supporting more conference management functions and conference devices based on the session protocol, and obviously, for conference devices based on the traditional session protocol, even if media data of each conference device is converted and translated by, for example, by a gateway device such as the following, the participant can only guarantee basic use of the respective conference communication functions, but for complex management functions, the conference management function cannot be implemented in terms of the conference devices based on the additional session protocol, which cannot be implemented in terms of the conference devices due to the fact that the conference management protocol cannot be implemented in part of the conference management functions are old due to the fact that the conference management protocol is not implemented in the conference devices.

To solve the above problems, the following system is proposed in the present specification:

fig. 1a is a schematic architecture diagram of a conference system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, where the conference system supports a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first session protocol, and as shown in fig. 1a, the conference system 12 includes a media server 121, a gateway device 122, a conference room management subsystem 123, and a conference control subsystem 124. Wherein:

The media server 121 is an electronic device that supports data transfer and instruction execution. The media server 121 may be configured to transmit media data generated by the conference communication function and implement a corresponding conference management function according to the received conference control instruction, and specifically, the media server 121 may establish a connection with the gateway device 122 to transmit the media data, and may establish a connection with the conference control subsystem 124 to obtain the conference control instruction, where the connection may be a virtual data connection based on a network protocol or a physical data connection based on a physical cable, which is not limited in this specification. In addition, the media servers 121 may be respectively built by physical servers of a separate host, or virtual servers carried by a host cluster, which is not limited in this specification.

Gateway device 122 is also known as an intersystem connector or protocol converter and may convert data transmission protocols between the same or different networks to enable interconnection of data between the networks. Which may communicate media data with the media server 121 or may send a binding request to the conference room management subsystem 123 to establish a binding relationship.

Conference room management subsystem 123 may be used to maintain binding relationships of conference devices with corresponding conference rooms and other devices therein, which may establish data connections with gateway device 122 and conference control subsystem 124, respectively, to receive binding requests or to provide binding relationships.

The conference control subsystem 124 is used for performing management operations for conferences involving the conference devices, and may interface with the conference room management subsystem 123 and the media server 121 for data interaction.

It should be noted that, the conference room management subsystem 123 and the conference control subsystem 124 may be disposed in the same server or separate servers according to actual requirements, and do not conflict with the above media servers.

As described above, since the conference system 12 itself supports the conference communication function and the conference management function based on the first session protocol, the conference device based on the first session protocol can be directly accessed. Meanwhile, the present specification may further connect an external conference device to the conference system, and the external conference device supports a conference communication function based on the second session protocol.

The external conference device may be an electronic device with audio/video conference interaction capability with other conference devices, and may be connected to a microphone, a sound box, a camera, or other devices to collect media data, or may be connected to a display device such as a television, a display, or a projector to display collected media data. Furthermore, the term "external" is merely used to facilitate distinguishing between conference devices supporting the first session protocol and the second session protocol in the conference system based on the first session protocol, and the conference devices supporting the second session protocol may be referred to as "internal" conference devices, provided that the conference system supports the conference communication function and the conference management function based on the second session protocol; the conference devices supporting the first session protocol may then be referred to as "external" conference devices, or third party conference devices.

In consideration of that the external conference device does not support the conference management function based on the first session protocol, the present description may configure, for the external conference device, a corresponding conference control device in a conference room where the external conference device is located to send a target conference control instruction to the external conference device, so as to implement the conference management function for a conference in which the external conference device participates, where the conference control device may be used as one of auxiliary devices in the conference room where the external conference device is located, that is, to assist the external conference device to implement the conference management function that cannot be implemented originally based on the second session protocol.

The conference control device supports the first session protocol, and may also establish data connection with the conference room management subsystem 123, the conference control subsystem 124, and the external conference device, specifically:

the external conference device may access the gateway device to participate in a web conference of the external conference device and to transmit media data generated by its conference communication function in the conference. Considering that the conference management function of the conference system needs to be realized by the conference control device through a target conference control instruction initiated to the conference control subsystem, the conference control subsystem needs to determine the external conference device corresponding to the target conference control instruction. Therefore, the conference room management subsystem can establish a corresponding binding relation with the conference control device around the external conference device, so that the conference control subsystem can determine the external conference device corresponding to the conference control device according to the binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem under the condition that the conference control device initiates a target conference control instruction to the conference control device, and send the target conference control instruction to the media server to perform conference management on the conference participated by the external conference device. The operation of the conference room management subsystem may be further subdivided into two phases: registering the external conference equipment to the conference room where the external conference equipment is located, and maintaining the binding relation between the external conference equipment and the conference control equipment in the conference room where the external conference equipment is located. Since the specific operation thereof will be described in detail below, the description will not be repeated here.

When the binding relation is established and the external conference equipment successfully joins any conference, the external conference equipment can transmit media data generated based on the conference communication function supported by the external conference equipment, wherein the transmission operation can be specifically executed by a media server, and the conference management function can be realized by the media server according to a target conference control instruction initiated by a conference control subsystem.

In the case of transmitting media data between a media server and an external conference device, for the internal conference device: it can directly transmit the media data generated by the conference communication function based on the first session protocol to the media server; for external conferencing devices: as described above, the gateway device may transmit media data generated by the conference communication function based on different protocols between the media server and the external conference device, so that in this specification, the media data generated by the conference communication function based on the second session protocol may be transmitted to the gateway device that interfaces with the external conference device and the media server, and then the gateway device performs a conference for the external conference device, so that the transmission of the media data between the external conference device and the media server is finally achieved.

To this end, the present specification also provides a conference system compatible with the third party device, where the conference system may include an external conference device, a conference control device, and a conference system. The external conference device and the conference device may refer to the external conference device 111 and the conference device 113 shown in fig. 1b, and the conference system may refer to the conference system 12 shown in fig. 1 a. For ease of description, the conference system 12 in fig. 1a is described in this specification as the original conference subsystem 12 of fig. 1b, thereby distinguishing it from the reconstructed conference system of fig. 1 b.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned controllable device 113 and the following screen-throwing device may be a mobile phone, a tablet device, a notebook computer, a Personal computer (PDAs, personal DIGITAL ASSISTANTS), a wearable device (such as smart glasses, smart watches, etc.), which is not limited by one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As described above, the operation of step ① in fig. 1b may refer to the target conference command initiated by the conference control device to the conference control subsystem in the original conference subsystem; the operation of step ② may refer to the above-mentioned conference control subsystem to determine the external conference device corresponding to the conference control device according to the binding relationship maintained by the conference room management subsystem, and send the target conference control instruction to the media server to perform conference management on the conference participated in by the external conference device; operations of step ③ may refer to sending media data generated by the conference communication function based on the second session protocol to the gateway device; the operations of step ④ may refer to the gateway device transmitting the media data between the external conference device and the media server for the conference in which the external conference device participates.

In addition, without considering the original conference subsystem, an independent network may be established between the conference control device and the external conference device in the form of a local area network or the like, so that the conference control device may directly send, to the external conference device, through the independent network, a basic instruction which may be parsed by the conference control device and is different from the second session protocol, for example, a control instruction of an interface display position of the media data local to the external conference device, a control instruction of a local volume of the external conference device, and the like, that is, an operation corresponding to step ⑤、⑥ in fig. 1b. Of course, in the case that the conference control device or the external conference device of the independent network is not unique and there is a one-to-many or many-to-many binding relationship between devices, the binding relationship may be managed by using the conference room management subsystem, so as to avoid confusion.

The conference communication function of generating media data generated between different conference devices may be implemented based on different session protocols, but media data corresponding to different session protocols may be converted by the gateway device, so in the process of maintaining the binding relationship in the conference room management subsystem, an external conference device may initiate a device registration request to the gateway device, and then the gateway device forwards the device registration request to the conference room management subsystem, which corresponds to the operation of step ⑦、⑧ in fig. 1 b. After receiving the device registration request, the conference room management subsystem can determine creation logic of a subsequent binding relationship according to the actual content of the device registration request, so that the creation logic is stored in storage devices corresponding to the conference room management subsystem, and finally a binding relationship at least comprising 'conference control device-conference room-external conference device' is formed.

In an embodiment, the device registration request only includes a unique identifier of an external conference device, for example, a device user name, a device production code number, a key, and the like, and then the conference room management subsystem may register the external conference device as a blank device having no binding relationship according to the unique identifier, and may bind the conference room and the conference control device for the conference room management subsystem according to a preset allocation rule or an instruction input by a system administrator, where the conference control device may actively access the conference room management subsystem and input the unique identifier to prove that the conference room management subsystem and the external conference device may be bound, that is, the operation corresponding to step ⑨ in fig. 1b, and for the following screen-throwing device, may access the conference room management subsystem and input screen-throwing information characterized in a form, for example, a number, a two-dimensional code, and the like, so as to prove that the conference room management subsystem and the external conference device may be bound, that is, the operation corresponding to step ⑩ in fig. 1 b.

In another embodiment, the device registration request includes a unique identifier of a device other than the external conference device, for example, a conference room, a conference control device, etc., and then the conference room management subsystem may directly create a corresponding binding relationship according to the above information, and if the binding object of the created binding relationship is not complete, the binding manner in the previous embodiment may be used.

Of course, the conference room management subsystem may further authenticate the validity of each device in the binding relationship before creating the binding relationship, for example, whether the conference room exists, whether the to-be-bound controlled device is in the conference room, etc., and the specific validity checking manner is not limited in this specification.

Under the condition that the binding relationship comprises three binding relationships among the conference control equipment, the external conference equipment and the screen throwing equipment, the three binding relationships can be issued to the screen throwing equipment or the conference control equipment to serve as a local cache record which can be acquired quickly in the later period, and the local cache record can be matched with the basic instructions. The screen throwing device can be used as one of auxiliary devices of a conference room where the external conference device is located, and can be used as a data source for providing additional media data for the external conference device through a data transmission mode such as connection with a high-definition multimedia interface (High Definition Multimedia Interface, HDMI), and the screen throwing device is not an essential component of the conference system and can be selectively used according to actual situations.

The three-party binding relationship may also be used for a media data switching instruction initiated by the conference control device, where the instruction may be used for switching a data source of image data contained in media data output by the external conference device, where the data source may include the screen throwing device and an image acquisition device connected to the external conference device, where an output form of the data source may be divided into outputting media data only displayed in one data source or outputting mixed media data displaying media data in a plurality of data sources according to actual needs, where the conference control subsystem may forward the data switching instruction to the external conference device according to the three-party binding relationship maintained by the conference room management subsystem when the media data switching instruction initiated by the conference control device is received, where a forwarding manner may be, for example, direct sending by the conference control subsystem to the external conference device, or sending by way of a media stream carrying the media data to the external conference device via a media server and a gateway device. For example: the conference picture provided by the external conference equipment displays media data collected by a camera connected with the conference picture; at the moment, the conference control equipment can initiate a media data switching instruction to display the screen throwing picture of the screen throwing equipment bound with the external conference equipment in the specific position of the conference picture, so that a user of the external conference equipment can smoothly experience the conference picture acquired by the original camera while throwing the screen.

It should be noted that, the initiator and the executor of the target meeting control instruction including the media data switching instruction may be the same or different meeting devices, and in the latter case, the meeting control subsystem may reversely determine, according to the three-party binding relationship, the meeting control device bound by the meeting device of the executor, and initiate query information about whether to execute instructions from other meeting control devices, and determine whether to actually execute the instructions according to the reply condition, so as to avoid that a malicious target meeting control instruction of a certain meeting control device is located in other session devices.

In short, after the conference room management subsystem successfully creates the binding relationship, the conference control subsystem determines the external conference device corresponding to the conference control device according to the binding relationship maintained by the conference room management subsystem, and sends the received target conference control instruction to the media server to perform conference management on the conference participated by the external conference device. The above binding relationship obtaining process corresponds to the operation of step 11 in fig. 1b, that is, the conference room management subsystem obtains the binding relationship from the conference room management subsystem based on an active or passive mode.

For a conference control device, at least two ways exist for controlling the conference device to join a conference: the conference is directly added after the conference is automatically created, and the conference is added into the created conference by actively inputting a conference entering code, receiving a conference entering invitation and the like.

The following describes the function of the conference system including the conference control device in the two ways with reference to fig. 2 and 3:

The conference control subsystem can forward the conference creation instruction to the media server under the condition that the conference creation instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received; and the media server can create the first target conference under the condition of receiving the conference creation instruction, and return conference information of the first target conference to the conference control device, so that the conference control device joins the external conference device into the first target conference according to the conference information. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, a process of creating and joining a conference by an external conference device may be as follows:

S201, the conference creation operation is triggered by the conference control device.

In one embodiment, a user may trigger a meeting creation operation, such as a meeting creation option, in a meeting client in a meeting device to generate a meeting creation instruction in order to create a new meeting room with its bound meeting creation instruction.

S202, the conference control equipment sends a conference creation instruction to a conference control subsystem;

And S203, the conference control subsystem forwards the conference creation instruction to the media server.

In an embodiment, the conference creation instruction may be forwarded to the media server via the conference control subsystem, provided that no device information about the external conference device is contained in the external conference device. Meanwhile, the conference control subsystem can determine conference equipment pointed by the conference creation instruction according to the binding relation maintained in the conference room management subsystem, and add equipment information of the conference equipment to the original conference creation instruction.

S204, the media server creates a conference.

In an embodiment, the media server may create a corresponding target conference for the external conference device according to the device information in the conference creation instruction, and obtain corresponding conference information, where the conference information may also include a conference connection and an identity token required for joining the target conference.

S205, returning meeting information to a meeting control subsystem;

S206, returning meeting information to the meeting control equipment;

s207, the conference control device sets conference parameters for the external conference device.

In an embodiment, the media server returns the conference information to the conference control device through the conference control subsystem, so that the conference control device determines that the target conference is created at the moment, before the external conference device formally joins the target conference, the conference control device can directly set conference parameters for the bound external conference device, where the conference parameters can be a conference ring answering-free state, an initial state of devices such as a camera and a microphone, and the media display interface layout scheme and the like do not involve general parameters of the second session protocol. The conference parameters may be sent to the external conference device by a conference joining instruction carried below, or may be directly transmitted based on a separate network between the conference device and the external conference device, which is not limited in this specification.

S208, the conference control equipment sends a conference joining instruction to the conference control subsystem;

s209, the conference control subsystem forwards the conference joining instruction to the media server;

s210, the media server forwards the conference joining instruction to the gateway device.

In an embodiment, the conference control device may generate a conference joining instruction based on the first session protocol according to the conference parameter, where the instruction may be finally sent to the gateway device via the conference subsystem and the media server. If the conference joining instruction already carries equipment information about external conference equipment, the conference control subsystem can perform secondary confirmation again according to the binding relation maintained in the conference room management subsystem to improve data security, or does not confirm any more to reduce resource consumption of the conference control subsystem.

S211, the gateway converts the conference joining instruction.

In an embodiment, the gateway device may, upon receiving the conference join instruction described above, convert the conference join instruction based on the first session protocol into a conference join request based on the second session protocol, which may be parsed by the external conference device.

S212, the gateway device initiates a conference joining request to the external conference device.

In an embodiment, the gateway device may send the converted conference join request to the external conference device.

S213, the external conference device returns a request result;

S214, the gateway equipment returns a successful meeting message;

s215, the media server returns a successful meeting message;

s216, the conference subsystem returns a successful conference joining message.

In an embodiment, the external conference device may return a request result characterizing that the conference is allowed to be joined based on the second session protocol to the gateway device, and the gateway device may convert the transaction into a conference joining request and send the conference joining request to the conference control device layer by layer.

S217, the conference control device sets conference parameters for the external conference device.

In an embodiment, since the conference parameter set in step S207 may interfere with other conferences that the external conference device subsequently creates or joins, the conference parameter may be reset to a default value, for example, reset the external conference device from a ringing free state to a ringing required state.

The conference control subsystem can forward the conference joining instruction to the media server under the condition that the conference control device receives the conference joining instruction for the second target conference; the media server forwards the conference joining instruction to the gateway equipment under the condition that the conference joining instruction is received; meanwhile, under the condition that the gateway device receives the conference joining instruction, a conference joining request can be initiated to the external conference device according to the conference joining instruction, so that the external conference device joins the second target conference.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 3, a procedure of joining an external conference device to another conference may be as follows:

S301, the conference control client sends a conference joining instruction for external conference equipment to the conference control server.

In one embodiment, when any one of the conference devices wishes to join an external conference device to a target conference, a conference join instruction for the external conference device may be initiated to the conference subsystem by a conference client in the conference device. The conference client may be an external conference device itself or other conference devices, which is not limited in this specification.

S302, the conference control subsystem forwards the conference joining instruction to the media server;

s303, the media server forwards the conference joining instruction to the gateway device.

In an embodiment, the conference joining instruction of the conference control device may be sent to the gateway device via the conference control subsystem and the media server.

S304, the gateway converts the conference joining instruction.

In an embodiment, the gateway device may, upon receiving the conference join instruction described above, convert the conference join instruction based on the first session protocol into a conference join request based on the second session protocol, which may be parsed by the external conference device.

S305, the gateway device initiates a conference joining request to the external conference device.

In an embodiment, the gateway device may send the converted conference join request to the external conference device.

S306, the external conference device returns the request.

In an embodiment, the external conference device may return a message to the gateway device indicating that the conference join request was successfully received, while the external conference device itself may transition to a ringing state to await instructions whether to join the conference.

S307, the conference subsystem sends the pre-joining device to the conference control device;

and S308, the conference control device monitors the ringing state of the external conference device.

In an embodiment, the conference subsystem may, while receiving the conference joining instruction, confirm the conference control device of the external conference control device to be joined through the binding relationship maintained by the conference room management subsystem, and send a pre-joining instruction to the confirmed conference control device, where the instruction is used to instruct the conference control device to monitor the ringing state of the external conference device.

S309, the conference control device executes a conference approval operation.

In an embodiment, the conference control device may trigger to execute the conference approval operation or the conference rejection operation according to the behavior of the user or a preset rule when the conference control device monitors that the external conference device is in the ringing state.

S310, the conference control device sets conference parameters for the external conference device.

In an embodiment, assuming that the conference control device performs a conference approval operation, the conference control device may directly set conference parameters for the bound external conference device before the external conference device formally joins the target conference.

S311, the external conference equipment returns a message for allowing joining;

S312, the gateway equipment returns a successful meeting message;

S313, the media server returns a successful meeting message;

S314, the conference subsystem returns a successful conference joining message;

S315, the conference control device sets conference parameters for the external conference device.

In an embodiment, the above steps are substantially identical to the operations of S213 to S217, and are not described herein.

In summary, when the external conference device formally joins the conference, a conference control instruction initiated by the conference control device to implement the conference management function may also be executed. Wherein, the conference management function may include at least one of: other conference devices are invited to join the conference participated by the external conference device, conference states of the conference participated by the external conference device are managed, and member states of the conference participated by the external conference device are managed, wherein the conference states can comprise starting, suspending or ending of the conference, and the member states can comprise online conditions of members participated in the conference, microphone states, participant identities and the like.

In addition, after the media server executes the target meeting control instruction, the meeting control subsystem can be further used for returning the meeting management result corresponding to the target meeting control instruction to the meeting control equipment, so that the meeting control equipment can directly display or forward the meeting management result to external meeting equipment for display, and the meeting control equipment can be conveniently used for realizing the meeting management function supported by the meeting system, and then the instruction execution result can be quickly confirmed without depending on other equipment.

The present specification also provides a conference management method, which is applied to a conference control subsystem in a conference system, wherein the conference system supports a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first conference protocol; the conference system further comprises a conference room management subsystem, wherein the conference room management subsystem maintains a binding relation between external conference equipment and conference control equipment in a conference room where the conference room management subsystem is located, the conference control equipment supports the first session protocol, and the external conference equipment supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol; as shown in fig. 4, the method may include the steps of:

S401, receiving a target meeting control instruction initiated by the meeting control equipment;

S402, determining external conference equipment corresponding to the conference control equipment according to the binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem;

s403, the target meeting control instruction is associated with the external meeting equipment so as to conduct meeting management on the meeting in which the target meeting control instruction participates.

As previously described, the conference control subsystem is further configured to: and returning the conference management result corresponding to the target conference control instruction to the conference control equipment so as to be directly displayed by the conference control equipment or forwarded to the external conference equipment for displaying.

As previously described, the conference management function includes at least one of: inviting other conference devices to join the conference in which the external conference device participates, managing the conference state of the conference in which the external conference device participates, and managing the member state of the conference in which the external conference device participates.

As previously described, the gateway device is further configured to: forwarding the equipment registration request to the conference room management subsystem under the condition that the equipment registration request initiated by the external conference equipment is received;

the conference room management subsystem is further configured to: and under the condition that the equipment registration request is received, creating a binding relation corresponding to the external conference equipment and a conference room where the external conference equipment is located according to the equipment registration request.

As previously described, the conference room management subsystem is further configured to: maintaining a three-party binding relation among the conference control equipment, the external conference equipment and screen throwing equipment in a conference room where the external conference equipment is positioned;

the conference control subsystem is further configured to: and under the condition that a media data switching instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received, forwarding the media data switching instruction to the external conference equipment according to a three-party binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem, wherein the media data switching instruction is used for switching data sources of image data contained in media data output by the external conference equipment, and the data sources comprise the screen throwing equipment and image acquisition equipment connected with the external conference equipment.

As previously described, the conference control subsystem is further configured to: forwarding a conference creation instruction to the media server under the condition that the conference creation instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received;

The media server is configured to: and under the condition that the conference creation instruction is received, creating a first target conference, and returning conference information of the first target conference to the conference control equipment so that the conference control equipment joins the external conference equipment into the first target conference according to the conference information.

As previously described, the conference control subsystem is further configured to: forwarding a conference joining instruction to the media server under the condition that the conference control device receives the conference joining instruction for a second target conference;

The media server is further configured to: forwarding the conference joining instruction to the gateway device under the condition that the conference joining instruction is received;

The gateway device is further configured to: and under the condition that the conference joining instruction is received, initiating a conference joining request to the external conference equipment according to the conference joining instruction so as to enable the external conference equipment to join the second target conference.

Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an electronic device in an exemplary embodiment. Referring to fig. 4, at the hardware level, the electronic device includes a processor, an internal bus, a network interface, a memory, and a nonvolatile memory, and may include other required hardware. The processor reads the corresponding computer program from the nonvolatile memory into the memory and then runs the computer program to form the conference management device on a logic level. Of course, other implementations, such as logic devices or combinations of hardware and software, are not excluded from the present description, that is, the execution subject of the following processing flows is not limited to each logic unit, but may be hardware or logic devices.

Corresponding to the foregoing embodiments of the conference management method, the present specification also provides embodiments of a conference management apparatus.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a conference management device according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in fig. 6, in a software implementation, the apparatus is applied to a conference control subsystem in a conference system supporting a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first session protocol; the conference system also comprises a conference room management subsystem, wherein the conference room management subsystem maintains a binding relation between external conference equipment and conference control equipment in a conference room where the conference room management subsystem is located, the conference control equipment supports the first session protocol, and the external conference equipment supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol; the method may include:

An instruction receiving unit 601, configured to receive a target conference control instruction initiated by the conference control device;

an external conference device determining unit 602, configured to determine an external conference device corresponding to the conference control device according to the binding relationship maintained by the conference room management subsystem;

and the conference management unit 603 is configured to associate the target conference control instruction with the external conference device, so as to perform conference management on the conference in which the target conference control instruction participates.

As previously described, the conference control subsystem is further configured to: and returning the conference management result corresponding to the target conference control instruction to the conference control equipment so as to be directly displayed by the conference control equipment or forwarded to the external conference equipment for displaying.

As previously described, the conference management function includes at least one of: inviting other conference devices to join the conference in which the external conference device participates, managing the conference state of the conference in which the external conference device participates, and managing the member state of the conference in which the external conference device participates.

As previously described, the gateway device is further configured to: forwarding the equipment registration request to the conference room management subsystem under the condition that the equipment registration request initiated by the external conference equipment is received;

the conference room management subsystem is further configured to: and under the condition that the equipment registration request is received, creating a binding relation corresponding to the external conference equipment and a conference room where the external conference equipment is located according to the equipment registration request.

As previously described, the conference room management subsystem is further configured to: maintaining a three-party binding relation among the conference control equipment, the external conference equipment and screen throwing equipment in a conference room where the external conference equipment is positioned;

the conference control subsystem is further configured to: and under the condition that a media data switching instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received, forwarding the media data switching instruction to the external conference equipment according to a three-party binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem, wherein the media data switching instruction is used for switching data sources of image data contained in media data output by the external conference equipment, and the data sources comprise the screen throwing equipment and image acquisition equipment connected with the external conference equipment.

As previously described, the conference control subsystem is further configured to: forwarding a conference creation instruction to the media server under the condition that the conference creation instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received;

The media server is configured to: and under the condition that the conference creation instruction is received, creating a first target conference, and returning conference information of the first target conference to the conference control equipment so that the conference control equipment joins the external conference equipment into the first target conference according to the conference information.

As previously described, the conference control subsystem is further configured to: forwarding a conference joining instruction to the media server under the condition that the conference control device receives the conference joining instruction for a second target conference;

The media server is further configured to: forwarding the conference joining instruction to the gateway device under the condition that the conference joining instruction is received;

The gateway device is further configured to: and under the condition that the conference joining instruction is received, initiating a conference joining request to the external conference equipment according to the conference joining instruction so as to enable the external conference equipment to join the second target conference.

The implementation process of the functions and roles of each unit in the above device is specifically shown in the implementation process of the corresponding steps in the above method, and will not be described herein again.

For the device embodiments, reference is made to the description of the method embodiments for the relevant points, since they essentially correspond to the method embodiments. The apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, wherein the elements illustrated as separate elements may or may not be physically separate, and the elements shown as elements may or may not be physical elements, may be located in one place, or may be distributed over a plurality of network elements. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purposes of the present description. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand and implement the present invention without undue burden.

Embodiments of the subject matter and the functional operations described in this specification can be implemented in: digital electronic circuitry, tangibly embodied computer software or firmware, computer hardware including the structures disclosed in this specification and structural equivalents thereof, or a combination of one or more of them. Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangible, non-transitory program carrier for execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. Alternatively or additionally, the program instructions may be encoded on a manually-generated propagated signal, e.g., a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal, that is generated to encode and transmit information to suitable receiver apparatus for execution by data processing apparatus. The computer storage medium may be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory device, or a combination of one or more of them.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can be performed by one or more programmable computers executing one or more computer programs to perform corresponding functions by operating on input data and generating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performed by, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit).

Computers suitable for executing computer programs include, for example, general purpose and/or special purpose microprocessors, or any other type of processing unit. Typically, the processing unit will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a random access memory. The essential elements of a computer include a processing unit for executing or carrying out instructions and one or more memory devices for storing instructions and data. Typically, a computer will also include, or be operatively coupled to receive data from or transfer data to, or both, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic, magneto-optical disks, or optical disks, etc. However, a computer does not have to have such a device. Furthermore, the computer may be embedded in another device, such as a mobile phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile audio or video player, a game console, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drive, to name a few.

Computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices including, for example, semiconductor memory devices (e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices), magnetic disks (e.g., internal hard disk or removable disks), magneto-optical disks, and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions of features of specific embodiments of particular inventions. Certain features that are described in this specification in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the other hand, the various features described in the individual embodiments may also be implemented separately in the various embodiments or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, although features may be acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, although operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system modules and components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Furthermore, the processes depicted in the accompanying drawings are not necessarily required to be in the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In some implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments is provided for the purpose of illustration only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, since any modifications, equivalents, improvements, etc. that fall within the spirit and principles of the disclosure are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

Claims (10)

1. A conference system, wherein the conference system supports a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first session protocol; the conference system includes:

The media server is used for transmitting the media data generated by the conference communication function and realizing the corresponding conference management function according to the received conference control instruction;

the gateway equipment is used for realizing the butt joint with the media server and transmitting the media data between the external conference equipment and the media server for the conference participated by the external conference equipment; wherein the external conference device supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol;

The conference room management subsystem is used for registering the external conference equipment to a conference room where the external conference equipment is located and maintaining a binding relation between the external conference equipment and a conference control device in the conference room where the external conference equipment is located, wherein the conference control device supports the first session protocol;

And the conference control subsystem is used for determining external conference equipment corresponding to the conference control equipment according to the binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem under the condition that a target conference control instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received, and sending the target conference control instruction to the media server so as to carry out conference management on conferences participated by the external conference equipment.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the convergence control subsystem is further configured to: and returning the conference management result corresponding to the target conference control instruction to the conference control equipment so as to be directly displayed by the conference control equipment or forwarded to the external conference equipment for displaying.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the conference management function comprises at least one of: inviting other conference devices to join the conference in which the external conference device participates, managing the conference state of the conference in which the external conference device participates, and managing the member state of the conference in which the external conference device participates.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a controller configured to control the controller,

The gateway device is further configured to: forwarding the equipment registration request to the conference room management subsystem under the condition that the equipment registration request initiated by the external conference equipment is received;

the conference room management subsystem is further configured to: and under the condition that the equipment registration request is received, creating a binding relation corresponding to the external conference equipment and a conference room where the external conference equipment is located according to the equipment registration request.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a controller configured to control the controller,

The conference room management subsystem is further configured to: maintaining a three-party binding relation among the conference control equipment, the external conference equipment and screen throwing equipment in a conference room where the external conference equipment is positioned;

the conference control subsystem is further configured to: and under the condition that a media data switching instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received, forwarding the media data switching instruction to the external conference equipment according to a three-party binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem, wherein the media data switching instruction is used for switching data sources of image data contained in media data output by the external conference equipment, and the data sources comprise the screen throwing equipment and image acquisition equipment connected with the external conference equipment.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a controller configured to control the controller,

The conference control subsystem is further configured to: forwarding a conference creation instruction to the media server under the condition that the conference creation instruction initiated by the conference control equipment is received;

The media server is configured to: and under the condition that the conference creation instruction is received, creating a first target conference, and returning conference information of the first target conference to the conference control equipment so that the conference control equipment joins the external conference equipment into the first target conference according to the conference information.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a controller configured to control the controller,

The conference control subsystem is further configured to: forwarding a conference joining instruction to the media server under the condition that the conference control device receives the conference joining instruction for a second target conference;

The media server is further configured to: forwarding the conference joining instruction to the gateway device under the condition that the conference joining instruction is received;

The gateway device is further configured to: and under the condition that the conference joining instruction is received, initiating a conference joining request to the external conference equipment according to the conference joining instruction so as to enable the external conference equipment to join the second target conference.

8. A conference system compatible with third party equipment, characterized in that the conference system comprises external conference equipment, a conference control equipment and an original conference subsystem; the conference system supports a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first session protocol, the external conference equipment supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol, and the conference control equipment supports the first session protocol; wherein:

The external conference equipment is used for accessing the original conference subsystem and participating in the conference in the original conference subsystem;

The conference control device is used for accessing the original conference subsystem and sending a target conference control instruction aiming at the external conference device to the original conference subsystem;

The original conference subsystem is used for transmitting media data generated by the corresponding conference based on a conference communication function between the original conference subsystem and the external conference equipment aiming at the conference participated by the external conference equipment; and registering the external conference equipment to a conference room where the external conference equipment is located, maintaining a binding relation between the external conference equipment and a conference control device in the conference room where the external conference equipment is located, and performing conference management on a conference participated by the external conference equipment according to the binding relation under the condition that the target conference control instruction is received.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the original conference subsystem is the conference system of any of claims 1-7.

10. A conference management method, characterized in that the conference management method is applied to a conference control subsystem in a conference system, wherein the conference system supports a conference communication function and a conference management function based on a first conference protocol; the conference system also comprises a conference room management subsystem, wherein the conference room management subsystem maintains a binding relation between external conference equipment and conference control equipment in a conference room where the conference room management subsystem is located, the conference control equipment supports the first session protocol, and the external conference equipment supports a conference communication function based on a second session protocol; the method comprises the following steps:

receiving a target meeting control instruction initiated by the meeting control equipment;

according to the binding relation maintained by the conference room management subsystem, external conference equipment corresponding to the conference control equipment is determined;

and associating the target meeting control instruction to the external meeting equipment so as to conduct meeting management on the meeting in which the target meeting control instruction participates.