JP2717746B2 - Video facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video facsimile apparatus for transmitting a video image, a still image, and a sound using a public digital communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, information processing equipment has been able to handle multimedia information from code information with the development of semiconductor technology. On the other hand, ISDN has become practical in public communication networks, and the infrastructure for transmitting multimedia digital information has been in full swing. With respect to OA equipment, communication equipment capable of supporting multimedia has been developed with the advancement of information society such as colorization and digitalization and technological innovation.

[0003] A multimedia-compatible facsimile apparatus in which a facsimile according to the prior art is connected to a computer will be described below. In FIG. 6, 1 is a computer device, 2 is a facsimile device connected to the computer device 1, and 3 is a public network to which the facsimile device 2 is connected. 4 is a display of the facsimile apparatus 2,
A keypad 5 is used for command input for operating the facsimile machine 2 and dialing. Reference numeral 6 denotes a telephone-type voice communication handset connected to the facsimile apparatus 2.

The operation of the conventional facsimile apparatus configured as described above will be described below. In the configuration of the above-mentioned conventional example, first, G3 or G4
The data transmitted in the facsimile standard is taken into the facsimile device 2, where the compressed data is decoded and output to the display 4 or a printing device built in the facsimile device 2. At the same time, it is displayed on the display of the computer device 1 as needed. In addition, the voice signal transmitted through the public network 3 is demodulated in the facsimile apparatus 2, and a call can be made with the handset 6.

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, since the medium is limited to the still image and the sound, only the sequential reproduction is sufficient for the confirmation of the contents, and there is no need to distinguish the medium or confirm the contents. For example, when a facsimile was received, the facsimile was recorded on the storage device as a paper or computer image file, and the telephone voice was recorded on a tape or recorded as digital voice data on the storage device.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional apparatus does not have a function of transmitting and receiving moving picture video information other than facsimile and voice. Further, it has not been possible to easily grasp the received contents and associate the media. Furthermore, the media could not be converted and used.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem. It is possible to transmit and receive a video moving image, a still image, and a sound, and to grasp the received contents and associate the media. It is an object of the present invention to provide a video facsimile which can be easily performed and can convert and utilize media.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a communication control unit connected to a digital public network, and performs compression / expansion processing of moving image signals, still image signals, and audio signals to be transmitted / received. A signal processing unit, a main storage unit for storing information necessary for processing, an auxiliary storage unit for storing information to be transmitted / received, and terminal input / output for connecting a moving image terminal, a still image terminal, and a voice terminal, respectively. , An input / output control unit having keys and a display, and a main control unit for controlling these units.

The present invention also determines whether the received medium is audio, facsimile or video, and if it is video, reduces the leading image and displays it on the display. .

According to the present invention, media conversion is performed from a frame of the received video image data into a still image file, which is stored and output.

The present invention further recognizes a plurality of media received from a terminal having the same address within a predetermined time,
Alternatively, a media switching signal is recognized in one call, and these media are simultaneously reproduced during reproduction.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a video moving image can be displayed in addition to the conventional still image and sound by the above-mentioned structure.

Further, according to the present invention, the communication control unit determines whether the data is audio, facsimile, or video, and if it is video, the signal processing unit reduces the leading image and displays it on the display. Therefore, the contents can be easily grasped.

Further, according to the present invention, a signal processing unit for decoding a video moving image reads out a specific frame from a video memory, saves it to a storage unit, further processes the file, and converts the file into a medium. Therefore, different media can be reused.

Further, according to the present invention, the signal processing unit identifies a plurality of media received from a terminal having the same address within a predetermined time, or identifies a media switching signal, and outputs the media to be subjected to the same processing. Since the reproduction processes are performed simultaneously, different media can be associated with each other to facilitate understanding.

[0016]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a form of a communication system using the facsimile apparatus. First, the overall configuration of the system will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a computer device, 12 denotes a video facsimile device connected to the computer device, and 13 denotes an ISDN (integrated digital communication network) which is a digital public network to which the video facsimile device 12 is connected. The video facsimile apparatus 12 has a handset 14 connected as an audio terminal, a VTR (video tape recorder) 15 and a monitor television 16 connected as moving image terminals, and a document reading unit (not shown) as a still image terminal. And a printer unit. The video facsimile apparatus 12 also has, on its surface, a liquid crystal display 17, a keypad 18, and a cassette tape recorder 19 as an audio terminal. The cassette tape recorder 19 is used as an answering machine, or used when transmitting audio information or music recorded by another tape recorder into the cassette tape recorder 19.

Next, the configuration of the video facsimile apparatus 12 will be described with reference to FIG. The whole is divided into five blocks. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a communication control unit connected to the ISDN 13, 22 denotes a signal processing unit capable of compressing / expanding and reducing an image of a video signal, a facsimile signal and an audio signal, and 23 denotes a main memory for storing information necessary for processing. Main memory consisting of a main control unit that controls the
A control unit, 24 is a readable and writable auxiliary storage unit for storing input / output data, 25 is an input / output control unit for inputting dial numbers and commands and displaying results, and 26 is a VTR.
And a terminal input / output unit for connecting terminals.

The communication control unit 21 includes an ISDN interface 27 connected to the ISDN 13, a protocol controller 28 for controlling communication, and an
/ DA converter 30 is provided. The signal processing unit 22 includes four DSPs (digital signal processors) 31 to 3
4 and a work memory 35. Main memory / control unit 2
Reference numeral 3 denotes a frame memory 36 used for conversion between a video analog signal and a digital signal, a FIFO memory 37 used for buffer storage, a synchronization signal generator 38 for processing a signal in frame units, and an OS for storing a control program. A ROM 39 and a CPU 40 as a main control unit. The auxiliary storage unit 24 includes a disk device 41 for driving a magnetic disk or an optical disk and a SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) control unit 4.
2 is provided. SCSI controller 42, data selector 43, and protocol controller 2 of communication controller 21
8 and the work memory 35 of the signal control unit 22 are SCS
It is connected to the I bus 44. The input / output control unit 25 includes a control register 14, a keypad 18, and a liquid crystal display 17. The terminal input / output unit 26 includes a moving image terminal input / output unit 46, a still image terminal input / output unit 47, and an audio terminal input / output unit 48. The video monitor television 16 and the VTR 15 are connected to the video terminal input / output unit 46,
The printer unit 49 and the document reading unit 50 are connected to the still image terminal input / output unit 47, and the handset 14 and the cassette tape recorder 19 are connected to the audio terminal input / output unit 48.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
First, as a typical receiving operation, a case where video data received from the ISDN 13 is received by the disk device 41 and displayed on the liquid crystal display 17 in a reduced size and a case where the video data is displayed on the monitor television 16 will be described. In FIG. 1, when the ISDN interface 27 detects a call from the ISDN 13, an interrupt signal is sent from the protocol controller 28 to the CPU 40, a signal is sent from the CPU 40 to a power supply control unit (not shown), and the device is changed from a sleep state to an excited state. . After the call connection processing, the communication control unit
The protocol controller 28 in the receiver 21 determines whether the medium to be received is voice or facsimile.
Whether it is a video or not is determined from the identifier contained in the signal, and whether or not the reception is possible by communication with the other party is determined. If the reception is possible, the CPU 40 is notified of the reception mode. After the path is established,
The received video data is sent out to the SCSI bus 44 after error correction processing in the communication control unit 21. Video data is digital data in which video and audio that have undergone compression processing are mixed. The CPU 40 performs a file open process to set a master / slave on the SCSI bus 44. The transfer of the received data is performed by the SCSI bus 44
The communication control unit 21 becomes a master and the auxiliary storage unit 2
4 becomes a slave. At this time, the received data is written to the disk device 41 as raw data.

In the disk device 41, in addition to the facsimile number and file name of the called party, additional information such as the reception time, user-defined bits, and media type are recorded together. When the writing of the received data is completed and the protocol processing related to the call disconnection is completed in the communication control unit 21, the CPU 40 performs a file closing process on the disk device 41. When the receiving operation is completed, C
The PU 40 reads data recorded on the disk device 41 via the SCSI bus 44 and
In step 2, the picture of the first frame corresponding to the first image is decoded and developed on the work memory 35 of the signal processing unit 22 .
The signal processing unit 22 creates an index image reduced from the original image by thinning out the pictures decoded by the DSPs 31 to 34 and smoothing filter processing. The picture information is stored again together with the compressed data of the original image in the disk device 41 of the auxiliary storage unit 24 together with the header information of the original image. The file format is a tagged file format called Tiff, which can handle a plurality of image data as one file. Such processing is performed every time each data is received.

On the other hand, the CPU 40 informs the user of the video facsimile apparatus that the reception file exists on the liquid crystal display 17 of the input / output control unit 25. This is done by displaying the index reduced image 52 just created at the same time as the icon 51 representing the media type on the liquid crystal display 17 of FIG. The icon 51 in FIG. 2 indicates a telephone, a document, a video, a document, and a video from the left.
Since the user can intuitively infer the contents of the received data from this display, it is possible to select and reproduce a file of high importance from the files created in the auxiliary storage unit 24.

The user issues a playback instruction to the keypad 18.
When the input operation is performed by the CPU 40, the CPU 40 opens the corresponding file and flows the data to the work memory 35 of the signal processing unit 22 via the data selector 43. CPU4
0 indicates that the received video data can be directly input to the work memory 35 without being transferred to the disk device 41. A real-time synchronization control signal is sent from the synchronization signal generator 38 to various places where necessary. According to the synchronization timing, the image data stored in the work memory 35 is processed by the four DSPs 31 to 34, and the image is reproduced. Is applied. The reproduced image signal is written to the frame memory 36 in frame units via the FIFO 37, converted into an NTSC signal, and output from the moving image terminal input / output unit 46. Since this output signal is an analog standard NTSC signal, the image can be viewed on the monitor television 16 and can be recorded on the VTR 15. When the user instructs input from the keypad 18 after once playing back on the monitor TV 16, the CPU 40 follows the instruction and leaves the reproduced video data in the disk device 41 or the video data in the disk device 41 Erase, VT
It can also be recorded and stored in R15. When the video data is stored in the disk device 41, the video data can be accessed from the computer device 11 connected to the video facsimile device 12, and the digitized video information can be transferred from a physically different path such as e-mail. Or when reusing data in other applications. In addition, the signal processing unit 22
O Frames with specific attributes of moving images or fixed frames
The media extracted from the video extracted for each
This still image file is stored in the disk of the auxiliary storage unit 24.
It can be stored in the device 41 or read out.

When reproducing video data, the synchronizing signal generator 3
8 transmits a data frame to the SCSI bus 44 in the form of a pulse for synchronization control every 0.5 seconds, so that the computer device 11 connected to the video facsimile device 12 It is possible to know whether the eye is being processed or displayed. According to this method, since the pulse-shaped data frame has the frame number and the media type information, when the moving image is used as one of the multimedia data on the computer device 11, the other media is displayed. Alternatively, it is possible to perform synchronization control with the output timing with a resolution of 0.5 seconds.

The video facsimile apparatus 12
Has a function of recording a voice using a cassette tape recorder 19 in the same manner as an answering machine. Since the ISDN 13 can identify the telephone address of the called party, the protocol controller 28 of the communication control unit 21 When the status is notified to the CPU 40, the other party's telephone address can also be notified. CPU 40
A certain period of time (for example, 3
(0 seconds), if it detects that there is a call again from the same address, or if it detects the media switching information inserted in the data in the same call, for example, there is a telephone first,
When it is later detected that a facsimile has been sent, the previous voice and the facsimile received later are regarded as a group of multimedia data, and the icon display 51 is changed to another mixed icon and displayed again. I do. When reproducing on the monitor television 16 in accordance with a user's instruction, the CPU 40 can open the two media at the same time to open the facsimile or color facsimile screen and listen to the explanation. Can be treated as if it were a file.

Next, the operation of transmitting from the video facsimile apparatus 12 will be described when transmitting a moving image from the VTR 15 or when connecting a video camera in place of the VTR 15 and transmitting a moving image in real time. . When there is a transmission instruction from the keypad 18 of the input / output control unit 25, the video signal from the VTR 15 or the video camera enters the video terminal input / output unit 46 and is digitized and stored in the frame memory 36. This data is
The data is sent to the work memory 35 via the IFO memory 37 and compared with the previous frame by the DSP groups 31 to 34.
An encoding process of converting the data into motion vector information and quantizing the data is performed, and the resulting data is synchronized with the synchronization signal generation unit 38 at the timing and passed through the data selector 43 to the SCS.
It is output on the I bus 44. The CPU 40 opens the file and sets a master / slave on the SCSI bus 44. Here, when the moving image data is transmitted from the VTR 15, the SCSI control unit 42 operates and is recorded on the disk device 41 as digital information. In the transfer mode at this time, the auxiliary storage unit 24 becomes a slave to the SCSI bus 44, and the communication control unit 21 becomes a master. In the disk device 41, in addition to the facsimile number and file name of the other party to be called, the transmission time and the media type are recorded together. When the transfer of the data to be recorded is completed, the communication control unit 21 starts the protocol processing relating to the call connection. It should be noted that the process for reproducing and projecting the file recorded on the disk device 41 for confirmation is exactly the same procedure as the reproduction of the received file. When transmitting a moving image directly from a video camera, the auxiliary storage unit 24 becomes a master,
The communication control unit 21 becomes a slave, and data is directly output to the ISDN 13 via the ISDN interface 27.

When receiving a G3 or G4 facsimile from the ISDN 13, receiving a color facsimile,
The execution of the receiving protocol when receiving voice by telephone is performed by the protocol controller 28. If the receiver is a monochrome or color facsimile, the receiver once stores it in the auxiliary storage unit 24, reads it out as a bit image file from there,
6 or print out by the printer unit 49.

Next, the operation of the video digitization and compression / expansion processing for realizing video facsimile will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 shows an algorithm for encoding video information, and FIG. 4 shows an algorithm for decoding. First, referring to FIG. 3, an MPEG (Moving Picture Co.) standardized by ISO / IEC will be described.
An outline of an encoding procedure using a (Ding Expert Group) method will be described. Of the 15 consecutive frames from the k-th frame, the k-th frame is quantized by DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) processing, and is further digitized by variable-length coding. Based on the data of the k-th frame, the (k + 3) -th frame is digitized. The data of the (k + 3) th frame is compared with the kth frame, and a motion vector is calculated for each macroblock including 8 × 8 pixels to encode forward prediction data. The (k + 1) -th and (k + 2) -th frames are compared with both the k-th frame and the (k + 3) -th frame, and encoding is performed by selecting one having better image quality from backward prediction and forward prediction. Further, the digitization is completed through quantization and variable length encoding processing so that the data stream becomes constant.

On the other hand, in the decoding process shown in FIG. 4, it is not necessary to obtain a motion vector as compared with the encoding, and the same hardware can be used for execution. When thinning out frames from the encoded video, it is determined whether the decoded video is a valid frame after the decoded video is finally expanded in the VRAM, and the data is transferred to the disk device 41. This can be done by storing. For example, if moving image data is converted into a still image still at a rate of one image every five seconds, a 30-second video is converted into six color still media. Alternatively, a video such as a scene change having a specific attribute from the motion vector is stored in the disk device 41 as a still image file.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a module for executing the algorithm shown in FIGS. VDSP in the figure
101 is responsible for motion compensation determination and address generation.
SP102 is responsible for DCT and quantization, and VDSP103
Is responsible for inverse quantization and inverse DCT image reproduction, and VDS
P104 is a DSP in charge of variable-length coding,
These correspond to the DSPs 31, 32, 33, and 34 in FIG. 1, respectively. These VDSPs 101 to 104 form a link by a parallel port with the communication buffer 105 interposed therebetween, exchange status information from this port, and the four VDSPs 101 to 104 operate in coordination and synchronization. The memory referred to as the work memory 35 in FIG.
The frame memories 106 to 110 and the work memory 111,
It is divided into 112 parts. Also, the bus selector 11
Reference numerals 3 and 114 denote link controllers for switching connections depending on which memory the VDSPs 101 to 104 and the motion compensation vector detectors 115 and 116 use. Note that VDSP1
Since 01 to 104 are programmable general-purpose DSPs, the internal programs can be changed via the bidirectional RAM 117.

As described above, compression and decompression processing can be performed on data, and a color image can be converted into binary information of G3 and G4 facsimile by the standard still image compression standard MPEG method of ISO using the DCT operation. The processing result is
It is stored in the disk device 41 via the SCSI bus 44 in FIG. With this technology, it is possible to convert the moving image information into color still or facsimile data and transfer it.

In the above embodiment, the MPEG system was adopted as the image coding / decoding system and used for explanation.
Recommendation T. H. Needless to say, the same can be realized by using the H.261 system or the like.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, a video moving image can be displayed in addition to the conventional still image and sound.

Further, according to the present invention, the communication control unit determines whether the data is audio, facsimile, or video, and if it is video, the signal processing unit reduces the leading image and displays it on the display. Therefore, the contents can be easily grasped.

Further, according to the present invention, a signal processing unit for decoding a video moving image reads out a specific frame from a video memory by thinning it out, saves it in a storage unit, further processes the file, and converts the file to media conversion. Therefore, different media can be reused.

Further, according to the present invention, the signal processing unit identifies a medium received from a terminal having the same address within a predetermined time, or identifies a media switching signal, and reproduces the media subjected to the same processing. Is performed at the same time,
Different media can be associated to facilitate understanding.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a video facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a system using the video facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a video signal encoding operation in the video facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a video signal combining operation in the video facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video signal encoding / decoding unit in the video facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a system in which a conventional facsimile apparatus and a computer apparatus are connected.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 11 computer device 12 video facsimile device 13 ISDN 14 handset 15 VTR 16 monitor television 17 liquid crystal display 18 keypad 19 cassette tape recorder 21 communication control unit 22 signal processing unit 23 main storage / control unit 24 auxiliary storage unit 25 input / output control unit 26 Terminal input / output unit

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A communication control unit connected to a digital public network, a signal processing unit for compressing and expanding moving image signals, still image signals, and audio signals to be transmitted and received, and a main storage unit for storing information necessary for processing. An auxiliary storage unit for storing information to be transmitted and received, a terminal input / output unit for connecting a moving image terminal, a still image terminal, and a voice terminal, and an input / output control unit having a key and a display, A main control unit for controlling each unit, and the communication control unit includes a digital public network.
The media received via voice, facsimile or video
Determine if it is video, and if it is video, signal processing
Unit reduces the first image and displays it on the display.
And a video facsimile machine. 2. An auxiliary storage unit for converting only a frame having a specific attribute or a video extracted for each predetermined frame from video image data received through a digital public network, and
Video facsimile apparatus stored in the still image file, according to claim 1, further comprising means for outputting. 3. recognizing the plurality of media received from the terminal at the same address within a certain time, according to claim 1 or comprising a means for outputting these media at the same time play
2. The video facsimile apparatus according to 2 . In 4. in one call, recognizes the media switching information inserted into the data, output or said in a form suitable for each information for multiple media without cutting the call
Switch to the auxiliary storage unit stores, video facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 comprising means for simultaneously output at the time of reproduction.