JP2001160857A - Video conference device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video conference device that utilizes an ISDN communication channel so as to attain communication with two different points by image and voice. SOLUTION: The video conference device is provided with a channel interface that utilizes an ISDN channel to make dialing and connection to two different addresses and a function that sends/receives image and voice data to/from different connection destinations in two-way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video conference system for two-way transmission of an image and a voice using a digital communication line (ISDN), and more particularly to a video / voice dialogue between remote locations or from a remote location. The present invention relates to a video conference apparatus suitable for performing dialogue and monitoring with various facilities and images and sounds inside and outside a building.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional video conference system, there is known a system in which two points are connected by using an ISDN communication line, and dialogue and monitoring are performed by using an image device and a voice input / output device installed at the two points. Have been. Among others, there is a system in which a conference for making a decision in a company, such as a board meeting, is realized by a video conference device using ISDN. There are a TV and a camera-integrated TV phone as two-way communication using simple video and audio.

[0003]

In the prior art, for example, when a video conference device is used at a reception of a company, a video conference device installed at a reception location or a video conference device installed at a location different from the video telephone device is used. It is possible to respond while checking the face of the other party by communicating with the device or the videophone device.

In the above-mentioned prior art, for example, in order to notify a visitor after the visitor responds by communication, the communication with the visitor is temporarily cut off and the visitor is contacted. The communication must be performed again and notified, or the visitor must be notified of the fact using a device different from the device used for communication with the visitor.
In order to support the terminal, communication must be disconnected and reconnected, and two terminals must be used to realize this without disconnecting communication.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a video conference apparatus according to the present invention is provided with the following means.

[0006] 1. A means for calling and connecting to two different addresses from one terminal and realizing bidirectional communication with each of them by image and voice.

2. Means for enabling one terminal to input and output video and audio from two locations.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a video conference apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the present invention. First, a conventional example will be described to facilitate the description of the present invention. A conventional video conference system uses a digital communication line called ISDN as a communication line.
The terminal 1 installed at a certain point and the terminal 2 installed at a different point from the terminal 1 are connected to perform one-to-one bidirectional communication.

In the embodiment of the present invention, terminals 1, 2, and 3 are installed and connected at three points. The terminal 1 includes an image output monitor 5 for outputting image information of the terminals 2 and 3 at different points via the ISDN, an audio input microphone 4 for constantly capturing audio information in the terminal, and a terminal for different points via the ISDN. The audio output speaker 6 outputs audio information of the terminals 2 and 3. Terminals 2 and 3
Similar to the terminal 1, the image output monitors 8, 12 for outputting image information of terminals at different points via the ISDN, and the voice input microphones 9, 13 for constantly capturing voice information in the terminal.
And audio output speakers 10 and 15 for outputting audio information at different points via the ISDN.
In this embodiment, the terminals 2 and 3 have the same configuration as the terminal 1. In the video conference system according to the present invention, the basic configuration of each terminal may be the same as described above, but, of course, other devices may be added to each terminal according to the purpose and target of the video conference system according to the present invention. It doesn't matter. Further, a video conference system having a configuration in which a plurality of terminals 1 or terminals 2 are installed at a plurality of sites and the terminals are connected to each other may be used.

(2) System Operation FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the present invention. The terminal device includes an encoding unit 17 that digitizes an audio signal from the microphone 21;
An encoding unit 18 for encoding an input image from a camera into a digital code; a decoding unit 19 for decoding digital image data sent from a partner terminal in communication; and a digital audio data sent from the partner terminal , A circuit unit 28 for switching or combining the input image signal from the camera 21 and the output signal of the decoding device 19, and a switch for switching between the microphone 21 input and the output of the decoding unit 20. Unit 27 and the CP controlling them
It comprises a U unit 22, a multiplexing unit 24 for multiplexing audio and image data, and a line interface unit 25 for exchanging data with a line. The internal basic operation will be described below.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, when there is an incoming call from another terminal 2, an image received from the other party is supplied to an encoding unit 37 via a line interface unit 25 and a demultiplexing unit 24. 37 to the monitor 33 decoded. The voice received from the other party is decoded by 38 and output to the speaker 34. The video captured by the camera 32 is digitized by the VCOD 36 and transmitted to the terminal that has received the incoming call. The audio signal input from the microphone 30 is digitized by the ACOD 35 and transmitted to the terminal that received the call. After the first two-way communication using image and voice is established, a call is transmitted to a terminal different from the terminal that has newly received a call, and the second communication is performed. The CPU 22 issues a transmission instruction to the line interface 25, and the line interface 25 transmits to the specified address. When the line is connected, the video captured by the camera 26 is transferred to the VCOD 18 via the SPL 28 for synthesizing and switching images.
Digitized in The voice input from the microphone 21 is digitized by the ACOD 17 via the switch SW27. The digitized data is demultiplexed by the demultiplexer 24.
Are multiplexed and transmitted. The digital video / audio data from the other party is separated by the demultiplexer 24, and the video is decoded by the VDEC 19 and output to the monitor 29. The audio is decoded by the ADEC 20 and output to the speaker 31. After the communication with the two different terminals is established, the image of the terminal receiving the incoming call is divided and combined with the image of the camera 26 in the SPL 28 and transmitted to the other terminal. This allows the video of one terminal to be confirmed by the other communicating party. The SPL 28 has a function of synthesizing two input images or selecting one of the images, and can synthesize and select images as needed. Similarly, by controlling the SPL 40, the image from the second communication partner can be switched to the self video and transmitted to the first communication partner.

Next, a sequence for receiving an incoming call from a certain terminal and transmitting and connecting the incoming image and voice to another terminal with reference to FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

When there is an incoming call from terminal 2 to terminal 1, terminal 1
In step, the line interface unit notifies the CPU unit of the incoming call. Upon receiving the notification of the incoming call, the camera 1 is selected for input of the transmission video, the own voice is selected for the input voice, and the dialogue with the terminal 2 is performed by video and voice. Thereafter, a calling operation is performed to an address different from the terminal 2, in this case, the terminal 3. The CPU instructs the image CODEC to the terminal 2 to display the standby screen. As a result, a screen in a standby state is displayed on the terminal 2. Next, terminal 3 for the line interface
Instruct the call to. The line interface unit makes a call to the terminal 3 according to this instruction. When the connection with the terminal 3 is established, the user interacts with the terminal 3 by video and audio. Here, the image from the terminal 2 can be divided and combined with the self image and transmitted to the terminal 3 to check the video. afterwards,
The standby state screen for the terminal 2 is canceled and the image from the terminal 3 is transmitted to the terminal 2. As a result, a direct telephone call between the terminal 2 and the terminal 3 is finally realized.

Next, the operation of the CPU will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a conventional terminal at the time of an incoming call.
It is a CPU operation flow at the time of transmission. At the time of calling, a call is instructed from the operating device of the terminal to a desired destination by a calling button. At this time, the CPU reads the already registered address after receiving the input from the operating device, and instructs the line interface unit to call the registered address. Thereafter, the communication of the image and the sound is started after the establishment of the line connection. In the case of an incoming call, contrary to the outgoing call, an incoming call is instructed to the line interface unit, the line connection is established, and the image / voice communication with the partner terminal is started. FIG. 8 shows the operation of the CPU according to the present invention. In the present invention, for example, when there is an incoming call, it is determined whether or not the incoming call is the first incoming call, and in the case of the first incoming call, communication by image and voice is performed in the same manner as a normal incoming call operation.
Thereafter, when there is a second incoming call, an instruction to transmit a standby screen is issued from the operating device to suspend communication with the terminal already in communication. Upon receiving the standby screen transmission instruction, the CPU instructs the image encoding unit to transmit the standby screen, waits for the completion of the standby screen display, and performs communication with the second incoming call terminal.

A screen display image of the embodiment is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, after receiving a call from a visitor in the above-described embodiment of the accepting operation, a call is made to the visit destination, and then both images are displayed on a split screen, and in the visit destination, images of the acceptor and the visitor are displayed. Is displayed on the split screen. This embodiment is an embodiment in which a TV conference apparatus having the function of the present invention is used for a receiver and a visit destination.

Further, as an application example, when three parties use terminals having the functions of the present invention, they can be connected simultaneously by 1B communication, so that simultaneous conversation by three parties is possible. An embodiment in this case will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows an example in which three stores each located in a remote place are connected. In this case, at each store, it is possible to always see the images of the remaining two stores other than yourself, and it is possible for three persons to have a conversation at the same time. As a result, a three-party simultaneous conference between three points can be realized.

[0020]

By using the video conference system of the present invention, it is possible to communicate with two different points using the ISDN1 line. Also, the video and audio data of the first communication terminal and the second communication terminal can be transmitted and received between them.
Thus, for example, reception work in a company can be easily realized using the video conference device. In the conventional reception work, it has been general that a specialized receptionist responds to a visitor at a counter and confirms a visit destination before giving guidance. However, according to the technology of the present invention, a video conference device can be installed at a reception window to respond to a visitor through a video conference. The receptionist responds to the visitor using the video conference device, communicates with the visitor using the same terminal with image and voice, communicates it, and visually confirms that the visitor's image is transmitted. It can be performed. The receptionist can check the images and guide them that there is no mistake. Further, by using a video conference device equipped with the function of the present invention, it is possible to realize a simultaneous conference between three locations.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a video conference system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a terminal system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a video conference system embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a video conference system.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a transmission sequence.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a CPU control flow (transmission) of a conventional terminal.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a CPU control flow (incoming call) of a conventional terminal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a CPU control flow (incoming call) of the terminal of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3 ... terminal, 7, 11, 14, 26, 32 ... camera, 8, 12, 29, 33 ... monitor, 4, 9, 13, 2
1, 30: microphone, 6, 10, 15, 31, 34: speaker, 24: demultiplexer, 17, 35: voice encoder,
18, 36: image coding unit, 16: ISDN network, 25:
Line interface, 19, 37 ... image decoding unit, 2
0, 38: voice decoding unit, 22: CPU, 23: memory unit, 39, 40, 41: operating device.

Continued on front page F term (reference) 5C064 AA02 AC04 AC06 AC12 AC16 AC17 AD09 AD14 5K015 AB00 AB01 JA00 JA01 JA10 JA11 5K101 KK04 LL03 NN06 NN07 NN15 NN18 QQ12 RR11 RR16 RR28 SS01 SS06 SS07 TT06

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image input means for transmitting and receiving audio and video information, an image output means for outputting an image from a partner device, a voice input means for inputting a voice, and a voice from a partner device. A video conference unit having a function of transmitting and receiving voice and image data via an ISDN digital communication line, a function of separately calling and connecting to two different addresses and performing communication. A video conference system characterized by having. 2. The video conference apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video conference apparatus has a function of transmitting and receiving video and audio between two different terminals. 3. The video conference apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the video conference apparatus has a function of dividing and synthesizing the input video of the terminal and the image of the communication connection terminal.