JP2005012476A - Multi-point tv conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-point TV conference system which generates a queue to select users who will participate in the conference. <P>SOLUTION: In the multi-point TV conference system, a plurality of communication terminals for TV conferences and a multi-point TV conference device are connected through a network. A user priority being a priority intrinsic to each user is defined for the user, and service priorities are defined on the basis of user priorities and the acceptance order of service requests. A cell is provided wherein a user ID, a user priority, and a service priority are stored in response to a service request from a user. A connection device of the multi-point TV conference device is provided with a list wherein cells provided for individual service requests are arranged on the basis of service priorities, and service precedence is determined on the basis of the order of cells arranged in the list. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a TV conference system that communicates by voice or by voice and video via a network using terminals located at different points, accepts a service request from a user who wants to participate in the TV conference and participates in the TV conference The present invention relates to a multipoint TV conference connection device for selecting a user.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A multi-point TV conference apparatus that performs simultaneous communication via a network among a plurality of users existing at different points is known. A multipoint video conference apparatus connects a plurality of terminals via a network to a MCU (Multipoint Control Unit), and each terminal transmits its own audio / video stream to the MCU. The stream received from the terminal is mixed and transmitted to all terminals. In such a multi-point TV conference apparatus, it is necessary to reserve MCU ports for the number of participants in advance for the conference opening time. It was necessary for the meeting organizer to determine the participants in advance and contact the participants by telephone or the like to request participation at the meeting holding time.
[0003]
In the face-to-face service of various consultations and counseling of medical institutions, it was necessary for an unspecified number of users to go to the counter and wait in line. If such a face-to-face service is regarded as a meeting between a consultant and a consultant, it is possible to apply a multipoint TV conference system. In recent years, the spread of broadband has been remarkable, and an era in which an unspecified number of users use a multipoint TV conference apparatus is coming. Therefore, if the multipoint TV conference system can be applied to medical institutions and various counseling, the user can enjoy fine face-to-face services while staying at home, exceeding the limitations of distance and time.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when a large number of unspecified users are targeted, it is necessary for the service provider to determine the users in advance and schedule them to participate at a specific time as described above, which takes a lot of work. Is becoming a problem.
[0005]
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-point TV conference system capable of creating a queue and selecting users to participate in a conference in order to provide a service to an unspecified number of users without reservation. It is in.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-point TV conference system in which priority is given and the order in which service requests are received is taken into consideration in order to preferentially provide services to important users. .
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a multipoint TV conference system that can be effectively used for face-to-face services.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a multipoint TV conference system according to the present invention connects a plurality of TV conference communication terminals and a multipoint TV conference apparatus via a network, and transmits audio from one communication terminal. The video stream is transmitted to the other communication terminal via the network and the multipoint TV conference apparatus, and the priority order of the user participation in the TV conference is determined by the included connection device provided in the multipoint TV conference apparatus. Multipoint TV conference system
Specify user priority, which is a user-specific priority for each user, specify service priority based on user priority and service request acceptance order,
In response to a service request from a user, a cell for storing a user ID, a user priority, and a service priority is provided.
The connection device of the multipoint TV conference apparatus includes a list in which cells provided for each service request are arranged based on service priority, and determines a service priority order based on the order arranged in the list. And
[0007]
The present invention prioritizes service requests based on user priorities and selects users to participate in a TV conference service. As will be described later, the static priority specific to the user is expressed by the user priority. The dynamic priority of the service based on the order in which the service requests are received and the user priority is expressed by the service priority. By determining the service priority order based on these parameters, a general-purpose multipoint TV conference connection apparatus can be realized. In particular, since the priority of users participating in a TV conference can be easily determined, a multipoint TV conference system effective for face-to-face service can be realized.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a multipoint TV conference system according to the present invention. A TV conference terminal 2 for a counselor is connected to the network 1. Connected to the network 1 are the TV conference terminals 3a and 3b of the consultant who receives consultation or counseling as a user. In addition, although two terminals were illustrated as a consultant's TV conference terminal, of course, many terminals can be connected. The network 1 is also connected to a multipoint TV conference apparatus 4 that performs various controls including scheduling for a service request that is a request for participation in a TV conference. Each of the TV conference terminals 2, 3a and 3b is a terminal device having a communication function, and can perform communication between the counselor and the counselor by voice or voice and video via the network 1, or the counselor. Can communicate with each other via the video conference terminal 3a audio 3b. The audio and / or video stream transmitted from each TV conference terminal is input to the multipoint TV conference apparatus 4 via the network 1, and the multipoint TV conference 4 mixes all the streams received from the terminal and transmits all the streams via the network. To the TV conference terminal.
[0009]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of an example of a multipoint TV conference apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing processing of a service request from a user. A multipoint TV conference system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The multipoint TV conference connection apparatus has network connection means 11 and performs communication with each TV conference terminal via the network connection means 11. Referring to FIG. 3, a service request 30 ₁ from the user 30 ₁ . . 30 _n are users 30 ₁ ... . This is a service request from 30 _n . One conference is reserved. The service request reception unit 12 is a queue for the service request 30 and stores the service priority order. In addition, the user ID, user priority, and service priority are stored for each of the service requests 30 ₁ to 30 _n . For this reason, the multipoint TV conference connection apparatus includes a user ID extraction unit 13, a user priority extraction unit 14, and a user database 15 that extract a user ID from a service request received via a network connection unit. Here, the user database 15 stores a user ID that is information about the user and a user priority that is a user-specific priority. The user priority extraction unit 14 searches the user database 15 for the user priority using the user ID as a key. The service request receiving unit 12 has a list 16. The list 16 stores cells storing service request information from users arranged according to priority.
[0010]
Here, it is assumed that the user priority and the service priority are higher as the numerical value is larger. The service priority order is an order in which cells are arranged in a list 16 described later. From the top of the list, order 1, 2, ... n. This order changes due to service requests from new users. They are arranged in order from the cell with the highest service priority. Further, in a set of cells having the same service priority, the cells are lined up from the cell whose time has passed most since the service request was received. Therefore, the service priority order can be said to be an order representing the priority of service requests based on the service priority and the order in which the service requests are received. When receiving service requests 30a to 30n from the users 31 to 31n, the next service priority is calculated from the user priority and / or the current service priority. Further, a new service priority order is determined based on the next service priority and the current service priority order.
[0011]
In the present invention, each service request from a user is stored in each cell 40, each cell is arranged according to priority in the above-described list 16, and a predetermined number of users attend the TV conference from the top of the arranged cells. Let The user ID extraction unit 13 extracts m cells 40 from the top of the service priority order. Here, the number of users who can participate in the conference is m. The m users who participate in the conference are designated by the user IDs stored in these cells 40.
[0012]
The service request reception unit 12 associates one cell 40 with one service request 30 and one user 31. As shown in FIG. 4, each cell 40 includes a user ID storage area 41, a user priority storage area 42, and a service priority storage area 43. The user ID storage area 41 stores a user ID. The user priority storage area 42 stores user priority. The service priority storage area 43 stores the service priority.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 5, the list 16 is created by linking the cells based on the service priority order that takes into consideration the order in which service requests are received and the service priority. Specifically, a cell having a high service priority is placed in the head direction. A cell 40 having a low service priority is placed in the end direction. In addition, a cell whose service request has been received is placed in the head direction. The order in which service requests are received places new cells in the end direction. In a set of cells having the same service priority, the cells are linked in the order from the cell in which the service request is received in the earliest order.
[0014]
An example of this link will be described with reference to FIG. Here, only the solid line cell 10 is considered, and the dotted line cell 10 is ignored. The list 16 links nine cells with user IDs = 1 to 9. In a set of cells with service priority = 3, links are made in the order of 8 → 1 → 5 from the user ID that received the service request in the early order. In a set of cells with service priority = 2, links are made in the order of 2-3 from the user ID that received the service request in the early order. In a set of cells with service priority = 1, links are made in the order of 4 → 6 → 7 → 9 from the user ID whose service request is received in the early order. The cell 40 and the list 16 are stored in the service request receiving unit 12.
[0015]
The service priority update unit 17 in the service request reception unit 12 newly calculates a service priority based on the user priority stored in the user database 15 and the service priority stored in the service priority storage area. Then, the position of each nine cell in the list 16 is changed.
[0016]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the service request accepting unit 12.
All cells 40 are initialized as follows (step 101). n cells are prepared. Here, n is the number of service requests stored in the list 16 and the queue length. It is assumed that the service priority of all the cells 40 = 0. The list 16 is assumed to be φ (empty list). The user priority is determined in advance according to the degree of priority given to each user.
[0017]
The service request receiving unit 12 checks whether a new service request has arrived during the conference (step 102). If a service request has arrived, the process moves to step 103. If it has not arrived, move to step 113. The number of checks may be reduced by performing this check when the user 4 participating in the conference leaves the conference or periodically at regular intervals.
[0018]
When a new service request 30 has arrived, the user ID (= i) is read (step 103). The user ID is stored in the user ID storage area 41. It is checked whether cell s with user ID = i exists in list 16 (step 104). If there is a cell, go to step 105. If not, go to step 114.
[0019]
The service priority of the cell s is updated (step 105). Specifically, in the cell s, a new service priority k ′ is created based on the user priority j stored in the user priority storage area 42 and the service priority k stored in the service priority storage area 43. = F (j, k) is obtained and the service priority of the cell s is set as k '(step 105). That is, k ′ is set in the service priority storage area 43. Thereafter, the process moves to step 106 to determine the position of the cell linked to the list 16.
[0020]
A new cell 40 is secured and linked to the list 16. User ID = i, user priority attached to user ID = j, and service priority k ′ = 0 are set (step 114). Thereafter, the process moves to step 106 to determine the position of the cell linked to the list 16.
[0021]
A list U of cells having service priority = k ′ is searched from the list 16 (step 106). It is checked whether the cell set U ≠ φ (empty set), and the following case is selected (step 107). In principle, when the service priority k ′ is calculated, the cell s is placed at the end of the set of cells with the service priority k ′. As a result, processing is performed from the cell in which the service request is accepted in the group of cells having the same service priority, in order of arrival, that is, in order of arrival. However, there may be no set U with service priority = k ′. At this time, it is necessary to newly create a set of cells with service priority = k ′. Since the list 16 is arranged in order from the set of cells having the highest service priority, a set of cells having service priority = k ′ is created immediately after the set V of cells having a higher service priority than k ′ and close to k ′. To do. That is, a set of cells with service priority ≧ k ′ is searched and created immediately after the set V of cells with the lowest service priority.
[0022]
(1) When the cell set U ≠ φ, the cell s is linked to the head of the cell set u. That is, the cell s is added to the end of the cell set U with service priority = k ′ (step 108). Thereafter, the process returns to step 102 and the reception of the service request is repeated.
(2) When U = φ, a search is performed for a set V of cells having service priority ≧ k ′ and having the minimum service priority (where V ≠ φ). (Step 109) Check whether the cell set V exists, and select the following case (Step 110). (2-1) When the cell set V exists, link the cell s to the end of V. That is, immediately after the cell set V, a cell set U = {s} with service priority = k ′ is newly created (step 111). Thereafter, the process returns to step 102 and the reception of the service request is repeated.
(2-2) When the cell set V does not exist, the cell with service priority = k ′ has a higher service priority than all the remaining cells, so the cell s is linked to the head of the list 16. That is, a new set U = {s} of cells with service priority = k ′ is created at the top of the list 16 (step 112). Thereafter, the process returns to step 102 and the reception of the service request is repeated.
[0023]
When the acceptance of the service request is completed in step 102, the user IDs in the user ID storage areas 11 of the m cells from the top of the list 16 are output. Thereby, the user 31 participating in the TV conference can be specified (step 113).
[0024]
The operation of the service request accepting unit 12 will be described with reference to the specific examples of FIGS. FIG. 5 shows a state in which the processing is advanced by repeatedly accepting the service request after the initial setting of the cell 40. The function of the service priority update unit 17 is defined as k ′ = f (j, k) = j. j is the user priority. k is the service priority. User k ′ is the newly obtained service priority. The above function is a function that evaluates only the user priority. Thereby, priority is given to the service request of a user with high user priority. In addition, priority is given to service requests that are received earlier. In other words, it is possible to participate in the conference in the order of arrival from important users.
[0025]
A new service request arrives at the service request receiving unit 12 (step 102). The user ID = i = 7 of the service request is read (step 103). It is checked whether there is a cell with user ID = i = 7 in the list 16 (step 104). There are cells in list 16. User priority of this cell = j = 2 and service priority = k = 1. In this example, service priority k ′ = f (2,1) = 2. Therefore, service priority = k ′ = 2 is set for the cell with user ID = i = 7 (step 105).
[0026]
Next, a set of cells with service priority = k ′ = 2 is searched (step 106). This set of cells is U = {2, 3} ≠ φ. Therefore, the service priority update unit 17 links a cell (user cell with dotted line) with user ID = i = 7 to the end of the cell set U (step 108).
[0027]
The service reception is terminated in the above state. When m (= 2) users 4 participating in the conference are selected, user IDs = {8, 1} of two cells from the top of the list 16 may be extracted. (Step 113)
[0028]
FIG. 7 shows another state in which the processing is advanced by repeatedly accepting the service request after the initial setting of the cell. A new service request arrives at the service request receiving unit 12 (step 102). The user ID = i = 7 of the service request is read (step 103). It is checked whether there is a cell with user ID = i = 7 in the list 16 (step 104). There are cells in list 16. The user priority of this cell = j = 3, and the service priority k = 1. In this example, service priority k ′ = f (3,1) = 3. Therefore, the service priority k ′ = 3 of the cell with the tag ID = i = 7 is set (step 105).
[0029]
Next, a set U of cells with service priority k ′ = 3 is searched (step 106). The search result is U = φ. Therefore, the service priority update unit 17 searches for a set V of cells that have the service priority k ′ ≧ 3 and keep the minimum service priority (step 109). The search result is a set V = {8, 1, 5} with service priority = 5 (step 110). Therefore, the cell s is linked to the end of the cell set V. This cell s becomes a set U of cells with service priority k = 3 (step 111).
[0030]
FIG. 8 shows still another state in which the cell 10 is initialized and then the service request is repeatedly received, and the process proceeds. A new service request arrives at the service request receiving unit 12 (step 102). User ID = i = 7 is read from the service request (step 103).
[0031]
It is checked whether there is a cell with user ID = i = 7 in the list 16 (step 104). There is a cell with ID = 7 in the list 16. The user priority of this cell = j = 3, and the service priority k = 1. In this example, service priority k ′ = f (3,1) = 3. Therefore, the service priority k ′ = 3 of the cell with the tag ID = i = 7 is set (step 105).
[0032]
Next, a set U of cells with service priority k ′ = 3 is searched (step 106). The search result is U = φ. Accordingly, the service priority update unit 16 searches for a set V of cells that have the service priority k ′ ≧ 3 and keep the minimum service priority (step 109). The search result is V = φ. Therefore, the cell s is linked to the head of the list 20. This cell s is a set of cells with service priority k ′ = 3 (step 112).
[0033]
By adding variations to the definition of the function of k ′ = f (j, k) and the method of extracting the cell 10 from the list 16, the multipoint TV conference connection system of the present invention can be applied to various applications. is there. As an example, k ′ = f (j, k) = j + k−1 is defined, and m cells are extracted from the head of the list 16. The new service priority k ′ increases by (j−1) each time a service request is made. At this time, priority is given to service requests from users with a large number of service requests, priority is given to service requests from users with high user priority, and priority is given to service requests that are received earlier. That is, it is possible to participate in the conference on a first-come-first-served basis from important users who repeat service requests.
[0034]
As another example, k ′ = f (j, k) = − j + k−1 is defined, and m cells are extracted from the end of the list 16. The new service priority k ′ decreases by (j + 1) each time a service request is made. At this time, priority is given to a service request from a user with a small number of service requests, priority is given to a service request from a user with a high user priority, and priority is given to a new service request when received. That is, important users who do not repeat service requests can be joined to the conference in the order of arrival.
[0035]
As described above, depending on the application, k ′ = f (j, k) can use a function using the user priority j, the service priority k, or both. In step 113, the first m cells in the list 16 are selected to select user requests that are service requests at the earliest time, that is, first-come-first-served basis. Further, by selecting m cells at the end of the list 16, user requests that are service requests at the latest time point, that is, user requests in the order of arrival are selected. Furthermore, by introducing service priority, which is dynamic priority, it is possible to raise or lower the priority of users who repeat service requests.
[0036]
In the above-described embodiment, the description has been made on the premise of a multipoint TV conference apparatus that performs one conference. Next, a general technique for a multi-point TV conference apparatus that simultaneously performs a plurality of conferences will be described. There are the following two methods. It is assumed that conference 1, conference 2, and conference t can be performed. That is, t is the number of conferences that can be held.
[0037]
(1) There is one window where a fork-lined user reserves a conference. This is a technique that allows all users to wait in a fair manner. FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the multipoint TV conference connection apparatus according to this example. One service request reception unit 12 and one user ID extraction unit 13 are provided. When the conference is finished and the next conference can be carried out, m service requests are extracted from the user ID extraction unit 13 and assigned to vacant conferences among conference 1, conference 2, and conference t.
[0038]
(2) There are t windows where individual users can reserve a conference. This is a technique that allows the user to select the window where the service is desired. FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the multipoint TV conference connection device of this method. In addition to the user ID and user priority, a conference ID is added to the service request. That is, a conference ID storage area is added to the cell 40 of FIG. Based on the conference ID, conference 1, conference 2, and conference t are selected. There are t service request accepting units 12 and t user ID extracting units 13 provided. That is, in accordance with t pieces of window, providing a service request receiving unit ₁₂ 1 ......... _{12 t} and a user ID extraction unit ₁₃ 1 ............ _{13 t.} When the conference u (u = 1, 2,... T) is vacant, m service requests are extracted from the user ID extraction unit 13 and assigned to this conference u.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a multi-point TV conference system that prioritizes a user who requests a service and selects users who participate in the conference. A general-purpose multipoint TV conference system can be constructed by determining the priority order of services in consideration of various parameters such as the order of service request acceptance, the number of service request acceptances, and the user priority.
In addition, the priority order for a large number of service requests can be determined in consideration of the circumstances specific to the user, which is useful for a multipoint TV conference system for providing a face-to-face service.
Furthermore, for a multi-point TV conference system that simultaneously performs a plurality of conferences, it is possible to realize a fork sequence that the user makes a reservation from one window or an individual sequence that allows the user to select a conference that she wants to participate in.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a multipoint TV conference system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a connection device provided in a multipoint TV conference device.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing a service request from a user.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a cell configuration.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a service request accepting unit.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another example of a list.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing still another example of a list.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a fork arrangement of the multipoint TV conference connection device of the present invention that simultaneously performs a plurality of conferences.
FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram of individual arrangements of the multipoint TV conference connection device of the present invention that simultaneously performs a plurality of conferences.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network 2 TV conference terminal 3a, 3b TV conference terminal 4 Multipoint TV conference apparatus 11 Network connection means 12 Service request reception part 13 User ID extraction part 14 User priority extraction part 15 Priority database 16 List 17 Service priority update part

Claims (7)

A plurality of video conference communication terminals and a multipoint TV conference apparatus are connected via a network, and audio and / or video streams from one communication terminal are communicated with each other via the network and the multipoint TV conference apparatus. In a multipoint TV conference system in which a priority order of participation in a user's TV conference is determined by a connection device transmitted to a terminal and included in the multipoint TV conference device,
Specify user priority, which is a user-specific priority for each user, specify service priority based on user priority and service request acceptance order,
In response to a service request from a user, a cell for storing a user ID, a user priority, and a service priority is provided.
The connection device of the multipoint TV conference apparatus includes a list in which cells provided for each service request are arranged based on service priority, and determines a service priority order based on the order arranged in the list. Multipoint TV conference system. The connection device has means for extracting the user ID from the user service request and a database storing the user ID and the user priority for each user, and extracts the user ID from the service request when the service request is received. The user priority is detected from the extracted user ID, the service priority is determined based on the detected user priority and the reception order, and the user ID, the user priority, and the service priority are stored in the cell. The multipoint TV conference system according to claim 1, wherein the multipoint TV conference system is arranged in the list. The connection device includes a priority update unit that updates an arrangement of cells on the list, and updates an arrangement order of cells arranged in the list using a newly received service request after receiving a service request. The multipoint TV conference system according to claim 2, wherein: The multipoint TV conference system according to claim 3, wherein the priority update unit arranges the cells defined by the newly accepted service request in a list.
On the list, a set of cells having the same service priority as the service priority of the cell is searched, and when a set of cells having the same service priority exists, the cell is added to the end of the set of cells. A multipoint TV conference system, characterized in that, if a set of linked cells having the same service priority is empty, the cell is placed at the top of the set. The multipoint TV conference system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the multipoint TV conference system performs one TV conference. 5. The multi-point TV conference system according to claim 1, wherein the multi-point TV conference system simultaneously holds a plurality of TV conferences, and the connection device includes cells arranged on the list. A multi-point TV conference system, wherein a user who requests a service is assigned to a vacant conference based on the priority order. The multipoint TV conference system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the multipoint TV conference system simultaneously holds a plurality of TV conferences, and a user can select a TV conference to participate in. The connection device determines a priority order of users participating in a TV conference according to a priority order of cells on the list when determining users participating in the TV conference.

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