JP2004015183A - Communication system, communication server, program, and communication method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method whereby many terminals smoothly make communication with each other. <P>SOLUTION: A presenter terminal 2, many participant terminals 3-1 to 3-n, and a communication server 4 are connected to a network 1, each of the terminal 2 and the terminals 3-1 to 3-n is provided with a high density compression / decompression processing section for compressing video and audio information with high density and / decompressing the information in addition to a conventional compression / expansion processing section 141 and compresses the video and audio information with high density and transmits the resulting information in the case of communication among the terminal 2 and the terminals 3-1 to 3-n, and the communication server 4 is provided with a function of receiving participants and automatically checking the presence / absence of the participant qualification and the utterance right, and distributes the video and audio information to terminals while properly selecting many terminals. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication server, a program, and a communication method for realizing two-way communication via a network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a video conference system as a system for realizing mutual communication via a network.
[0003]
In this video conference system, a number of video conference terminals are connected via a network such as a digital leased line or ISDN, and each terminal is provided with a video input / output unit and a voice input / output unit. The video compression in this video conference system is based on the H.264 standard recommended by ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector). 261 is used, and transmission / reception of data such as voice information and call control are controlled by H.264 of ITU-T recommendation. The H.323 communication method is used.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the above-described video conference system, since the voice information is transmitted and received together with the video information of the participant who speaks in the video conference, the amount of information such as video is very large, and a broadband communication environment is required. Despite this, the situation is not enough.
[0005]
Further, in the above-mentioned ITU-T regulations, since the processing speed and the transmission speed are slow, the video and the audio are often interrupted, and there is a problem that the communication cannot be performed smoothly when communicating between many.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication system, a communication server, a program, and a communication method for realizing flexible and smooth communication between a large number of terminals.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(1) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a communication system for executing communication between one or more participant terminals and presenter terminals through a network,
A presenter, a compression / expansion processing unit for compressing / expanding the video information and audio information of the participant, and an advanced compression / decompression processing unit for compressing and decompressing the video information and the audio information of the participant; Said each terminal to compress and transmit video and audio information of the presenter with high density,
It has a management table for storing data such as participation qualification of each participant including the presenter and the presence / absence of the right to speak, and when receiving a login for a participation request from each terminal, participation qualification data of the management table A participation qualification checking means for checking participation qualification of each participant, and a speaking right checking means for checking the presence or absence of the speaking right from the speaking right existence data of the management table when receiving a speaking permission request at the time of communication, When the right to speak has been determined by the right-to-speak checking means, the right to speak is given to the terminal that has made a request for speaking permission, and the video and audio information of the high-density compressed presenter transmitted from the terminal that has made the speaking permission request is transmitted. A communication server having video / audio distribution control means for distributing to another terminal is provided.
[0008]
According to the present invention, when communication is performed between the presenter terminal and at least one participant terminal connected via a network, a participation request and a speech permission from each terminal can be provided. In response to the request, the communication server automatically checks the participation qualification and the presence of the right to speak, and when it is determined that the right to speak has been granted, the right to speak is granted to the terminal that has requested permission to speak, and transmitted from the terminal that has requested permission to speak. Since the received high-density compressed video and audio information of the presenter is distributed to other terminals, it is possible to communicate flexibly and smoothly among the majority of participants.
[0009]
If the communication server does not have a function to check the right to speak, at least a first request-to-speak button, a participant selection button, and a request / speech display function corresponding to these participant selection buttons as a man-machine interface of the presenter terminal. Is provided, and at least a second speech request button is provided as a man-machine interface of each participant terminal. When the presenter on the presenter terminal speaks, when the first speech request button is operated, a speech permission request signal is generated. , The communication server preferentially selects the terminal for the presenter, distributes the video and audio information of the presenter, and operates the second speech request button when the communication server operates the presenter. Notification to the terminal and display the request If the participant can easily know which participant has a request to speak and select the corresponding participant selection button, the right to speak is given through the communication server and the video and audio information of the participant is distributed. Flexible and smooth communication between the majority of participants.
[0010]
Further, each terminal is provided with a presenter, a compression / expansion processing unit for compressing / expanding the video information and audio information of the participant, and an advanced compression / decompression processing unit for compressing and decompressing the presenter, the video information and audio information of the participant. Therefore, high-density compression becomes possible, processing speed is increased even in a narrow band, and communication can be performed smoothly without interruption.
[0011]
(2) Further, the communication server according to the present invention has the configuration described in the above (1), so that it is possible to automatically check the participation qualification and the presence or absence of the right to speak as described above. When it is determined that there is a right to speak, the video and audio information of the presenter compressed at high density can be delivered to another terminal.
[0012]
(3) A communication method according to the present invention is a communication method in which at least one participant terminal, a presenter terminal, and a communication server are connected via a network, and communication is performed between the terminals.
A step of creating a management table in which the participation qualification of each participant including the presenter and the voice right presence / absence data are recorded in the database of the communication server; and a case where a participation request is received from each of the terminals under login. A participation qualification check step of checking the presence or absence of participation qualification from the participation qualification data on the management table; and if it is determined that there is participation qualification by the participation qualification check step, a presenter video transmitted from the presenter terminal is transmitted. A presenter video transmitting step of relaying and transmitting to the participant terminal of the participation request source; and, when a speech permission request signal is received from the terminal along with the start of communication, a speech is made from the speaking right presence / absence data on the management table. Right check step to check the right Transmitting the utterance permission signal to the utterance permission request source terminal, and transmitting the utterance permission signal to the video / audio information transmitted from the utterance permission request source terminal. And a distribution step of distributing to a terminal.
[0013]
Therefore, according to the communication method as described above, the same operation and effect as the above (1) can be obtained.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0015]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a communication system according to the present invention.
[0016]
This communication system is provided with a network 1 such as a wired or wireless Internet, an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), and the network 1 corresponds to, for example, a lecturer when assuming a virtual classroom in education. Presenter's terminal 2 possessed by a person who conducts a meeting, a person corresponding to a meeting organizer when a meeting is assumed, a person who is also a student when a virtual classroom is assumed, and participates in a meeting when a meeting is assumed. ,..., 3-n such as personal computers used by participants (hereinafter, collectively referred to as participants, including students, conference participants, and others), these presenter terminals 2, -3,..., 3-n are selectively controlled in response to participation requests and speech requests. One multiple terminals 2,3-1, ..., communication server 4 to carry out the communication between 3-n are connected.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 2, the presenter terminal 2 includes a video input / output unit 11 such as a camera, a television, and a video playback device, a voice input / output unit 12 such as a microphone and a speaker, a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, and a trackpad. And a terminal processing main unit 14 composed of a CPU for executing a predetermined process under an operation of the operation input unit 13 or the like.
[0018]
The terminal processing main unit 14 conforms to the H.264 standard defined in the ITU-T recommendation. A compression / decompression processing unit 141 for compressing / decompressing video information and the like using a conventional general compression / decompression method based on MPEG2, MPEG4, etc., and an H.264 standard defined in the ITU-T recommendation. A control processing unit 142 that divides video and audio information into packets in accordance with a video conference protocol such as H.323, converts the received packets into video and audio information in a unit as a unit, and passes them to necessary components. The video and audio information compressed by the compression / decompression processing unit 141 passed from the compression processing unit 142 is subjected to high-density compression processing and passed to the control processing unit 142 again. The advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143 which decompresses the data and passes it as standardized video and audio information to the control processing unit 142 again, and the communication processing unit 144 which transmits and receives packets on the network 1 based on a required communication protocol. It is configured.
[0019]
The advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143 is the program itself, and the advanced compression / decompression processing program is stored and managed in the communication server 4. The presenter terminal 2 downloads a program for advanced compression / decompression processing (for example, Wavelet compression software, QuikCAT, etc.) from the communication server 4 when necessary, and constructs the advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143 of the terminal 2 for presenter. Therefore, it can be said that the advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143 is a recording medium that stores a program for executing the advanced compression / decompression processing.
[0020]
Each of the participant terminals 3-1,..., 3-n employs substantially the same configuration as the presenter terminal 2 shown in FIG. In a general personal computer, a compression / decompression processing unit, a control processing unit, a communication processing unit, and the like are already built in, and a video input / output unit and an audio input / output unit are externally attachable. The program is downloaded from a program for advanced compression / decompression processing using Wavelet compression software, and an advanced compression / decompression processing unit is constructed. By making the functions of the presenter terminal 2 and the participant terminals 3-1,..., 3-n substantially the same, selection control of each terminal is facilitated and mutual smooth communication is performed. .
[0021]
Accordingly, as described above, in addition to the commonly used compression / decompression method, the presenter terminal 2 and each of the participants terminals 3-1 to 3-n are provided with the advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143, so that the high-density compression is achieved. The transmitted video and audio information can be transmitted, and the audio information and the like can be distributed to the partner terminal without interruption by high-speed transmission. Further, by performing compression using advanced compression technology, video / audio information having a large amount of information can be communicated in a narrow band and with high image quality.
[0022]
On the other hand, the communication server 4 has a role of managing the qualifications of participation of each of the terminals 2, 3-1,... And a management database 41 for storing and managing the above-mentioned management information and the above-mentioned advanced compression / decompression processing program, and, if necessary, the contents of the meeting such as the agenda of the meeting, the holding time, and the qualifications of the meeting participants, for example, in HTML language. A Web database 42 for storing the described providing screen for the participant and other various providing screens according to the purpose of use, for example, a providing screen for the participant describing a URL for directly downloading a program for advanced compression / decompression processing; Exchanging information on the screen provided for participants using HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) Server application to perform, CGI (Common Gateway Interface) script, various communication software for example mail software, and a server processing main body 43 for mounting applications that other required is provided. Reference numeral 44 denotes a recording medium 44 for storing a conference / lecture processing program.
[0023]
When sending and receiving meeting contents such as meeting agenda, meeting holding time, meeting participant's qualification, etc. by e-mail, the providing screen for the participant becomes unnecessary, and the meeting contents necessary for holding the meeting are stored in the management database 41 instead. Is filed and saved.
[0024]
In the management database 41, for example, a management table 41a as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is formed. When realizing a plurality of conferences or virtual classrooms having different lecture contents, a plurality of management tables 41a,.
[0025]
The management table 41a includes, in addition to the manager ID (manager identification data) such as a meeting planner who creates a meeting plan, a server manager, and a person in charge of a meeting secretariat (see FIG. 3A). In addition, the presenter ID of the conference host, the conference organizer, the lecturer, and the like, the participant ID, the presence or absence of the floor, the presence or absence of the camera, the presence or absence of the microphone, and other necessary items are registered (see FIG. 3B). When no microphone is provided, there is no right to speak, and when no camera is provided, video information is not naturally selected. It should be noted that the ID may include both a case including a password and a case not including the password.
[0026]
The server processing main unit 43 is roughly divided in terms of function, as shown in FIG. 4, and receives a request from each of the terminals 2, 3-1,. The decompression processing software providing unit 431 checks to check the presenter qualification having the presenter terminal 2, the qualification of the participant having the participant terminals 3-1,... A management unit 432, a video / audio distribution control unit 433 that distributes video / audio information according to the progress of a meeting or the like, and the like are provided.
[0027]
When receiving a screen request from the participant terminals 3-1,..., 3-n including the presenter terminal 2 under a URL, the advanced compression / decompression software providing unit 431 provides the advanced compression / decompression processing software. A participant-provided screen transmitting means for transmitting to the requesting terminal the participant-provided screen data for introducing the contents of the meeting, the lecture, etc., and the participants transmitted by the transmitting means and displayed on the display unit of each terminal. When the user clicks a registration button or the like after writing the required items in the required area of the service providing screen, a means for taking in the predetermined items written by the CGI script and creating a participation list or a software providing customer list is provided. After creating a participant list or a software use customer list, a software transferer for transferring the advanced compression / decompression program stored in the management database 41. Door is provided.
[0028]
The creation of the participant list or software customer list is used for requesting the provision of software by providing a program for advanced compression / decompression processing, or for confirming the participant list (address, name, participant ID), the number of participants, etc. Is done.
[0029]
The check management unit 432 manages when a participant such as a conference including the presenter receives a login of a participation request with a participant ID including a password input from each of the terminals 2, 3-1,..., 3-n. Etc. for determining whether or not the participant is an appropriate participant by referring to the application table 41a, and transmitted from the terminals 2, 3-1,..., 3-n at the start of the conference or during the conference. There is provided a speaking right check means for checking the presence or absence of the speaking right with reference to the management table 41a in response to the speaking permission request.
[0030]
The video / audio distribution control unit 433 determines, in response to the speech permission request, that the speaker checking means determines that the participant does not have the right to speak, and determines that the participant does not have a microphone. It has a function to execute distribution control such as distributing the presenter's video when only the video / audio information or a participant who does not have a camera speaks.
[0031]
Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment of the communication server 4, when there is a participation request from each of the terminals 2, 3-1 to 3-n, it is automatically checked whether the presenter and the participant are appropriate. In addition, when receiving a speech permission request from each terminal during a meeting, it automatically determines the presence or absence of the floor and distributes the required video and audio information to the required terminals while considering the presence of the camera and microphone. Therefore, flexible and smooth two-way communication can be performed.
[0032]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the man-machine interface of each of the terminals 2, 3-1,..., 3-n.
[0033]
FIG. 5 (a) shows an example of a man-machine interface of the presenter terminal 2, for example, a message display unit 21 for displaying a message indicating which terminal has the right to speak, a display unit 22 for displaying video information of a speaker or the like. A microphone indicator 23 for displaying the volume when the user himself / herself speaks, a speaker indicator 24 for displaying the volume of a speech emitted from another speaker, a speech request button 25 for issuing a speech permission request, and speech to the communication server 4 itself. A presenter operation display unit 26 that is selectively operated on the presenter terminal 2 only when the right automatic check function does not exist is provided. The presenter operation display section 26 is provided with participant selection buttons (1), (2),..., And corresponds to the corresponding participant selection button (2) when a speech request is received from a specific participant terminal. "Request" is displayed in the part to be executed, and when the participant selection button (2) is selected, the speech is permitted, and which participant is speaking, that is, the part corresponding to the participant selection button (4) "Remarks" is displayed.
[0034]
FIG. 5B shows an example of a man-machine interface of the participant terminals 3-1 to 3-n, for example, a message display unit 21 for displaying a message that a right to speak has been given, and video information of the speaker. , A microphone indicator 33 for displaying the volume when the user himself speaks, a speaker indicator 34 for displaying the volume of speech made by another speaker, a speech request button 35 for issuing a speech permission request, and the like. Have been.
[0035]
Next, an operation and a program at the time of a conference / lecture in the communication server 4 will be described (see FIG. 6).
[0036]
Note that this operation example is an example in which the communication server 4 has an automatic check function for checking the presence or absence of the floor.
[0037]
Prior to holding a conference or the like, the communication server 4 performs an initialization process for erasing unnecessary data stored in a buffer memory or the like (not shown) (S1). The end time t = T is set (S2), and the participant check management unit 43 executes the means for determining two participants or the like.
[0038]
The participant determination means determines whether or not there is a login from the participant-owned terminal with the participant ID (S3). If there is a login, the participant refers to the presenter ID and the participant ID in the management table 41a. It is determined whether there is a qualification for participation (S4). In this S4, if it is determined that there is a participation qualification, the video information transmitted from the presenter terminal 2 is distributed to the corresponding participant terminal (S5), and the process proceeds to step S6. If it is determined that there is no participation qualification, the process proceeds to step S6.
[0039]
In this step S6, it is determined whether or not the reception end time t = T has been exceeded, and if not, a predetermined time Δt is added (S7), and the process returns to step S3 to repeat the same processing. (S3 to S7: participation qualification determination function). Then, when the reception end time t = T has elapsed, the voice right checking means is executed.
[0040]
The speaking right check means determines whether the speaking request button 25 or 35 of a specific terminal 2 or 3-1 has been operated, that is, whether or not there has been a speaking permission request (S8). When the presence is determined, the participant of the terminal refers to the speaking right flag in the management table 41a (S9), and determines whether the terminal has the speaking right (S9). If the flag has no speaking right, the process returns to step S8. If the flag has the speaking right, the process proceeds to the next step S10. These steps S8 and S9 correspond to the floor check function.
[0041]
Here, in the case of the voice right flag, the video / audio distribution control unit 433 is executed. When it is determined that the terminal having the floor has the right to speak, the video / audio distribution control unit 433 determines whether or not the terminal having the right to speak has a camera from the camera presence / absence flag of the management table 41a (S10). If determined to be, the presenter distributes the video information of the presenter and the voice information of the speaker to participants other than the speaker (S11), and if it is determined that the camera is present, speaks to the participants other than the speaker. The video information and audio information of the user are distributed (S12). These steps S11 and S12 correspond to a video / audio distribution function.
[0042]
Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the remark has been completed (S13). For this determination, for example, it is determined that the utterance is completed when the utterance request button 25 or 35 is operated again. If the remark has ended, it is determined whether the meeting has ended (S14). Although it is not shown whether or not the conference is ended, when the conference end button of the presenter terminal 2 is operated, it is determined that the conference is ended.
[0043]
Therefore, by executing the above-described program or man-machine operation of each of the terminals 2-1, 3-1 to 3-n, the reception of the conference participants, the qualification of the conference participants, and the presence or absence of the speaking right are automatically performed. Video and audio information can be distributed to required terminals.
[0044]
On the other hand, if the communication server 4 does not have the function of automatically checking the right to speak, the communication server 4 notifies the presenter terminal 2 that any participant terminal has operated the speaking request button 35. At this time, the communication server 4 records which participant terminal has requested the floor.
[0045]
When the presenter terminal 2 receives the notification from the communication server 4, the presenter terminal 2 displays "request" indicating that there is a speaking request in a portion corresponding to the participant selection button of the speaking right request. Here, when the presenter selects and operates the corresponding participant selection button, for example, (2), the communication server 4 receives the selection operation signal and notifies the participant terminal of the request for the right to speak. The participant terminal displays on the message display section 31 that the floor has been granted.
[0046]
Therefore, even when the communication server 4 does not have the function of automatically checking the right to speak, the man-machine interface of the presenter terminal 2 and each of the participant terminals 3-1 to 3-n is used, and the communication server 4 is used. By simply using it as a relay, many participants can communicate smoothly in both directions.
[0047]
Next, an embodiment of a communication method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0048]
(1) An example in which a communication server having an automatic voice right check function is provided.
[0049]
(A) First, a meeting plan is created. A server administrator or a specific administrator inputs an administrator ID including a password. The communication server 4 refers to the manager ID in the management table 41a, and permits the use right if the IDs match each other. Here, the administrator creates a meeting plan including a meeting agenda, a meeting holding time, a participation qualification, and the like, and stores the meeting plan in the management database 41. Although it depends on the nature of the conference, in the case of a general-purpose conference, a method such as linking to a participant provided screen stored in the Web database 452 is adopted, and the conference plan is set to be viewable. . In the case of a specific closed meeting in which the participants are determined in advance, a meeting plan file is attached to an e-mail or the like and distributed to each participant. In addition, the notification is made to the presenter terminal 2 and the participant terminals 3-1,..., 3-n using various communication methods.
[0050]
It should be noted that, even when the conference plan is made browsable on the participant-provided screen, or when the conference plan is notified by another communication method, the participant who wants to participate in the conference receives the participant ID, the presence or absence of the camera, and the microphone. Information such as the presence / absence and the readiness to speak as necessary is acquired, and the management table 41a is created. In particular, the presence / absence of the floor is determined by the presenter input from the presenter terminal 2.
[0051]
Further, the communication server 4 transfers the advanced compression / decompression program to each of the terminals 2, 3-1 to 3 -n including the presenter in response to a request from the conference participant.
[0052]
(B) The date and time of the conference, the conference participants enter the participant ID and password from the operation processing unit 13 (see FIG. 2) of the participant terminal, for example, 3-1 as shown in FIG. And log in to the communication server 4 (ST1: participation request step).
[0053]
Here, when the communication server 4 obtains the participant ID and the password from the participant terminal 3-1, the communication server 4 refers to the management table 41a and obtains the participant ID already registered in the table 41a. A participant check is performed to determine whether or not the participant ID exists (ST2: participation qualification check step). If it is determined that there is a participation qualification, the presenter video relayed from the presenter terminal 2 is relayed and transmitted to the participant terminal 3-1 (ST3: presenter video transmission step).
[0054]
When the presenter terminal 2 takes in the video information of the presenter from the video input / output means 11 and sends it to the compression / expansion processing section 141, the compression / expansion processing section 141 is compliant with the H.264 standard defined in the ITU-T recommendation. The image information and the like are compressed using a conventional general compression method such as H.261, MPEG2, MPEG4, etc., and passed to the advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143 via the control processing unit 142. The advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143 further performs high-density compression processing on the video information and the like compressed by the compression / decompression processing unit 141 using, for example, LHA, and then passes the information to the control processing unit 142. The control processing unit 142 divides the high-density compressed video into packets and transmits the packets to the communication server 4 according to a required communication protocol.
[0055]
The other participants log in in the same manner and check the qualification of participation, and then the presenter's video is transmitted to the conference participants (ST1 'to ST3').
[0056]
(C) After the qualification check of each conference participant has been completed as described above, the agenda of the original conference is entered. That is, the conference participant operates the participant terminal owned by the conference participant, for example, the utterance request button 35 of 3-1 to transmit an utterance permission request to the communication server 4 (ST4: utterance permission request step). When the communication server 4 receives the speaking permission request, the communication server 4 refers to the speaking right presence / absence area corresponding to the participant ID from the management table 41a and determines whether or not there is a speaking right (ST5: speaking authority checking step). Here, when it is determined that the user has the authority to speak, a speech permission signal is transmitted to the requesting participant terminal 3-1 (ST6).
[0057]
Here, in the request source participant terminal 3-1, the video input / output unit 11 and the audio input / output unit 12 operate, and the video and audio information of the relevant participant is transmitted to the communication server 4 (ST7). For example, when the camera does not exist in the participant terminal having the speaking authority, the video of the presenter and the voice information of the participant having the speaking authority are transmitted.
[0058]
The communication server 4 relays the video and audio information of the participant and transmits it to the terminals 2, 3-2 (not shown),..., 3-n of each participant including the presenter (ST8).
[0059]
(2) An example in which a communication server without a function for automatically checking the floor is provided.
[0060]
(A) Preparation of a conference plan, downloading of a program for advanced compression / decompression processing to each of the terminals 2, 3-1,..., 3-n and checking of participation qualifications are as described in (1) (a) and (b) above. Since they hardly change, their description is omitted.
[0061]
Hereinafter, an exchange between the presenter terminal 2 and each of the participant terminals 3-1,..., 3-n after the start of the conference will be described. It should be noted that the communication server has a function of merely relaying the video information and the audio information of the participant including the presenter with respect to a comment or the like during the conference.
[0062]
(B) For example, when the presenter makes a speech permission request from the presenter terminal 2, the speech request button 25 shown in FIG. 5A is operated. As a result, a speech permission request signal is transmitted from the presenter terminal 2 to the communication server 4.
[0063]
Here, the communication server 4 gives a speech permission request signal, relays the video and audio information of the presenter, and distributes the information to each of the participant terminals 3-1 to 3-n. Upon receiving the speech permission request signal, the presenter terminal 2 displays on the message display unit 21 that the speech permission has been given. Upon receiving the presenter's video information and audio information, each of the participant terminals 3-1 to 3-n displays on the message display unit 31 that the presenter is speaking.
[0064]
(C) On the other hand, when the participant makes a speech permission request from the participant terminal, for example, 3-1, he operates the speech request button 35 shown in FIG. The speech permission request signal from the participant terminal 3-1 is relayed by the communication server 4 and sent to the presenter terminal 2. Here, in the presenter terminal 2, "request" is displayed in a part corresponding to the corresponding participant selection button, for example, (2), so that the presenter is a participant (2) empty speech permission request from the displayed content. I understand.
[0065]
Therefore, when giving permission to speak, when the participant selection button (2) is selected and operated, the communication server 4 notifies the speaking permission requesting participant terminal 3-1 of the speaking permission signal. Here, the participant terminal 3-1 displays on the message display unit 31 that the speech permission has been received, and operates the video input / output unit 11 and the audio input / output unit 12 to display the video and audio of the relevant participant. The information is compressed and packetized by the compression / decompression processing unit 141 and the advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143, and transmitted to the communication server 4.
[0066]
The communication server 4 relays the transmitted packet and transmits the packet to each of the participant terminals 3-2 to 3-n including the presenter. Upon receiving the packet, each of the terminals 2, 3-2 to 3 -n passes the packet to the advanced compression / decompression processing unit 143 as a unit of video information. Here, the video information in a unit is decompressed and the standardized video and audio information is sent to the compression / decompression processing unit 141. This compression / decompression processing unit 141 conforms to the H.264 standard defined in the ITU-T recommendation. The compression / decompression process is performed using a conventional general compression / decompression method such as H.261, MPEG2, MPEG4, etc., and output to the video input / output unit 11 and the audio input / output unit 12.
[0067]
Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described system can be obtained. Further, by performing one-to-many one-way communication at the same time, it is possible to reliably support a large number of participant terminals.
[0068]
In the above-described embodiment, a virtual classroom in education has been described, but, for example, a busy talent or athlete, etc., is always available, and questions and answers are repeatedly exchanged with many fans. It can be easily applied to service fans.
[0069]
Further, it goes without saying that the presenter terminal 2 and each participant terminal 3-1 to 3-n can participate in communication from any place as long as the environment can be connected to the communication server 4 not only through the Internet but also by telephone or the like. .
[0070]
In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof. Furthermore, the embodiments can be implemented in combination as much as possible, and in that case, the effect of the combination is obtained. Furthermore, each of the above embodiments includes various upper and lower stage inventions, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed components. For example, when an invention is extracted because some constituent elements can be omitted from all the constituent elements described in the means for solving the problem, if the extracted invention is implemented, the omitted part is omitted. Is appropriately supplemented by well-known conventional techniques.
[0071]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a communication system, a communication server, a program, and a communication method that can realize flexible and smooth communication between a large number of terminals.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a communication system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a presenter terminal and a participant terminal in the system shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an array diagram of management data in a management database managed by the communication server.
FIG. 4 is a functional configuration diagram showing an example of a server processing main unit in the communication server.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a man-machine interface of a presenter terminal and each participant terminal.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the communication server according to the present invention and an example of processing by a program according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a communication method according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1. Network
2 ... Presenter terminal
3-1 to 3-n: Participant terminals
4. Communication server
11 ... Video input / output means
12. Voice input / output means
13. Operation processing unit
14. Terminal processing main unit
25.35… Speak request button
41: Management database
43 ... Server processing main unit
44 ... Recording medium
141 compression / decompression processing unit
142: control processing unit
143: Advanced compression / decompression unit

Claims (7)

A communication system for performing communication between one or more participant terminals and presenter terminals through a network,
A presenter, a compression / expansion processing unit for compressing / expanding the video information and audio information of the participant, and an advanced compression / decompression processing unit for compressing and decompressing the video information and the audio information of the participant; Said each terminal to compress and transmit video and audio information of the presenter with high density,
It has a management table for storing data such as participation qualification of each participant including the presenter and the presence / absence of the right to speak, and when receiving a login for a participation request from each terminal, participation qualification data of the management table A participation qualification checking means for checking participation qualification of each participant, and a speaking right checking means for checking the presence or absence of the speaking right from the speaking right existence data of the management table when receiving a speaking permission request at the time of communication, When the right to speak has been determined by the right-to-speak checking means, the right to speak is given to the terminal that has made a request for speaking permission, and the video and audio information of the high-density compressed presenter transmitted from the terminal that has made the speaking permission request is transmitted. A communication server having video / audio distribution control means for distribution to another terminal. Application system. A communication system for performing communication between one or more participant terminals and presenter terminals through a network,
A first compression / expansion processing unit for compressing / expanding the video information and audio information of the presenter, and a first altitude for compressing / decompressing the video information and audio information of the presenter to be compressed / expanded by the compression / expansion processing unit The presenter having a compression / decompression processing unit and at least a first speech request button, each participant selection button, and a first man-machine interface provided with a request and speech display function corresponding to these participant selection buttons. Terminal,
A second compression / expansion processing section for compressing / expanding the video information and audio information of the participant, and a second compression / decompression processing of the video information and audio information of the participant to be compressed / expanded by the compression / expansion processing section Said participant terminal having an advanced compression / decompression processing unit, and a second man-machine interface provided with at least a second speech request button;
It has a management table for storing the qualification data of each participant including the presenter, and when a login for a participation request is received from each terminal, the participation of each participant is determined from the qualification data of the management table. Means for checking the qualification, and a video signal and audio information transmitted from the presenter terminal when receiving an utterance permission request signal generated by selecting the first utterance request button. To the corresponding participant selection button by the display function of the first man-machine interface of the presenter terminal when receiving the utterance permission request signal generated by selecting the second utterance request button. The request for speech is displayed in the part of the participant, and when the participant selection button is selected, the video signal transmitted from the participant terminal And communication system characterized by comprising a communication server for delivering voice information to each of the other terminals. A communication server for performing communication under a request between one or more participant terminals and presenter terminals through a network,
A management table for storing data such as the participation qualification of each participant including the presenter and the presence or absence of a voice,
Participation qualification checking means for checking the participation qualification of each participant from the participation qualification data of the management table when receiving a login for a participation request from each terminal,
After starting the communication, when receiving a speech permission request from each of the terminals, a speaking right check unit that checks the presence or absence of the speaking right from the speaking right presence / absence data of the management table,
When it is determined by the speaking right check means that there is a speaking right, while giving the speaking right to the speaking permission requesting terminal, the high-density compressed video and audio information transmitted from the speaking permission requesting terminal is transmitted. A communication server comprising: video / audio distribution control means for distributing to another terminal. The communication server according to claim 3,
The participant terminal and the presenter terminal,
The presenter, video input / output means for inputting / outputting video information of the participant,
The presenter, audio input / output means for inputting / outputting audio information of the participant,
Compression / expansion processing means for compressing / expanding video information and audio information input / output by these input / output means;
Means for compressing the video information and audio information compressed by the compression / decompression processing means at a higher density, dividing the packets into packets, and transmitting the packets;
Means for decompressing video and audio information in units of packets received, further decompressing, and outputting decompressed video and audio information from said input / output means server. The presenter using the presenter terminal connected to the network and the participation qualification data and the speaking right presence / absence data of the participant using one or more participant terminals are stored in a computer that executes communication between the terminals.
When a login for a participation request is received from each terminal, a participation qualification determination function for checking the participation qualification of each participant from the participation qualification data, and when a speech permission request is received at the time of communication, the speech right presence / absence data The right to speak is checked by the user, and if the right to speak is determined by the right to speak function, the right to speak is granted to the terminal requesting permission to transmit and transmitted from the terminal requesting permission to speak. The computer readable program for realizing a video / audio distribution function of distributing the received presenter, video and audio information of the participant to another terminal. A communication method in which at least one participant terminal, presenter terminal and communication server are connected through a network, and communication is performed between the terminals,
A step of creating a management table that records participation qualifications and voice presence / absence data of each participant including the presenter in the database of the communication server;
When a participation request is received from each terminal under login, a participation qualification check step of checking whether or not there is participation from the participation qualification data on the management table;
A presenter video transmitting step of relaying the presenter video transmitted from the presenter terminal and transmitting to the participant requester terminal,
Along with the start of communication, when receiving a speaking permission request signal from the terminal, a speaking right check step of checking the presence or absence of speaking right from the speaking right presence data on the management table,
Transmitting a speech permission signal to the speech permission request source terminal when it is determined that there is a voice right in this step;
Distributing the video / audio information transmitted from the speech permission request source terminal to another terminal after transmitting the speech permission signal. The communication method according to claim 6,
If the presence / absence of a camera of each of the participant terminals is registered in the management table in advance, and if the camera does not exist in the speech permission request source terminal in the distribution step, the video information of the presenter is transmitted to the other terminal. And transmitting voice information of a participant who uses the terminal for requesting speech permission.

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