JP2006140596A - Communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide communication terminals that enable three or more persons to pleasantly have a telephone call by using a TV telephone function. <P>SOLUTION: A sub-camera 24a and a main camera 24b are assigned to a speaker being present inside and a speaker being present outside, respectively. A speaker 20a and a speaker 20b are also assigned to the speaker being present inside and the person being present outside, respectively. A CPU 32 prescribes a speaker to speak between the speaker being present inside and the person being present outside according to voices picked up by the microphones 22a and 22b, respectively. A wireless circuit 38 transmits an image signal photographed by the camera assigned to the prescribed speaker to speak to the telephone call partner. Consequently, three persons can pleasantly talk with one another. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal, and more particularly to a communication terminal having a TV phone function, for example.

An example of a conventional communication terminal of this type is disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this conventional technology, when only a low data communication speed can be obtained due to deterioration of the communication state, image communication is stopped and only voice communication is performed.
JP 2004-180107 A [H04N 5/225, H04M 1/02, 1/21]

    However, in the prior art, only one camera for photographing a speaker is provided. For this reason, when a call is made by three or more people, it is necessary to share one camera among a plurality of speakers, which may hinder a comfortable call.

    Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal that can make a call comfortably with three or more speakers using the TV phone function.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a communication terminal includes a plurality of cameras assigned to a plurality of speakers, a plurality of microphones respectively assigned to a plurality of speakers, and a plurality of talks based on sounds captured by each of the plurality of microphones. Specifying means for specifying a speaker from among the speakers, and transmitting means for transmitting an image taken by a camera assigned to the speaker specified by the specifying means among a plurality of cameras to a call partner.

  A plurality of cameras are assigned to a plurality of speakers, respectively. Multiple microphones are also assigned to multiple speakers, respectively. The specifying means specifies a speaker from a plurality of speakers based on voices captured by each of the plurality of microphones. The transmission means transmits an image taken by the camera assigned to the specified speaker to the other party.

  As a result, the video of the speaker who spoke this time among a plurality of speakers is transmitted to the other party. Therefore, it is possible to make a call comfortably with three or more speakers.

  A communication terminal according to a second aspect of the invention is dependent on the first aspect, wherein the plurality of cameras have different resolutions from each other, and a shift in resolution between the scene images captured by each of the plurality of cameras is suppressed. And further comprising suppression means. As a result, an image with the same resolution can be sent to the communication terminal of the other party.

  A communication terminal according to the invention of claim 3 is dependent on claim 1 or 2, and includes a first camera provided on one main surface of the housing and a second camera provided on the other main surface of the housing, The plurality of microphones includes a first microphone provided on one main surface of the housing and a second microphone provided on the other main surface of the housing. As a result, the accuracy of the determination is improved, and the conversation person can be easily captured.

  A communication terminal according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is dependent on the first to third aspects of the present invention, and displays a first display means provided on one main surface of the casing for displaying an image of the other party and an image of the other party. Accordingly, a second display means provided on the other main surface of the housing is further provided. Thereby, a video can be displayed also to a speaker located in a different direction from the one main surface of the communication terminal. As a result, the convenience of the mobile terminal is improved.

  According to the present invention, the video of the speaker who has spoken this time among a plurality of speakers is transmitted to the other party. Therefore, it is possible to make a call comfortably with three or more speakers.

  The above object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

  1A and 1B, a communication terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an upper housing 12 and a lower housing 14. The upper housing 12 and the lower housing 14 are connected to each other by a hinge mechanism 16 and can be opened and closed. 1A and 1B show an open state, and FIGS. 2A and 2B show a closed state.

  When attention is paid to the surface exposed when the communication terminal 10 is opened, that is, the inner surface, the speaker 20a, the sub camera 24a and the main LCD 26a are provided in the upper housing 12, and the microphone 22a and the key operation unit 28 are provided in the lower housing 14. . When attention is paid to the exposed surface, that is, the outer surface regardless of whether the communication terminal 10 is opened or closed, the upper housing 12 is provided with the microphone 22b, the main camera 24b, and the sub LCD 26b, and the lower housing 14 is provided with the speaker 20b.

  The internal configuration of the communication terminal 10 is shown in FIG. When a call operation for a videophone is performed by the operation key 28, the CPU 32 transmits a call signal to the communication terminal of the other party through the signal processing circuit 40, the radio circuit 38 and the antenna 18. On the other hand, when the other party performs an incoming call operation, the videophone is ready. When the videophone is ready, the CPU 32 activates the speaker 20b, the microphone 22b, the main camera 24b, the sub camera 24a, and the sub LCD 26b. The communication terminal of the other party also has a TV phone function.

  When voice is input to the microphone 22a after the videophone is ready, this voice is converted into an audio signal which is an analog signal by the microphone 22a. The converted audio signal is amplified by the amplifier 46 and converted into audio data which is a digital signal by the AD / DA conversion circuit 42. The converted audio data is subjected to encoding processing by the signal processing circuit 40 and further subjected to modulation processing by the radio circuit 38. The modulated audio data generated by the radio circuit 38 is transmitted from the antenna 18. When sound is input to the microphone 22b, the sound is converted into an audio signal that is an analog signal by the microphone 22b. The converted audio signal is amplified by the amplifier 44 and converted into audio data which is a digital signal by the AD / DA conversion circuit 42. The converted audio data is subjected to encoding processing by the signal processing circuit 40 and further subjected to modulation processing by the radio circuit 38. The modulated audio data generated by the radio circuit 38 is transmitted from the antenna 18.

  On the other hand, the modulated audio data transmitted from the communication terminal of the other party is received by the antenna 18, demodulated by the radio circuit 38, and decoded by the signal processing 40. The audio data decoded by the signal processing circuit 40 is converted into an audio signal that is an analog signal by the AD / DA conversion circuit 42, and the converted audio signal is output from the speakers 20 a and 20 b via the amplifier 46. The

  The sub camera 24a activated by the CPU 32 captures the object scene image X shown in FIG. The object scene image X is converted into moving image data which is a digital signal by the camera processing circuit 34a. The converted moving image data is sent to the LCD driver 36a and the wireless circuit 38 via the CPU 32. The radio circuit 38 performs modulation processing on the received moving image data, and transmits the modulated moving image data to the counterpart communication terminal via the antenna 18. The LCD driver 36a converts the received moving image data into a composite video signal conforming to the NTSC system. The converted composite signal is given to the main LCD 26a. As a result, a real-time moving image (through image) of the object scene is displayed on the sub-screen.

  The main camera 24b activated by the CPU 32 captures the object scene image Y shown in FIG. The object scene image Y is converted into moving image data which is a digital signal by the camera processing circuit 34b. The converted moving image data is sent to the LCD driver 36b and the radio circuit 38 via the CPU 32, respectively. The radio circuit 38 performs modulation processing on the received moving image data, and transmits the modulated moving image data to the counterpart communication terminal via the antenna 18. The LCD driver 36b converts the received moving image data into a composite video signal conforming to the NTSC system. The converted composite signal is applied to the sub LCD 26b, and as a result, a real-time moving image (through image) of the object scene is displayed on the sub-screen.

  On the other hand, moving image data transmitted from the communication terminal of the other party is received by the antenna 18 and demodulated by the radio circuit 38. The demodulated moving image data is converted into a composite video signal conforming to the NTSC system by each of the LCD driver 36a and the LCD driver 36b. The composite signal converted by the LCD driver 36a is given to the main LCD 26a. As a result, the object scene image Z shown in FIG. 4A is displayed on the main screen of the main LCD 26a. The composite signal converted by the LCD driver 36b is given to the sub LCD 26b, and as a result, the object scene image Z shown in FIG. 4B is displayed on the main screen of the sub LCD 26b.

  The moving image data of the object scene captured by the high resolution main camera 24b is thinned out by the camera processing circuit 34b. The camera processing circuit 34b can reduce the resolution of the sub camera 24a by thinning-out processing. As a result, the main screen and the sub screen displayed on the main LCD 26a and the main screen and the sub screen displayed on the sub LCD 26b can display images uniformly. Furthermore, each of the images sent to the other party can be displayed uniformly. As a result, the communication terminal of the other party that changes as the speaker is switched can display an image that does not place a burden on the other party.

  FIG. 5 shows a state where the speaker P1 and the speaker P2 are using the communication terminal 10 to make a videophone call with the speaker P3 having the communication terminal. When the speaker P2 speaks toward the communication terminal 10 from the outer surface of the communication terminal 10, the video output from the communication terminal of the speaker P3 is switched from the inner sub camera 24a to the outer main camera 24b. Further, when the speaker P1 speaks from the inner surface of the communication terminal 10 toward the communication terminal 10, the video output from the communication terminal of the speaker P3 is switched from the outer main camera 24b to the inner sub camera 24a. Such a camera switching operation will be described in detail in the TV phone task of the CPU 32 described later.

  FIG. 4A shows an image displayed on the main LCD 26a. The main LCD 26a has a parent screen displayed on the entire screen and a child screen displayed on the lower right side. An object scene image Z captured by the communication terminal of the other party is displayed on the parent screen, and an object scene image X captured by the sub camera 24a is displayed on the child screen. Even if the speaker switches from speaker P1 to speaker P2, the main LCD 26a displays a video image taken by the camera and the sub camera 24a of the other communication terminal. That is, the target of the video imaged so far is not switched by the switching of the speaker.

  FIG. 4B shows an image displayed on the sub LCD 26b. The sub LCD 26b also has a parent screen displayed on the entire screen and a child screen displayed on the lower right side. An object scene image Z captured by the communication terminal of the other party is displayed on the parent screen, and an object scene image Y captured by the sub camera 24a is displayed on the child screen. Even if the speaker is switched from speaker P2 to speaker P1, the sub LCD 26b displays images taken by the camera of the counterpart communication terminal and the sub camera 24a. That is, the target of the video imaged so far is not switched by the switching of the speaker.

  On the other hand, FIG. 6A shows an image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor of the communication terminal of the other party when the speaker is the speaker P1. The liquid crystal monitor of the communication terminal of the other party also has a parent screen displayed on the entire screen and a child screen displayed on the lower right side. A scene image X captured by the sub camera 24a of the mobile terminal 10 is displayed on the parent screen, and a scene image Z captured by the camera of the other communication terminal is displayed on the child screen. When the speaker is switched from the speaker P1 to the speaker P2, the parent screen is switched from the object scene image X shown in FIG. 6 (A) to the object scene image Y shown in FIG. 6 (B). .

  FIG. 6B shows an image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor of the communication terminal of the other party when the speaker is the speaker P2. An object scene image Y captured by the main camera 24b of the mobile terminal 10 is displayed on the parent screen, and an object scene image Z captured by the camera of the other communication terminal is displayed on the child screen. When the speaker is switched from the speaker P2 to the speaker P1, the parent screen is switched from the object scene image X shown in FIG. 6 (A) to the object scene image Y shown in FIG. 6 (B). .

  When a TV phone end operation is performed by the operation key 28 while a TV phone call is being made with the other party in this way, the CPU 32 ends the TV phone process. Also when the TV phone end signal is received from the other party first, the CPU 32 ends the TV phone process.

  The CPU 32 executes the TV phone task shown in FIG. The CPU 32 executes a TV phone task in parallel with a plurality of tasks (not shown) under the control of a multitask OS such as μITRON. A control program corresponding to such a task is stored in the flash memory 30.

  Referring to FIG. 7, in step S1, the level of the audio signal captured by microphone 22a is compared with the level of the audio signal captured by microphone 22b. When the level of the audio signal of the microphone 22a is equal to or higher than the level of the audio signal of the microphone 22b, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the sub camera 24a is selected as a camera that captures the object scene image to be sent to the other party. When switching to the sub camera 24a is completed in step S3, the process proceeds to step S7. On the other hand, when the level of the audio signal of the microphone 22b is higher than the level of the audio signal of the microphone 22a, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S5, the main camera 24b is selected as a camera that captures the object scene image to be sent to the other party. When switching to the main camera 24b is completed in step S5, the process proceeds to step S7.

  In step S7, the video of the camera selected in steps S3 and S5 is transmitted to the other party. In step S9, it is determined whether or not the end operation has been selected by the operation key 28. If the end operation is not performed, the process returns to step S1. When the termination operation is executed, the TV phone process is terminated.

  As can be seen from the above description, the sub camera 24a and the main camera 24b are assigned to the speaker P1 and the speaker P2, respectively. Speaker 20a and speaker 20b are also assigned to speaker P1 and speaker P2, respectively. CPU32 specifies a speaker from speaker P1 and speaker P2 based on the audio | voice caught by each of microphone 22a and microphone 22b. The radio circuit 38 transmits an image signal captured by the camera assigned to the specified speaker to the speaker P3.

  As a result, an image of the speaker who speaks this time among the speakers P1 and P2 is transmitted to the speaker P3. Therefore, it is possible to make a call comfortably with three speakers.

  In this embodiment, the liquid crystal monitor of the other party's communication terminal switches the caller's image and displays it on the main screen, and the other party is always displayed on the sub screen. It is also possible to switch to a method of displaying the caller side speaker P1 and the caller side speaker P2.

  Further, in this embodiment, the speaker P1 and the speaker P2 talk to the communication terminal 10 alternately. However, when both of them talk at the same time, the CPU 32 can adopt a method in which the louder one is used. It is. Further, not only the voice volume but also the outside sound can be used as a criterion.

  Further, in this embodiment, the plurality of cameras configured in the communication terminal are located on the inner surface and the outer surface, but a configuration in which a plurality of cameras are provided on the inner surface or plural on the outer surface may be adopted.

  In this embodiment, a camera, a speaker, an LCD, and a microphone are configured in the communication terminal. However, a sub camera, a speaker, a sub LCD, a sub microphone, and the like that retain respective functions that can be connected to the communication terminal are provided. A method may be adopted.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the image is continuously displayed on the main LCD 26a and the sub LCD 26b. However, by selecting the mode by the key operation 28, a method for displaying the image only on the inner surface or a method for displaying the image only on the outer surface may be selected. Is possible.

  In this embodiment, a communication terminal having a TV phone function is assumed. However, a game machine, a personal computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), etc. having a communication function are also included in the concept of the communication terminal of the present invention. I can say that.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, a plurality of microphones are provided for each speaker. However, a method of installing microphones at positions of communication terminals where each speaker can easily speak may be adopted.

  Further, in this embodiment, the casing of the communication terminal 10 is specified as the upper casing 12 and the lower casing 14, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the communication terminal employs a structure including one or two or more casings. May be.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, a method of switching the video to be transmitted to the other party to the side where the level of the audio signal heard from the speaker is higher is adopted. However, there is also a means for fixing the video to be transmitted to the other party.

(A) is a front view which shows the open state of one Example of this invention, (B) is a rear view which shows the open state of one Example of this invention. (A) is a perspective view which shows the closed state of one Example of this invention, (B) is another perspective view which shows the closed state of one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the internal structure of FIG. 1 Example. (A) is an illustrative view showing a part of the operation of one embodiment of the present invention, and (B) is an illustrative view showing another part of the operation of one embodiment of the present invention. It is an illustration figure which shows an example of the use condition of FIG. 1 Example. (A) is an illustrative view showing another part of the operation of the embodiment of the present invention, and (B) is an illustrative view showing still another part of the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows a part of operation | movement of FIG. 1 Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Communication terminal 18 ... Antenna 20a, 20b ... Speaker 22a, 22b ... Microphone 24a ... Sub camera 24b ... Main camera 26a ... Main LCD
26b Sub LCD
30 ... Flash memory 32 ... CPU
34a, 34b ... camera processing circuit 36a, 36b ... LCD driver 38 ... wireless circuit 40 ... signal processing circuit

Claims (4)

Multiple cameras assigned to multiple speakers,
A plurality of microphones respectively assigned to the plurality of speakers;
Specific means for identifying a speaker from among the plurality of speakers based on voices captured by each of the plurality of microphones, and assigned to the speaker identified by the identification means among the plurality of cameras A communication terminal comprising transmission means for transmitting an image photographed by a camera to a call partner. The plurality of cameras have different resolutions from each other;
The communication terminal according to claim 1, further comprising suppression means for suppressing a shift in resolution between the scene images captured by each of the plurality of cameras. A housing,
The plurality of cameras include a first camera provided on one main surface of the casing and a second camera provided on the other main surface of the casing,
The communication terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of microphones include a first microphone provided on one main surface of the casing and a second microphone provided on the other main surface of the casing. First display means provided on one main surface of the previous case to display the image of the other party, and second display means provided on the other main surface of the case to display the image of the other party The communication terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

Images