JP2007135108A - Network conference support program and network conference support server - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network conference support program and a network conference support server for preventing participants from feeling troublesomeness. <P>SOLUTION: When holding a conference with a plurality of the participants via a network, a network conference support server 1 supports the conference by securing unicast as a one-to-one communication form in participant terminals utilized by a predetermined set number of the participants smaller than the total number of persons obtained by totaling the participants, and also, by securing multicast as a one-to-many communication form in participant terminals utilized by other participants excluding the set number of the participants. The server 1 is provided with a statement detection means 7d, a unicast/multicast switching control means 7, a statement-voice mixing means 9, and a mixed voice transmission means 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network conference support program and a network conference support server for performing a conference via a network.

Conventionally, an analog telephone conference system is configured such that a plurality of participants who are not in the same location (for example, a conference room) via an analog telephone line network, that is, in different locations, make a call using a telephone. It holds.
In addition, a conventional digital teleconference system is also established by a plurality of participants who are not in the same place using a terminal to transmit and receive audio signals via a network (for example, an IP network) (for example, (See Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3).

In a conventional analog or digital teleconference system, a plurality of participants can speak their own opinions and listen to others' voices as if they were in the same place.
JP 11-112957 A Japanese Patent No. 2646910 JP 2004-328588 A

  However, in the conventional digital telephone conference system, when a participant tries to participate in the telephone conference, it is necessary to perform some operation on the participant terminal, which causes a problem.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a network conference support program and a network conference support server that do not cause trouble when participants participate in a conference.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the network conference support program according to claim 1, when a conference is held with a plurality of participants over a network, the predetermined number of participants is less than the total number of participants. Unicast, which is a one-to-one communication mode, is secured in a participant terminal used by a participant, and multicast, which is a one-to-multiple communication mode, is used for a participant terminal used by other participants other than the set number of participants. In order to secure and support the conference, the computer is configured to function as speech detection means, uni / multicast switching control means, speech voice mixing means, and mixed voice transmission means.

  According to this configuration, the network conference support program detects the speech spoken by the participant by the speech detection unit, and based on the detection result of the speech detection by the participant by the speech detection unit by the uni / multicast switching control unit. Switching control between unicast and multicast is performed. In this uni / multicast switching control means, when a participant's speech is detected, the participant participates in the conference without being aware of the speech.

  Here, when the number of participants who want to speak reaches the set number of people, the state becomes busy, and other participants wait for the speech until the speech of the speaking participant is finished. This network conference support program is a function to generate conference information including the time when the conference is held, a list of participating members, etc. on the participant terminals used by the participants participating in the conference, and notify in advance. Can be provided.

  Subsequently, in the network conference support program, the set number of participants using the participant terminals whose unicast is secured by the unicast / multicast switching control means by the utterance voice mixing means becomes the speaker. The voices spoken by the speaker are mixed to obtain mixed voices, and the voices added by the voice other than the voices of the other voices are mixed with the voices not added by the person. In other words, in this speech voice mixing means, the mixed voice transmitted by multicast to a participant terminal used by a participant who does not speak and the person's speech not transmitted individually by unicast to the participant terminal used by the speaker. Generate additional mixed speech.

  Then, the network conference support program transmits the mixed voice mixed by the speech voice mixing means to the participant terminal in which the multicast is ensured by the mixed voice transmission means, and each of the person's speech non-added mixed voices Send to each participant terminal for which the cast has been secured.

  The network conference support server according to claim 2 is a participant used by a predetermined number of participants less than the total number of participants when a conference is held with a plurality of participants via a network. The terminal secures unicast, which is a one-to-one communication form, and secures multicast, which is a one-to-multiple communication form, to participant terminals used by other participants than the set number of persons. The supporting network conference support server includes a speech detection means, a uni / multicast switching control means, a speech voice mixing means, and a mixed voice transmission means.

  According to such a configuration, the network conference support server detects the speech spoken by the participant by the speech detection unit, and based on the detection result of the speech detection by the participant by the speech detection unit by the uni / multicast switching control unit. Switching control between unicast and multicast is performed. Subsequently, the network conference support server uses the voice / voice mixing means to set the number of participants who use the participant terminals whose unicast is ensured by the uni / multicast switching control means, and the speaker speaks. The voices are mixed to make mixed voices, and the voices added by other voices other than the voices of the voices are mixed with voices not added by the person. Then, the network conference support server transmits the mixed voice mixed by the speech voice mixing means to the participant terminal in which the multicast is ensured by the mixed voice transmission means, and each of the person's speech non-added mixed voices is unidirectionally transmitted. Send to each participant terminal for which the cast has been secured.

  According to the invention described in claim 1 or claim 2, a remark made by a participant (speaker) by performing switching control between unicast and multicast based on a detection result of detecting the remark of the participant. The voice is mixed to make a mixed voice, and the voice of the person other than the speaker is mixed and the voice of the person who does not speak is added to the voice. Then, the mixed voice is transmitted to the participant terminal for which multicast is ensured, and the person-utterance-unadded mixed voice is transmitted to each participant terminal for which unicast is ensured. For this reason, when the participant feels that he / she wants to speak in the conference, he / she can speak without performing any operation on the participant terminal, and does not feel bothered. Furthermore, since it becomes unnecessary for the participant terminal to output a request signal when participating in a conference or to output a request signal for each utterance, the configuration of the terminal can be simplified.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network conference system. As shown in FIG. 1, the network conference system A includes a network conference support server 1 and a plurality of network conference participant terminals 3 (3a, 3b,...).

<Configuration of network conference support server>
The network conference support server 1 is a conference (conference by phone call, so-called telephone) held by participants using a plurality of network conference participant terminals 3 (3a, 3b,...) Via a network (IP network). Conference information generation means 5, uni / multicast switching control means 7, speech voice mixing means 9, mixed voice transmission means 11, and participant information generation and transmission means 13 are provided. .

  This network conference support server 1 is a participant (speaker) who speaks in the conference so that only a preset number of people can speak in the conference at the same time in order to suppress the occupied bandwidth used in the conference in the network. Only the network conference participant terminal 3 used by the client is connected to the server 1 by unicast (unicast is ensured), and the network conference participant terminal 3 used by other participants is connected to the server 1 by multicast. (To ensure multicast).

  Unicast is a one-to-one communication format defined in IP (Internet Protocol). Here, network conference support server 1 and network conference participant terminal 3 have a one-to-one data (various signals, audio data). ) Will be sent and received. That is, when unicast is ensured, separate data is transmitted from the network conference support server 1 to the network conference participant terminal 3 individually.

  Multicast is a 1-to-N communication mode defined in IP (Internet Protocol). Here, data (various signals, audio data) is transmitted 1-to-N between the network conference support server 1 and the network conference participant terminal 3. Will be sent and received. That is, when the multicast is secured, the same data is transmitted from the network conference support server 1 to the plurality of network conference participant terminals 3.

  The meeting information generation means 5 includes the date of the meeting, the start time of the meeting, the end time of the meeting, the agenda of the meeting, the number N of participants participating in the meeting, the list of participants participating in the meeting (names of participants, The conference information including the location, the title), the general listener number α and the like is generated and transmitted to the network conference participant terminal 3. The conference information generated by the conference information generation unit 5 is also output to the participant information generation / transmission unit 13. Further, when the conference is made public on the network, the conference information generation means 5 can transmit the generated conference information (where it can be disclosed) to a predetermined homepage or the like.

  The conference information is generated for each conference to be held, and includes the IP address of the network conference participant terminal 3 that can participate in the conference in addition to the information. The number of participants N is the total number of participants who participate in the conference. The general listener number α is a total number of unicasts set for general listeners when a conference is opened on the network. This general listener usually exists only to listen to the conference, but depending on the progress of the conference, it is possible to participate in the conference as a participant.

  Further, during the period from the start time to the end time (conference time) included in the conference information, until the number of participants who speak during the conference reaches the set number n, the uni / multicast switching control means 7 described later A speech enable signal is transmitted from the speech enable / busy signal transmission means 7 c to the network conference participant terminal 3.

  Note that the conference information is generated by an administrator of the server 1 using an operation means (not shown) provided in the server 1 and then transmitted, or participation of any network conference participant terminal 3 is performed. In some cases, the user uses the operation means (not shown) provided in the terminal 3, and then transmits the generated information to the network conference support server 1 and then distributes it from the server 1.

  The uni / multicast switching control means 7 performs control to switch the communication mode between the server 1 and the network conference participant terminal 3 to unicast or multicast according to the result of detecting the speech voice. A setting unit 7a, a speech receiving unit 7c, a speech detection unit 7d, a switching control unit 7e, and a speech enable / busy signal transmission unit 7f are provided.

  The unicast number setting means 7a is for setting the number of unicasts to be secured among the participants participating in the conference based on the numerical values input using the operation means (not shown). That is, the unicast number setting means 7a sets the set number n (n <N) that is less than the number N of participants for the number N of participants. The set number n indicates the number of people who can speak at the same time in the conference. Depending on the size of the conference, for example, when the number N of participants is 20, the set number n is set to 4 people. . The set number n represents the number of people who can speak at the same time in the conference and represents the number of network conference participant terminals 3 that ensure unicast. It shall be called. The set number of people n set by the unicast number setting means 7a is output to the switching control means 7e.

  The speech voice receiving means 7c receives the speech (speech speech) spoken by the user of the network conference participant terminal 3. The speech voice receiving means 7c outputs the speech voice transmitted from the network conference participant terminal 3 to the speech detection means 7d and the speech voice mixing means 9. The speech voice receiving means 7c associates the IP address of the network conference participant terminal 3 when outputting the speech voice to the speech detection means 7d and the speech voice mixing means 9.

  The speech detection means 7d detects a signal (speech speech) transmitted from the network conference participant terminal 3 and detects which speech conference speech is transmitted from which network conference participant terminal 3.

  In other words, the speech detection means 7d provides a speech when the level of the signal transmitted from the network conference participant terminal 3 is equal to or higher than a preset threshold value and is continuously maintained for a predetermined time or longer. When it is detected that there is a voice and a speech voice is detected, the switching control unit associates the detected speech voice with the IP address of the network conference participant terminal 3 together with the detection (detection result). Output to 7e. In addition, the speech detection means 7d provides a speech when the level of the signal transmitted from the network conference participant terminal 3 is less than a preset threshold and the level is continuously maintained for a predetermined time or longer. Detect that there was no sound (detected no speech).

  The switching control means 7e selects the network conference participant terminal 3 that ensures unicast based on the set number of people n set by the unicast number setting means 7a and the result of detection of the speech voice by the speech detection means 7d. It is to switch.

  That is, the switching control means 7e secures unicast in the order of arrival according to the time when the speech request / end signal receiving means 7b receives the speech request signal or the time when the speech detection means 7d detects the speech voice. Unicast is secured to the network conference participant terminal 3 until the number reaches the set number of persons (the number of set terminals) n. Then, the switching control unit 7e causes the network conference participant terminal 3 that has secured unicast to transmit a speech enable signal from the speech enable / busy signal transmission unit 7f to the corresponding network conference participant terminal 3.

  In addition, when the speech detection unit 7d detects speech speech, the switching control unit 7e is configured so that the number of network conference participant terminals 3 that have already secured unicast has reached the set terminal number n. The busy signal is transmitted to the corresponding network conference participant terminal 3 from the speech enable / busy signal transmitting means 7f.

  Then, when the speech detection unit 7d detects that there is no speech, the switching control unit 7e removes the unicast of the network conference participant terminal 3 for which unicast is ensured, and returns to the multicast.

  Further, this switching control means 7e removed the unicast from the IP address of the network conference participant terminal 3 that secured the unicast in the speech voice mixing means 9, the mixed voice transmission means 11 and the participant information generation / transmission means 13. The IP address of the network conference participant terminal 3 is output.

  The speakable / busy signal transmitting unit 7f transmits a speakable signal or a busy signal to the corresponding network conference participant terminal 3 in accordance with the control by the switching control unit 7e. In other words, the speech enable / busy signal transmission means 7f of the participants using the network conference participant terminal 3 does not reach the set number (set terminal number) n of the presently speaking speakers. In such a case, a signal that enables a speech is transmitted, and when the number of speakers has reached the set number n, a busy signal is transmitted. When transmitting this busy signal, it is also possible to notify the network conference participant terminal 3 of how many speakers are waiting to join the conference (for example, how many people are waiting). Accordingly, the participant who uses the network conference participant terminal 3 that has received the busy signal can grasp how long he / she has to wait until he / she can speak.

  The speech voice mixing means 9 mixes the speech voices transmitted from the network conference participant terminal 3, and is a mixed voice generation means 9a, a first encryption means 9b, and a person's speech non-added mixed voice generation means 9c. And second encryption means 9d.

  The speech voice mixing means 9 has a function of encrypting the mixed speech voice (mixed voice, person-utterance-unadded mixed voice), but this is not always necessary. However, by encrypting the mixed speech, only a specific person (who has a decryption key (secret key)) can decrypt it even if the encrypted voice leaks on the network. This is useful when the content of the conference requires a high level of secrecy.

  The mixed voice generating unit 9a generates a mixed voice obtained by mixing all the voices transmitted from the network conference participant terminal 3, that is, the voices received by the voice receiving unit 7c of the uni / multicast switching control unit 7. To do. The mixed sound generated by the mixed sound generation means 9a is transmitted by multicast to participants who are participating in the conference and are not speaking or general listeners who listen to the conference. Then, this mixed sound is output to the first encryption means 9b.

  The first encryption means 9b encrypts the mixed voice generated by the mixed voice generation means 9a with an encryption key and outputs it to the mixed voice transmission means 11 (multicast transmission means 11a described later). The encryption key used here is based on, for example, a common key encryption method, and uses the same key (encryption key, decryption key) held on both the transmission and reception sides.

  The person-to-speech non-addition mixed voice generation unit 9c receives the voice received by the voice receiving unit 7c of the uni / multicast switching control unit 7 and the IP output from the switching control unit 7e of the uni / multicast switching control unit 7. Based on the address, the person's speech non-added mixed voice, which is a mixed voice without adding the voice of the person speaking, is generated.

  That is, the person-utterance-unadded mixed voice generating means 9c identifies the network conference participant terminal 3 used by the speaker who is currently speaking, based on the IP address of the network conference participant terminal 3, Only the voices spoken by other speakers are mixed so that the voices spoken by the person are not included in the mixed voices transmitted to the network conference participant terminal 3. The person speech non-added mixed sound generated by the person speech non-added mixed sound generation means 9c is participating in the conference and transmitted to each of the speaking participants (speakers) by unicast. It is what is done. Then, the person speech non-added mixed voice is output to the second encryption means 9d.

  The second encryption means 9d encrypts the person speech non-added mixed voice generated by the person speech non-added mixed voice generation means 9c with the encryption key, and mixes the voice transmission means 11 (unicast transmission means described later). 11b). The encryption key used here is, for example, a public key encryption method, and is a public key registered by a participant using the network conference participant terminal 3 on the receiving side in a public key certificate authority or the like.

  The mixed voice transmission unit 11 transmits the voice (mixed voice, person-in-person non-addition mixed voice) mixed by the voice mixing unit 9 to the network conference participant terminal 3, and the multicast transmission unit 11a Unicast transmission means 11b.

  The multicast transmission means 11 a transmits the mixed voice generated by the speech voice mixing means 9 to the network conference participant terminal 3 for which multicasting is ensured by the uni / multicast switching control means 7. That is, this multicast transmission means 11a is used for a network conference participant terminal 3 used by a participant who does not speak (participant who has finished speaking) or a terminal (not shown, which is used by a general listener). If participation in the middle of the conference is assumed, the mixed audio is transmitted toward the network conference participant terminal 3).

  The unicast transmission means 11b transmits the person's speech non-added mixed voice generated by the voice voice mixing means 9 to each of the network conference participant terminals 3 for which unicast is secured by the uni / multicast switching control means 7. It is. That is, the unicast transmission unit 11b transmits the person-utterance-unadded mixed voice toward the network conference participant terminal 3 used by the speaking participant (speaker). The unicast transmission means 11b needs to be provided for the set number of persons (the number of set terminals) n in order for the network conference participant terminal 3 and the server 1 to realize a one-to-one communication mode.

  The participant information generation / transmission means 13 is based on the result of the uni / multicast switching control means 7 controlling the speech voice mixing means 9 and the mixed voice transmission means 11, and information on the agenda of the meeting and members participating in the meeting. And the participant information indicating who is speaking among the members (status) is generated and transmitted to the network conference participant terminal 3.

  Here, a specific example of the participant information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a display screen in which participant information is displayed on a display device (not shown) in the network conference support server 1. In FIG. 3, a portion surrounded by a dotted line is displayed on a display unit 8 (details will be described later) connected to the network conference participant terminal 3.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the conference name “Group 1: National Sales Office Conference” is displayed, and the locations and names of the participants participating in this conference, the IP address, and the status are displayed. Here, the grape 1 indicates one of standard participant grapes (participant list) set in advance for some regular meetings.

  For the participants, the name of the prefecture is displayed as the location, the surname and honorific as the name, and the IP address. Furthermore, for the participant, it is possible to set whether to speak or listen (whether it is a general listener). For each participant, the status is “participating” indicating that he / she is participating in the conference, and “speaking” indicating that he / she is participating in the conference and is speaking, and is not participating in the conference. Three states of “non-participation” are displayed.

  In addition, the display screen has a function for editing the conference information generated by the conference information generating means 5, and “conference call”, “add participant”, “ “Delete participant”, “end conference” and “communication settings” are provided.

  These “conference call”, “add participant”, “delete participant”, “end conference”, and “communication settings” are set by the administrator of the server 1 for detailed items of the conference, A setting execution button to be executed, and when this setting execution button is selected and pressed by an operation means or the like, each window is opened, and each item can be set or executed.

“Conference call” is a setting execution button for transmitting the date and time (schedule, start time, end time) of the conference to the network conference participant terminal 3 used by the participant who wants to participate in the conference.
“Add participant” is a setting execution button for increasing the number of participants by opening a window for adding a participant name of the conference and adding a new participant name to the window.

“Delete Participant” is a setting execution button that reduces the number of participants by opening a window in which participants who are currently participating in the conference are displayed and deleting one of the participant names. .
“End conference” is a setting execution button for transmitting to the network conference participant terminal 3 used by the participant participating in the conference that the conference being held is to be ended.

“Communication setting” opens a window for setting the voice quality of the mixed voice transmitted to each network conference participant terminal 3 and the person-utterance-unadded mixed voice during the conference, and details of the voice quality, for example, the voice quality A setting execution button for setting a sampling frequency, a voice band, a delay time, a packet size, a packet loss correction method, and the like.
As a supplement, it can be said that the set number of persons (the number of set terminals) is the number of participants' speaking rights.

  According to the network conference support server 1 shown in FIG. 1, unicast and multicast are performed based on the detection result of the participant's speech detected by the uni / multicast switching control means 7, or the speech request signal or speech termination signal. The person's utterance that mixes the utterance voices spoken by the participant (speaker) to mix voices, and the voices uttered by other speakers other than the speaker himself Non-additive mixed speech. Then, the mixed voice is transmitted to the network conference participant terminal 3 in which multicast is ensured, and the person-utterance-unadded mixed voice is transmitted to each of the network conference participant terminals 3 in which unicast is ensured. For this reason, if the participant speaks, since the speech is detected by the speech detection means 7d of the uni / multicast switching control means 7 provided in the network conference support server 1, the participant is informed to the network conference participant terminal 3. Thus, there is no need to perform any operation and the user does not feel bothered.

  Further, according to the network conference support server 1, it is possible to detect from which network conference participant terminal 3 the speech (audio signal) has been transmitted by the speech detection means 7d of the uni / multicast switching control means 7. The configuration of the terminal 3 can be simplified. In addition, a participant using the network conference participant terminal 3 can participate in the conference without being aware of speaking.

  Furthermore, according to the network conference support server 1, the mixed voice and the person-utterance-unadded mixed voice are encrypted by the first encryption means 9b and the second encryption means 9d of the speech voice mixing means 9. Even in a network (IP network) connected to terminals used by a specific number of persons, it is possible to prevent leakage of conference contents.

<Configuration of network conference participant terminal>
A detailed block diagram of the network conference participant terminal 3 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the network conference participant terminal 3 is used by a participant who performs a conference (conference by telephone call, so-called conference call) via a network (IP network). The receiving means 17, the speech voice transmitting means 19, the mixed voice receiving means 21, the decoding means 23, the participant information receiving means 25, and the display control means 27 are provided.

  The network conference participant terminal 3 includes an operation means (not shown) including a keyboard and a mouse for the participant to perform various operations, a presentation unit 2 for presenting the conference state to the participant, and voice (speaking) A voice input unit 4 such as a microphone for inputting voice), a voice output unit 6 such as a speaker for outputting mixed voice or person-to-speak non-added mixed voice, and a display unit such as a liquid crystal for displaying conference information and participant information (Display device) 8 is connected.

  The presentation unit 2 is provided with a talkable lamp 2c configured with an LED that lights up when speech is possible, and a busy lamp 2d configured with an LED that lights up when speech is not possible. ing.

  The speakable / busy signal receiving means 17 receives the speakable signal and the busy signal transmitted from the network conference support server 1 and outputs them to the presentation unit 2. The speech enable / busy signal receiving means 17 outputs a control signal for turning on the speech enable lamp 2c of the presentation unit 2 when receiving the speech enable signal, and presenting unit when receiving the busy signal. A control signal for turning on the 2 busy lamp 2d is output.

The speech voice transmission means 19 transmits the voice (speech voice) uttered by the user of the terminal 3 input via the voice input unit 4 to the network conference support server 1.
The mixed voice receiving means 21 receives the encrypted mixed voice (by multicast) or the encrypted person-utterance-free mixed voice (by unicast) transmitted from the network conference support server 1 and decrypts it. This is output to the means 23.

  The decrypting unit 23 decrypts the encrypted mixed speech received by the mixed speech receiving unit 21 or the encrypted person-utterance-unadded mixed speech and outputs it to the speech output unit 6. . The decryption method employed by the decryption means 23 corresponds to the encryption method performed by the network conference support server 1.

  The participant information receiving unit 25 receives the participant information transmitted from the network conference support server 1 and outputs it to the display control unit 27. Participant information (see FIG. 3) indicates the location and name of the participant currently participating in the conference, the IP address, and the status (participating, speaking, non-participating).

  The display control unit 27 performs control to display the participant information received by the participant information receiving unit 25 on the display unit 8. Thereby, the participant of the terminal 3 can visually confirm the location and name of the participant participating in the conference and the state (who is participating and who is speaking) in the conference. .

  According to the network conference participant terminal 3, the speech voice that the participant has spoken is transmitted to the server 1 by the speech voice transmission unit 19, and is further transmitted from the server 1 by the mixed voice reception unit 21. A mixed voice obtained by mixing the voices spoken by the participants or a mixed voice without person's voice added by voices spoken by other participants other than the participant himself / herself is received. For this reason, a meeting can be smoothly performed by the participant in a different place.

  Further, according to the network conference participant terminal 3, the encrypted mixed speech or the person-utterance-unadded mixed speech can be listened to by decrypting by the decryption means 23. Even in a network to which a terminal (not shown) to be used is connected, leakage of conference contents can be prevented.

  Further, according to the network conference participant terminal 3, by displaying the participant information on the display unit 8, when the speaker speaking in the conference changes (changes) every moment, which participant is changed. The participant who uses the terminal 3 can grasp whether he / she is speaking.

<Operation of network conference support server>
Next, the operation of the network conference support server 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 (see FIG. 1 as appropriate).
First, the network meeting support server 1 determines whether or not the meeting start date / time has been reached after generating and transmitting the meeting information by the meeting information generating means 5 (step S1), and waits until the meeting starting date / time is reached. (Step S1, No).

  If the network conference support server 1 determines that the date and time of the conference start has come (step S1, Yes), the network conference support server 1 starts the conference. The network conference support server 1 first determines whether the number of speakers is less than the set number (set number of terminals) by the uni / multicast switching control means 7 (whether the speaking right is available) (step S2). If it is not determined that the number of speakers is less than the set number (step S2, No), the busy signal transmitting means 7f transmits a busy signal to all the network conference participant terminals 3 (the speaking right is not available). Is notified) (step S3).

  In addition, when it is determined that the number of speakers is less than the set number of persons (Yes in Step S2), the network conference support server 1 determines whether or not the speech has been started (whether the speech voice has been received) (Step S4). The network conference support server 1 waits until the speech request signal is received or the speech is determined to be started (No in step S4), and the speech request / end signal receiving unit 7b or the speech audio receiving unit 7c performs the speech request signal. Or when it is determined that the speech has been started (the speech is received) (step S4, Yes), the corresponding network conference participant terminal 3 (the network conference participant terminal that has transmitted the speech request signal or speech) 3) secures unicast (assigns the right to speak) (step S5).

  Then, the network conference support server 1 transmits a speech enable signal (notifies that the right to speak has been acquired) to the network conference participant terminal 3 that has secured the unicast by the speech enable / busy signal transmission means 7f (step 1). S6). Then, the network conference support server 1 receives the speech voice of the participant (speaker) who uses the network conference participant terminal 3 in which unicast is ensured by the speech voice receiving means 7c by unicast (step S7). Then, the speech voice mixing means 9 generates the mixed voice and the person speech non-added mixed voice, encrypts them, and outputs them to the mixed voice transmission means 11.

  Then, the network conference support server 1 uses the multicast transmission unit 11a of the mixed audio transmission unit 11 to transmit the encrypted mixed audio to the participants who are not speaking by multicast, and the unicast transmission unit of the mixed audio transmission unit 11 By 11b, the encrypted person-to-speech non-added mixed voice is transmitted to the speaker by unicast (step S8).

  Then, the network conference support server 1 determines whether the speech end signal or the speech has been terminated by the speech voice receiving means 7c (whether the received signal level is less than a predetermined value and a predetermined time has elapsed) (step S9). Until the determination is made (No at Step S9), the processing at Steps S7 and S8 is continued, and when it is determined that the speech end signal or the speech has ended (Step S9, Yes), the corresponding network conference participant terminal 3 is secured. The unicast that has been performed is canceled (the right to speak is canceled) (step S10).

  Then, the network conference support server 1 determines whether or not the conference end date / time has come (step S11), and returns to step S2 until it is determined that the conference end date / time is reached (No in step S11). If it is determined that the date and time of the conference end (step S11, Yes), the operation ends.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, in the present embodiment, the network conference support server 1 is configured as a device, but may be configured as a computer program (network conference support program) that performs operation processing by this device. In this case, the same effect as the network conference support server 1 is obtained.

1 is a block diagram of a network conference system (including a network conference support server and a network conference participant terminal) according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the network conference participant terminal which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of the display screen which is displaying the participant information on a display apparatus (not shown) in a network meeting support server. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the network meeting assistance server shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Network meeting support server 2 Presentation part 2c Speakable lamp 2d Busy lamp 3 Network meeting participant terminal 4 Voice input part 5 Conference information generation means 6 Voice output part 7 Uni / multicast switching control means 7a Unicast number setting means 7c Speech voice Receiving means 7d Speaking detection means 7e Switching control means 7f Speakable / busy signal transmitting means 8 Display section (display means)
9 Speech voice mixing means 9a Mixed voice generation means 9b First encryption means (encryption means)
9c Non-addition speech generation means 9d second person encryption means (encryption means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Mixed voice transmission means 11a Multicast transmission means 11b Unicast transmission means 13 Participant information generation transmission means 17 Speakable / busy signal reception means 19 Speaking voice transmission means 21 Mixed voice reception means 23 Decoding means 25 Participant information reception means 27 Display Control means A Network conferencing system

Claims (2)

When a conference is held with a plurality of participants over a network, a one-to-one communication mode is used for a participant terminal used by a predetermined number of participants less than the total number of participants. In order to secure a cast and secure a multicast which is a one-to-multiple communication mode for participant terminals used by participants other than the set number of people,
A speech detection means for detecting the speech spoken by the participant;
Uni-multicast switching control means for performing switching control between the unicast and the multicast based on the detection result detected by the speech detection means,
The set number of participants who use the participant terminals for which unicast is ensured by the uni / multicast switching control means becomes a speaker, and the voices spoken by the speakers are mixed into a mixed voice. Speech voice mixing means for mixing the voices spoken by other speakers other than the voice person, and mixing the voices not added by the voice.
The mixed voice mixed by the speech voice mixing means is transmitted to the participant terminal for which the multicast is ensured, and each of the person speech non-added mixed voices is sent to each of the participant terminals for which the unicast is ensured. Mixed voice transmission means for transmitting,
Network conference support program characterized by functioning as When a conference is held with a plurality of participants over a network, a one-to-one communication mode is used for a participant terminal used by a predetermined number of participants less than the total number of participants. A network conference support server that secures a cast, secures a multicast that is a one-to-multiple communication mode for participant terminals used by participants other than the set number of people, and supports the conference,
Remark detection means for detecting the sound remarked by the participant;
Uni-multicast switching control means for performing switching control between the unicast and the multicast, based on the detection result detected by the speech detection means,
The set number of participants who use the participant terminals for which unicast is ensured by the uni / multicast switching control means becomes a speaker, and the voices spoken by the speakers are mixed into a mixed voice. Speech voice mixing means for mixing the voices spoken by other speakers other than the voice of the person, and mixing the voices of the voice of the person other than the voice
The mixed voice mixed by the speech voice mixing means is transmitted to the participant terminal for which the multicast is ensured, and each of the person speech non-added mixed voices is sent to each of the participant terminals for which the unicast is ensured. Mixed voice transmission means for transmitting;
A network conference support server comprising:

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