JP2882632B2 - Image conference equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Technical Field to which the Invention pertains The present invention relates to an image conference apparatus for simultaneously displaying images of a plurality of communication partners at the ground.

(2) Prior Art As an example of a conventional multi-ground image conferencing apparatus, there is an apparatus using as many ground receivers as possible to display images of a plurality of ground communication partners. FIG. 6 shows an explanatory view of this apparatus. In the case of FIG. 6, three image receivers 1, 2, and 3 are used to hold an image communication conference at three locations. In this case, there is an advantage that the configuration as the image conference apparatus is simple, but there are the following disadvantages. First, since the number of receivers corresponding to the number of grounds is prepared, the cost of the image conference apparatus increases and the size of the image conference apparatus increases. Next, if the number of grounds exceeds the number of prepared receivers, it will be impossible to display images of all communication partners, or if the number of grounds will be less than the number of prepared receivers. For example, the useless receiver may not be used, and the flexibility of the apparatus with respect to the increase or decrease in the number of grounds may be lost.

As a conventional multi-ground image conferencing apparatus that solves such a drawback, there is an image conferencing apparatus that combines images of a plurality of ground communication partners and displays them on the screen of one receiver. FIG. 7 shows an explanatory view of this apparatus. However, in the case of this apparatus as well, conventionally, it is not possible to freely change the position, size, and the like of the image of the communication partner on the screen of the image receiving device 4 based on the instruction of the operator, so that the operator has good usability. Did not.

(3) Object of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide an image conferencing apparatus that simultaneously displays images of a plurality of communication partners on the screen of a single receiver at a position indicated by the operator in a size specified by the operator. To provide.

(4) Configuration of the Invention (4-1) Difference between the Features of the Invention and the Conventional Technique The image conference apparatus of the present invention displays a window, which is a small screen area, on the screen of a single receiver provided in its own apparatus. An image conference apparatus for setting a plurality of communication destinations corresponding to one of a plurality of communication destinations for each window and displaying an image of the ground on the window. Image data memory to be stored separately, memory management means for associating the storage position of the image data in the image data memory with the ground, association of each ground with the window, and position and size of the window Operating means for the operator to specify the size of the window, and a window for generating the window and enlarging or reducing the image data of the ground corresponding to the size of the generated window Generating means, display means for displaying the processing result of the window generating means on a single receiver provided in the own device, and window managing means for managing and controlling the windows. In the position designated by the operator by the operation means,
Operating the window generating means to generate the window having a size, and operating the operating means to operate the memory management means and the window generating means for the image data of the ground associated with the window, The image data is read from the image data memory, enlarged or reduced according to the size of the window, and displayed on the display unit.

Further, in addition to the above features, a control signal receiving means for receiving from the ground a control signal indicating participation in a conference from a new ground or departure from a conference of the ground already joined, the window management means is provided. Receiving the control signal from the control signal receiving means, and generating or deleting the window based on the control signal.

In a conventional image conferencing device, when conducting a multi-ground communication conference, the number of grounds that can be displayed is restricted because only the number of grounds is used, or a plurality of ground images can be displayed with one receiver. The operator cannot freely select the position and the size of the image of the communication partner even when the image is displayed in a synthesized manner.
However, according to the present invention, the image of the communication partner is displayed in a window on the screen of one receiver, and the number of grounds displayed by opening the window on the screen is increased or the window is closed and displayed. Or reduce the number of grounds. Also, in the conventional image conference apparatus, the operator could not freely determine the position and size of the image on the screen, but according to the present invention, by operating the window, It can be easily set or changed to the position and size to be performed. This is a difference from the conventional technology.

(4-2) Embodiment FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a case where an image communication conference is held with three grounds A, B, and C. Three windows 5 are opened and a window 5A is opened.
Displays the image 6A of the ground A, the window 5B displays the image 6B of the ground B, and the window 5C displays the image of the ground C.
6C is displayed. At this time, the operator can change the position and size of each window by changing the position and size of each window in accordance with an instruction from an operating device such as a pointing device, or change the shape and shape of the window. Also, by swapping the correspondence between the ground of window 5A and the ground of window 5B,
The image 6B of the ground A can be displayed on the window 5B, and the image 6A of the ground A can be displayed on the window 5B. Further, when the communication partner of the ground A leaves during the conference, the image 6A of the ground A can be erased by deleting the window 5A, and when the ground D joins the conference, a new window is added. The image of the ground D can be displayed there.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 7 is a control signal receiving section, 8 is an image signal receiving section, 9 is an operation device, 10 is a window management section, 11 is a decoding section, 12 is a memory management section, 13 is an image data memory, and 14 is a window generation. Reference numeral 15 denotes a frame buffer, and 16 denotes a receiver. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that image signals from a plurality of grounds are sequentially transmitted one by one. The image signal transmitted after encoding on the ground is received by the image signal receiving unit 8, decoded by the decoding unit 11, and stored in the image data memory 13 by the memory management unit 12. The storage area of the image data is dynamically allocated to the free address space, and the correspondence between the image data of each ground and the address of the image data memory is managed by the memory management unit 12. Then, when an instruction is given from the window management unit 10 to pass image data of a certain ground to the window generation unit 14, the memory management unit 12 calculates an image data memory address and converts the data stored therein. Output to the window generator 14. Since the position and size of the window are set for each window, the window generation unit 14 first enlarges or reduces the image data based on a control signal from the window management unit 10 so that the window has the set size. Further, it is arranged at a designated position on the frame buffer 15 based on a control signal from the window management unit 10. The data in the frame buffer 15 is displayed on the receiver 16. On the other hand, the position and size of the window on each ground are freely set within the range of the screen of the receiver based on the input of the operator from the operating device 9 such as a pointing device.
Managed by 10. Information such as participation in a conference at a new location or leaving the conference is transmitted by a control signal, which is received by the control signal receiving unit 7 and transmitted to the window management unit 10. The window management unit 10 instructs the memory management unit 12 and the window generation unit 14 to add / delete a window based on the control signal.
By configuring the image conference apparatus according to the present invention as described above, the factor limiting the number of grounds displayed on the screen of the receiver is only the storage capacity of the memory of each unit, so that the flexibility regarding the number of grounds can be improved. It is an easy-to-use image conferencing device that has high cost and allows the operator to freely determine the image of the communication partner.

The functions of the window management unit are as follows: (i) The state of participation in a conference is stored, and the contents are changed as the number of participants increases or leaves.

(Ii) storing the display status of each ground image on the receiver, and transmitting a control signal to the memory management unit or the window generation unit based on the input of the operator using the operation device to change the display status.

(Iii) selecting a destination to be sent to the window generator, and transmitting a control signal instructing transmission of the image data of the destination to the window generator to the memory manager, so that the memory manager and the window generator can communicate with each other. Synchronize.

It is.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart corresponding to the first function in the window management unit. The ground that starts to participate in the conference transmits a conference participation signal, the ground that leaves the conference transmits a conference exit signal, and all other grounds receive the signal through the control signal receiving unit. It is determined whether the received control signal is a conference participation signal or a conference exit signal. As a result of the determination, if the control signal is a conference participation signal, the destination is added to a conference participation destination list which stores which destination is participating in the conference, and the destination is newly added to the conference. A control signal is sent to the window generating unit to perform a display indicating that the user has participated in the window. The operator recognizes the participation in the conference of the ground by the display on the receiver,
When it is desired to display the ground image, a window is set based on the second function described above, and the ground image is displayed on the receiver. On the other hand, if the control signal from the ground is a conference exit signal, the ground is deleted from the conference participation ground list, the window is deleted based on the second function described above, and the image of the ground is received. Erase from the machine.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart corresponding to the second function in the window management unit. Select which of the window operations should be activated by the input from the operating device,
The subsequent input is passed to the module in charge of the window operation. The window operation includes a window setting for setting a window for including a new ground image on the receiver so as to display the new ground image on the receiver, and a window setting for deleting the previously displayed ground image. Deleting a subsuming window Deleting a window, moving the position of the window on the receiver to move the ground image contained therein to another position on the receiver, or changing the size of the window. Enlarging or reducing an image, or changing the magnification ratio of an image in a window without changing the size of the window, or scaling the image, or converting a ground image included in a window to another ground image There is a change in the window attributes to be switched. The window operation started by input from the operation device rewrites the display window list stored in the attribute of the displayed window, and stores the ground image data in the case of window setting and window deletion. To the memory management unit to secure and release the data. Then, the attribute of the window necessary for generating the window is notified to the window generating unit. Then, the image data in the image data memory is sent to the window generator by the third function of the window manager, and the window is generated.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart corresponding to the third function in the window management unit. In the configuration example shown in FIG. 2, which ground image data is currently being processed by the window generation unit is stored in the display window list of the window management unit, and the processing of the image data ends. Then, the image data of the ground having the highest priority included in the display window list is sent to the window generation unit. At this time, the window management unit supplies a control signal to the memory management unit to determine which ground Is sent to the window generation unit.

(5) Effect of the Invention According to the present invention, the number of grounds displayed on the screen of the receiver can be selected in the video communication conference, and therefore the flexibility as an image conference device is improved because the number of grounds does not depend on the number of grounds. In addition, since images of a plurality of communication partners at the same time can be simultaneously displayed at an arbitrary position on a single receiver in an arbitrary size, the operator can easily use the terminal himself in his own terminal. It can be a conference screen. In the case where image data of a plurality of destinations is packetized and transmitted by one transmission line, a system combining a communication device handling packetized image data and an image conference apparatus according to the present invention (patent pending) [Title of the Invention: Multi-Ground Image Conference System]), a greater effect can be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration example of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flowchart corresponding to a first function in a window management unit, and FIG. A flowchart corresponding to the second function in the management unit, FIG. 5 is a flowchart corresponding to the third function in the window management unit, and FIG. 6 realizes a multi-ground image communication conference by using a plurality of receivers. FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a conventional image conference apparatus, and FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a conventional image conference apparatus in which a plurality of ground images are fixedly allocated on a screen of a receiver. In the figure, 7 is a control signal receiving section, 8 is an image signal receiving section, 9 is an operation device, 10 is a window management section, 11 is a decoding section, 12 is a memory management section, 13 is an image data memory, and 14 is a window generation. Part, 15
Denotes a frame buffer, and 16 denotes a receiver.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yuichi Sato Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, 1-6-1, Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (56) References JP-A-62-290290 (JP, A) JP-A Sho 63-193683 (JP, A) JP-A-62-199189 (JP, A)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of windows, which are small screen areas, are set on a screen of one receiver provided in the own apparatus, and one of a plurality of communication partners is associated with each window,
An image conference apparatus for displaying the image of the ground on the window, an image data memory storing image data received from each ground for each ground, a storage position of the image data in the image data memory, and Memory management means for associating with the ground, operating means for allowing an operator to specify the correspondence between each of the grounds and the window, and the position and size of the window, and generating the window, Window generation means for enlarging or reducing the image data of the ground corresponding to the size of the window; display means for displaying the processing result by the window generation means on one receiver provided in the own device; Window management means for managing and controlling the window, wherein the window management means The window of the position and size designated by the operator is generated by operating the window generating means, and the image data of the ground associated with the window by the operator by the operating means is stored in the memory management means and the window. Operating the generating means, reading from the image data memory, scaling up and down according to the size of the window,
An image conferencing device, wherein the image is displayed on the display unit. 2. A control signal receiving unit for receiving a control signal from the ground indicating participation in a conference from a new ground or departure from a conference of the ground which has already been joined, wherein the window management means comprises: 2. The image conference apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the control signal is received from the control signal receiving unit, the operation of generating or deleting the window is performed based on the control signal.