JP3254304B2 - Video conference communication device - 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 conference communication device for holding a conference between three or more locations in a video conference system for communicating video and audio between two or more locations separated from each other. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 18 shows a conventional videophone / conference system in a conventional videophone / conference system shown in TTC standard JT-H320 (first edition) by the Telegraph and Telephone Technical Advisory Committee, for example.
1 is a schematic block diagram extracted and arranged as a video conference communication device using a DN primary rate interface for a communication line. In the figure, 1 is a video input / output unit, 2 is a video codec, 3 is an H221 processing unit, 4 is an audio input / output unit, 5
Is a speech codec, 6 is a system / man machine control unit, 7 is an H242 processing unit, 8 is a transmission data control unit, 9 is an ISDN primary rate interface unit, 10 is a line control unit, and 11 is a reception data control unit. It is.

FIG. 19 is a more detailed block diagram of a transmission data control unit 8 and a reception data control unit 11 necessary for describing data transmission by the ISDN primary rate interface in the conventional video conference communication control device shown in FIG. It is. In the figure, 20 is a reception bit counter, 21 is a reception bit comparator, and 22 is a reception side first-in / first-out memory (hereinafter, referred to as a FIFO).
O) and 23 are transmission side FIFOs, 24 is a transmission bit counter, and 25 is a transmission bit comparator.

Next, the operation will be described. In FIG. 18, the video signal transmitted by the video input / output unit 1 is YC separated,
After A / D conversion is performed, the data is converted into a speed and a format suitable for encoding and output, and is input to the video codec 2. The data input to the video codec 2 is input to the H221 processing unit 3 after the data amount is compressed by high-efficiency coding.

On the other hand, the audio signal transmitted by the audio input / output unit 4 is subjected to preprocessing such as gain adjustment and the like, input to the audio codec decoding unit 5, and subjected to A / D conversion by the audio codec decoding unit 5. After performing delay processing for high-efficiency coding and lip sync as required, the data is input to the H221 processing unit 3.

[0006] The system man-machine control unit 6 is a part that controls the man-machine interface and the entire apparatus. The H242 processing unit 7 is in accordance with the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (hereinafter referred to as CCITT) recommendation H.264 according to the information such as the video conference communication format input from the system man-machine control unit 6. 242 is performed. Data necessary for the in-channel protocol from the H242 processing unit 7 is also input to the H221 processing unit 3.

In the H221 processing unit 3, the above three types of input data are time-division multiplexed. Input data is CCIT
Recommendation T. H. The data is converted into a transmission framing format according to H.221 and output to the transmission data control unit 8. The transmission data control section 8 performs rate conversion for data transmission by the ISDN primary rate interface and outputs transmission data to the line interface section 9.

When a transmission operation is performed in the system / man-machine control unit 6, information such as a destination number required for transmission is output to the line control unit 10. The line controller 10 exchanges call connection information with the line network according to the input information.
This is performed via the SDN primary rate interface unit 9.
In this way, the call with the other party's video conference communication device is connected. After the call connection, the ISDN primary rate interface 9
In addition to the information input to and output from the line control unit 10, the transmission data input from the H221 processing unit 3 is converted into a format suitable for the network, output to the line, and transmitted to the partner video conference communication device. Transmitted. The above is the operation of the transmission system.

The operation of the receiving system is performed in the reverse path of the operation of the transmitting system. The data received by the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9 from the other party's teleconference communication device via the line is input to the reception data control unit 11 after the line frame format is released. Receive data control unit 1
In 1, the received data is input to the H221 processing unit 3 after performing speed conversion and the like for input to the H221 processing unit 3. The H.221 processing unit 3 uses the CCITT recommendation H.264. 221
CCITT from the transmission framing format according to
Recommendation H. The data is decomposed into data for 242 processing, video data, and audio data, and input to the H242 processing unit 7, the video codec 2, and the audio codec 5, respectively.
The H.242 processing unit 7 uses the CCITT recommendation H.264. 242 is performed based on the input data. The video encoding / decoding unit 2 decodes the input data, and outputs it as a video signal after D / A conversion from the video input / output unit 1. The voice codec 5 decodes the input data if necessary. After the D / A conversion, the audio input / output unit 4 outputs an audio signal. The above is the schematic operation of the entire video conference communication device.

Next, the operation of the transmission data control unit 8 and the reception data control unit 11 for data transmission through the ISDN primary rate interface will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The received signal input to the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9 from the ISDN primary rate interface is:
The signal is converted into a signal that can be input to the receiving FIFO and output.

FIG. 20 shows a data signal sequence output from the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9. The data by the ISDN primary rate interface is composed of 1 framing bit for synchronization and 24 8 bits. A frame (hereinafter referred to as a time slot) is composed of one frame, and one frame = 193 bits is transmitted at 125 μsec, that is, at 1544 kbits per second. The data of 24 time slots other than the framing bit is data that can be used by the user.
Data can be transmitted and received at 6 kbits per second.

FIG. 21 shows an example of a case where a video conference is conducted using 384 kbits / second of data. The first to sixth time slots are defined in the CCITT Recommendation H.264.
It is used for transmitting and receiving video conference data (hereinafter, H.221 data) in a framing format for transmission according to H.221.

The received data output from the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9 is input to the receiving FIFO 22 in a data sequence shown in FIG. Receiver FIFO2
H.2 of the first to sixth time slots of the received data input to H.2. Only the 221 data portion is stored.

In order to perform the accumulation, the reception bit counter 20 counts with a timing signal output from the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9, and the received data output from the ISDN primary rate interface 9 is the The bit position indicating whether the bit is the first bit is output to the reception bit comparator 21. Receive bit comparator 21
Is output from the line control unit 10. The time slot number in which the H.221 data exists and the bit position output from the reception bit counter 20 are compared. A signal (hereinafter, a data enable signal) indicating that the H.221 data exists is output to the reception FIFO 22.

According to the data enable signal, the receiving FIFO 22 receives H.264 data out of 1544 kbit / s data. 221 data only. The accumulated H. 22
1 data is read at a reading speed corresponding to the data amount, that is, at 384 kbits / sec. 22
1 is input to the processing unit 3.

On the transmitting side, the H.221 output from the H221 processing unit 3 is output. The H.221 data is stored in the transmission FIFO 23. The data stored in the transmitting FIFO 23 is I
It is output at a rate of 1544 kbit / s between the first time slot and the sixth time slot in the SDN primary rate interface and is input to the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9.

In order to perform output by the transmission FIFO 23, the transmission bit counter 24 counts with a timing signal output from the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9, and the transmission data to be input to the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9. Is output to the transmission bit comparator 25. The transmission bit comparator 25 outputs the H.264 signal output from the line control unit 10. 221 data is compared with the bit position output from the transmission bit counter 24, and the transmission data enable signal is transmitted by the transmission FIFO.
23.

The transmitting FIFO 23 outputs data to a time slot used for communication at a rate of 1544 kbits / sec in response to the data enable signal. The data is transmitted from the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9 to the network. According to the above operation, the H.264 using the ISDN primary rate interface is used. 221 data transmission / reception is performed,
Video conference is held.

Next, a conventional example in which an ISDN basic interface is used for a communication line will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 22 and 23 are diagrams in which the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9 in FIGS. 18 and 19 is changed to an ISDN basic interface unit 30, respectively.
Except for the difference in the data sequence input / output in the SDN basic interface unit 30, the basic operation is the same as that of the example using the ISDN primary rate interface for the communication line.

FIG. 24 shows a data signal sequence output from the ISDN basic interface unit 30. In the data by the ISDN basic interface, one frame = 48 bits is 25 ms, that is, 192k.
Transmitted at bits per second. One frame includes two B1 channels and eight B2 channels each consisting of 8 bits, and one frame.
It is composed of four bits such as framing bits. Data on the B1 channel and the B2 channel is data usable by the user, and data of 64 kbits / sec can be transmitted and received on the B1 channel and the B2 channel.

FIG. 25 shows an example of a case where a video conference is held using data of the B1 channel. Video conference data in a framing format for transmission according to H.221 (hereinafter, H.221)
Data).

[0022]

Since the conventional video conference communication device is configured as described above, the video conference communication device of the conference partner that can be connected by the ISDN primary rate interface is one point as shown in FIG. Was only. For example, when communicating at 384 kbit / s, the ISDN primary rate interface still has a transmission capacity of 1152 kbit / s. Group speed interface must be used. For this reason, there has been a problem that it is necessary to contract a plurality of ISDN primary rate interfaces. Alternatively, there is a problem that an expensive dedicated device required for conducting a multipoint video conference is required.

Similarly, the video conference communication partner that can be connected by the ISDN basic interface is also only one point, and if communication is performed at 64 kbit / s, the IS
Even if the DN basic interface still has a transmission capacity of 64 kbits per second, a different ISDN basic interface must be used when simultaneously performing a video conference between multiple points. For this reason, there has been a problem that a plurality of ISDN basic interfaces need to be contracted. Alternatively, there is a problem that an expensive dedicated device required for conducting a multipoint video conference is required.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to obtain a video conference communication device capable of holding a multipoint video conference.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a video conference communication device capable of holding a multipoint video conference at a maximum of 24 points using one ISDN primary rate interface.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a video conference communication device capable of holding a multipoint video conference at three locations using one ISDN basic interface.

It is another object of the present invention to obtain a video conference communication device in which the number of received voice outputs in the case of conducting a multipoint video conference is reduced to one.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a video conference communication device in which a received voice decoding unit is reduced to one when performing a multipoint video conference.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a video conference communication device in which the number of transmission voice encoding units is reduced to one when performing a multipoint video conference.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a video conference communication device in which the number of transmission video coding units for performing a multipoint video conference is reduced to one.

[0031]

A television meeting according to the present invention.
The communication device communicates with a communication network connecting multiple communication partners.
Multiple time slots for storing transmit / receive data synchronously.
Data for videoconferencing using a transmission format with
An interface unit for controlling the transmission and reception of over data communication all
Call connection for transmitting and receiving
Transmission format for storing data sent and received with the
A line control unit which records the number of bets timeslots, upper
The communication format is provided in correspondence with a plurality of communication partners.
Video conference based on multiple time slots in the mat
A plurality of demultiplexing control unit for multiplexing / demultiplexing the use data, before
Between the interface unit and the plurality of demultiplexing control units.
Data provided and output from the interface unit
To the data corresponding to each of the plurality of demultiplexing control units.
Communication data control having a reception data control unit for distributing and outputting
Unit and a plurality of multiplexing / demultiplexing control units for multiplexing / demultiplexing.
A data input / output unit for inputting / outputting data for video conferencing,
The reception data control unit is configured to receive the
One received bit that counts the bit position of the data
Corresponding to each of the plurality of demultiplexing control units.
Provided, and counted by the reception bit counter.
The received bit at the bit position to be
The line control unit determines whether the data is to be output to the remote control unit.
Of the time slot number recorded by the
Number of received bit comparators and comparison of said received bit comparators
Based on the result, the corresponding received bit is
From the base unit and output to the corresponding demultiplexing control unit
And a receiving memory.

A video conference communication device according to the present invention.
Is synchronized with the communication network connecting multiple communication partners.
Has multiple time slots for storing transmitted and received data
Transmission / reception of video conference data using different transmission formats
Interface to control communications, and
Makes a call connection for receiving, and the communication partner
Time of the transmission format for storing the data sent and received with the
A line control unit which records the number of slots, the plurality of through
Provided corresponding to the communication partner, and
Video conferencing data based on multiple time slots
A plurality of demultiplexing control unit for multiplexing / demultiplexing, the Intafu
Base section and the plurality of demultiplexing control sections,
Data output from the plurality of demultiplexing control units is
Time division multiplexing of data for input to interface
A communication data control unit having a transmission data control unit that performs
Video conference data to be multiplexed / demultiplexed by the demultiplexing control unit.
And a data output unit for inputting and outputting data, said transmission data
The data control unit controls the data transmitted by the interface unit.
One transmit bit counter that counts bit positions
When, et al provided corresponding to each of the plurality of demultiplexing controller
And the bit counted by the transmission bit counter.
If the transmission bit at the
The line control unit records whether the data should be output from the
Multiple transmissions based on time slot numbers
A bit comparator and a comparison result of the transmission bit comparator.
A corresponding transmission bit by the plurality of demultiplexing controls.
From each unit and output to the interface unit
And a transmission memory.

[0033]

[0034]

Further, the video conference communication device according to the present invention transmits audio data, video data and control data necessary for performing a video conference to the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee Recommendation H.264. An H221 processing unit that multiplexes / demultiplexes data into a transmission framing format according to H.221 is provided with the number of opponent points for performing a multipoint video conference. And the H221
Each transmission data output as the transmission framing format data by the processing unit is transmitted by one ISDN primary rate interface. In order to realize this, a transmission data control unit that performs time division multiplexing processing at a speed suitable for the ISDN primary rate interface, and input data received by the one ISDN primary rate interface to each of the H221 processing units. A reception data control unit for decomposing the data corresponding to each of the H221 processing units into a suitable speed and outputting the data is provided.

Further, the video conference communication device according to the present invention has a similar configuration in which a video conference between three points can be held even with a single ISDN basic interface.

Further, the video conference communication device according to the present invention comprises a video signal input / output unit for inputting a video signal to be transmitted to a plurality of communication partners and outputting a received video signal; A video codec for outputting to each of the plurality of demultiplexing control units and for decoding encoded video data respectively input from the plurality of demultiplexing control units and outputting the decoded video data to the video signal input / output unit, respectively; Things.

The video conference communication device of the present invention reduces the number of received voice outputs to one when performing a multipoint video conference.

The video conference communication apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which the number of received voice decoding units for performing a multipoint video conference is reduced to one.

The video conference communication apparatus according to the present invention has a configuration in which the number of transmission voice encoding units used in a multipoint video conference is reduced to one.

The video conference communication device according to the present invention has a configuration in which the number of transmission video coding units used in a multipoint video conference is reduced to one.

[0042]

In the video conference communication device of the present invention , the communication data control section is provided between the interface section and the plurality of demultiplexing control sections, and the communication data control section performs time division multiplexing or demultiplexing of both data. Thus, a plurality of data from a plurality of demultiplexing control units are multiplexed or separated into one frame according to a predetermined transmission format. In this way, it is possible to demultiplex data with a plurality of communication partners by sharing one frame.

The video conference communication device of the present invention can hold a video conference with a plurality of communication partners using one interface. In particular, since the data reception control unit and the transmission data control unit time-division multiplex or separate the data into a transmission format corresponding to a plurality of communication partners, the demultiplexing control unit and the data input / output unit are the same as the conventional one. Can be used.

In the video conference communication device according to the present invention , the reception data control section includes a reception bit counter, a plurality of reception bit comparators, and a reception memory, and the reception data control section has a simple configuration. Can be. The reception bit comparator determines which reception bit in the transmission format corresponds to which demultiplexing control unit,
By notifying the receiving memory, the receiving memory can extract data corresponding to the demultiplexing control unit.

In the video conference communication device of the present invention , the transmission data control unit includes a transmission bit counter, a plurality of transmission bit comparators, and a transmission memory, and the transmission data control unit can be configured with a simple configuration. it can. The transmission bit comparator detects a bit position on the transmission format corresponding to the demultiplexing control unit and transmits it to the transmission memory. The transmission memory outputs the data from each demultiplexing control unit stored in each reception memory so as to be multiplexed into one transmission frame by a signal from the transmission bit comparator.

The video conference communication device according to the present invention has one IS
A multipoint video conference with up to 24 points can be held using the DN primary rate interface.

The video conference communication device according to the present invention has one IS
Using the DN basic interface, a multipoint video conference with three points can be held.

The video conference communication apparatus of the present invention has a plurality of video signal input / output units and a plurality of video code decoding units in the data input / output unit. It corresponds to a plurality of communication partners, respectively, and can input and output video separately to the plurality of communication partners.

The teleconference communication apparatus of the present invention can reduce the number of received voice outputs to one when a multipoint teleconference is performed, thereby reducing the cost of the apparatus.

The video conference communication device of the present invention can reduce the number of reception voice decoding units to one when the voice coding rule of received voice data is the same when conducting a multipoint video conference, so that the device is inexpensive. it can.

The video conference communication apparatus of the present invention can reduce the number of transmission voice coding units to one when the voice coding rules of the transmission voice data are the same when conducting a multipoint video conference, so that the apparatus is inexpensive. it can.

The video conference communication apparatus according to the present invention can reduce the number of transmission video coding units to one when the video coding rules of transmission video data are the same when conducting a multipoint video conference, so that the apparatus is inexpensive. it can.

[0053]

[Embodiment 1] An embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numerals 1 to 6 denote parts for performing the same operation as in the conventional example. The participant 2 performs a video conference between three points (one of the other party is called a point B and the other is called a point C). Two points corresponding to each point are provided, and a subscript indicating a partner point is added. 40 denotes two H221 processing units 3b and 3
c, a transmission data control unit for performing time-division multiplexing processing on each transmission data at a speed suitable for the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9. 41 data is output from the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9. H. 221 control unit (hereinafter, also referred to as H221 processing unit) 3
A reception data control unit 42 that distributes and outputs data corresponding to b and 3c, and a line control unit 42 that performs line control and the like in accordance with inputs from the two system / man-machine control units 6b and 6c. 43 is the above-mentioned received data control unit 4
1 and a communication data control unit having a transmission data unit 40.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the transmission data control unit 40 and the reception data control unit 41 necessary for describing data transmission by the ISDN primary rate interface in the embodiment shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, reference numerals 42b and 42c are registers for storing time slot numbers set by the man-machine control unit 6.

Next, the operation will be described. In FIG. 1, since the basic operation is the same as that of the conventional example, only different parts will be described. The H221 data to be transmitted to the partner B point is output from the H221 processing unit 3b and input to the transmission data control unit 40. On the other hand, the H221 processing unit 3
c, H221 data to be transmitted to the other party's point C is output, and is also input to the transmission data control unit 40. In the transmission data control unit 40, each input data is time-division multiplexed at a speed suitable for the ISDN primary rate interface in order to be transmitted by one ISDN primary rate interface, and is output. The signal is input to the speed interface unit 9 and transmitted from the ISDN primary group speed interface unit 9 to the point B and the point C via one ISDN primary group speed interface.

The operation of the receiving system is performed in the reverse path of the operation of the transmitting system. One ISD from point B and point C
The data received by the N primary rate interface is input from the ISDN primary rate interface section 9 to the reception data control section 41. In the reception data control unit 41, the reception data is stored in the H2 corresponding to each of the points B and C.
The data corresponding to each of the H221 processing units is decomposed into a suitable speed for input to the 21 processing units 3b and 3c, and is output to the H221 processing units 3b and 3c.

Referring to FIG. 2, a description will be given of data transmission through the ISDN primary rate interface by the transmission data control unit 40 and the reception data control unit 41 in one embodiment of the present invention. The reception signal input from the ISDN primary rate interface to the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9 is a reception side FIF for the point B and the point C.
The signals are converted into signals that can be input to O22b and 22c and output.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a data signal sequence output from the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9. From the first time slot to the sixth time slot, H. 221 data. Seventh
From the time slot to the twelfth time slot, H. 221 data.

The operation will be described again with reference to FIG.
The reception bit comparator for point B 21b receives the H.264 signal from the point B from the line control unit 42. The time slot number in which the H.221 data exists is compared with the bit position output from the reception bit counter 20, and a data enable signal for point B is output. Out of the received data input to the reception FIFO for point B 22b, the H.264 signal from the point B according to the data enable signal for point B is used. Only the 221 data portion is stored. In the example shown in FIG. The fact that the time slot numbers in which the 221 data exists is 1 to 6 is input to the transmission bit comparator 21b. The reception bit comparator 21b calculates that the bit position corresponding to the input time slot number is from the second bit to the 49th bit. That is, the 2nd to 49th bits are the H.264 for the B point. 221 data is determined. The reception bit counter 20 counts 1 to 193 bits at a time when a frame is input. This reception bit counter 20 indicates that the reception bit 1
, The reception bit comparator 21b outputs the data enable signal for the point B to the reception side FI.
Output to the FO 22b. The receiving FIFO 22b has the IS
The second to 49th bits of the reception data output from the DN primary rate interface unit 9 are stored in the reception FIFO 22b. The accumulated data at the point B is read at a reading speed (3
84k bits per second), and the H221 processing unit 3b
Is input to

The received data input to the reception FIFO 22c for the point C is similarly stored and input to the H221 processing unit 3c. That is, as shown in FIG. The H.221 data uses time slot numbers 7 to 12, the corresponding bits are from the 50th bit to the 97th bit, and the reception bit counter 20 is
When counting from the 97th bit to the 97th bit, the reception bit comparator 21c converts the data for the point C input from the ISDN primary rate interface unit 9 into the reception side FIFO.
Input to O22c. The receiving FIFO 22c outputs the accumulated data at the point C to the H221 processing unit 3c at a reading speed (384 kbits / sec) corresponding to the data amount.

On the transmitting side, the H.264 signals output from the H221 processing unit 3b for point B and the H221 processing unit 3c for point C are output. 221 data is the corresponding transmission side FIFO2
3b and 23c. Transmission FIFO 23b, 2
3c is output at a rate of 1544 kbits per second at the ISDN primary rate interface according to the respective data enable signals from the corresponding transmission bit comparators 25b and 25c.
It is input to the primary group speed interface unit 9.

By the above-described operation, H.F. Since transmission and reception of H.221 data can be performed by one ISDN primary rate interface, one IDN connected to the video conference communication device at the point A as shown in FIG.
A multipoint video conference with point B and point C can be held on the SDN primary rate interface.

In FIG. 4, the teleconference communication device at the point A is the one shown in the first embodiment. On the other hand, the video conference communication devices at the points B and C are video conference communication devices that can perform one-to-one communication as shown in the conventional example. In the case of such a configuration, it is possible to perform a video conference at the points A and B at the same time as a video conference between the points A and B.

As described above, in this embodiment, the ISDN primary rate interface unit for controlling data transmission and reception by the integrated digital communication network of the primary rate interface,
(N is an integer of 2 or more and 24 or less) recommended by the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee. H.221 that performs multiplexing / demultiplexing using a transmission format conforming to H.221 221 control unit and the data output from the ISDN primary rate interface unit to the N number of H.221 control units. A reception data control unit that distributes and outputs data corresponding to each of the N.221 control units; 221
A transmission data control unit for performing time-division multiplexing of data for inputting data output from a control unit to the ISDN primary rate interface unit; inputting and receiving of video signals to be transmitted to N communication partners; A video signal input / output unit that outputs N video signals; 221 control unit, and outputs to the N H.221 control units. The video conference communication device including the video codec decoding unit for decoding the coded video data input from the H.221 control unit and outputting the decoded video data to the video signal input / output unit has been described.

Embodiment 2 FIG. FIG. 4 shown in the above embodiment.
In the above, the case where only the point A has the video conference communication device according to the first embodiment has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 5, all the points A, B, and C use the video conference communication device according to the first embodiment. May be the case. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 6, for one frame, for example, data for the point A-B is used in the first to sixth slots, and data for the point A-C is used for the seventh to the seventh. Used in 12 slots, the data for BC point is
It is configured to be used in the 3rd to 18th slots. A
The point teleconference communication device generates an AB point data enable signal and an AC point data enable signal to extract the AB point data and the AC point data. In addition, the video conference communication device at point B is A
A data enable signal for the point B and a data enable signal for the point BC are generated, and the data for the point A and the point B are generated.
-Extract data for point C. Further, the video conference communication device at the point C generates an AC point data enable signal and a BC point data enable signal to extract the AC point data and the BC point data.
By multiplexing data between a plurality of communication devices into one frame in this manner, data communication at each point can be performed mutually.

Embodiment 3 FIG. Another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram in which the SDN primary rate interface unit 9 is changed to an ISDN basic interface unit 30; FIG.
Is the H.323 with point B and point C on the ISDN basic interface. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data sequence transmitting 221 data and respective data enable signals.

The basic operation is the same as that of the first embodiment of the ISDN primary rate interface except for the difference that the operation is performed by the ISDN basic interface unit 30. However, since two types of data can be transmitted by the ISDN basic interface, the B1 channel and the B2 channel, a multipoint video conference can be performed only between three points.

Also in this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the point A has the video conference communication device according to this embodiment, and the points B and C have the conventional video conference communication device. The communication between the point A and the point C can be performed during the communication between the point A and the point B. Also, as shown in FIG.
When the point, the point B, and the point C have the video conference communication device according to the third embodiment, data communication can be performed between the three points, but one frame can store only data of two channels. Therefore, data communication between three points cannot be performed at the same time. For example, when point A and point B are communicating, and point A and point C are communicating, point B and point C cannot communicate.

As described above, this embodiment is based on the ISDN basic interface unit for controlling data transmission and reception by the integrated digital communication network of the basic interface and the two international telegraph and telephone advisory committee recommendations H.264. H.221 that performs multiplexing / demultiplexing using a transmission format conforming to H.221 221 control unit and the data output from the ISDN basic interface unit. A reception data control unit that distributes and outputs data corresponding to each of the two H.221 control units; 2
21, a transmission data control unit for performing time-division multiplexing of data in order to input data output from the control unit to the ISDN basic interface unit, input of a video signal to be transmitted to two communication partners, and transmission of a received video signal. A video signal input / output unit for performing output, and encoding of the two input video signals to form the two H.264 video signals. 221 control unit, and outputs the signals to the two H.221 control units. The video conference communication device including the video codec decoding unit for decoding the coded video data input from the H.221 control unit and outputting the decoded video data to the video signal input / output unit has been described.

Embodiment 4 FIG. Another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 10, 3 and 5 show Examples 1 and 3,
Reference numeral 50 denotes an audio input / output unit that adds the audio signals output from the audio decoding units between the point B and the audio decoding unit between the points C by the adder 50x and outputs the added signals.

Next, an operation different from the first and third embodiments will be described. H221 processing section 3b for point B and H for point C
H.221 processing unit 3c. The audio coded data among the received data separated from the H.221 framing format is input to the corresponding audio codec decoders 5b and 5c. The input encoded audio data is decoded according to each encoding rule and is input to the audio input / output unit 50 as an audio signal. The audio signals at the points B and C input to the audio input / output unit 50 are output after being subjected to an addition process by the adder 50x to be one audio signal.
The person who is holding the three-point video conference with the point and the point C can hear the received voice.

As described above, in this embodiment, N pieces (N is 2
International Telegraph and Telephone Advisory Committee Recommendation H. 221
Which performs multiplexing / demultiplexing using a transmission format conforming to H.264. 221 control unit and the N H.221 control units. H.221 N audio decoding units for outputting the respective encoded audio data output from the control unit after decoding, and one audio output for outputting after adding the outputs of the N audio decoding units to one It is characterized by having a part.

Embodiment 5 FIG. Another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 11, 3 and 4 are Examples 1 and 3
The adder 51x adds the encoded voice data output from the H221 processing units 3b and 3c between the point B and the point C, decodes the data, decodes the data, and performs voice input / output. This is an audio codec for encoding and outputting an audio signal from the unit.

Next, operations different from those of the first and third embodiments will be described. H221 processing section 3b for point B and H for point C
H.221 processing unit 3c. The audio encoded data among the received data separated from the H.221 framing format is input to the audio encoding / decoding unit 51. The input encoded audio data is subjected to digital addition processing by the adder 51x according to the same encoding rule, and then decoded as one encoded audio data to be output as one audio signal. The voice input / output unit 4 can receive the voice as a reception voice for a person who is holding the three-point video conference with the points B and C.

As described above, this embodiment is composed of N (N is an integer of 2 or more) recommendations of the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee Recommendation H.264. 22
H.1 that performs multiplexing / demultiplexing using a transmission format conforming to H.1 221 control unit and the N H.221 control units. H.221 One audio decoding unit that adds and decodes the audio encoded data output from the control unit and outputs the result, and one audio output unit that outputs the output of the one audio decoding unit It is characterized by having.

Embodiment 6 FIG. Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The audio signal input from the audio input unit of the audio input / output unit 4 is subjected to encoding processing in the audio encoding / decoding unit 51, and the H221 processing unit 3b for the point B and the H221 for the C point are transmitted as encoded audio data. Processing unit 3
c. This configuration can be obtained when the coding rules of the audio signals for the points B and C are the same.

As described above, this embodiment uses N (N is an integer of 2 or more and 24 or less) recommendations of the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee Recommendation H.264. H.221 that performs multiplexing / demultiplexing using a transmission format conforming to H.221 221 control unit and the N H.221s after encoding the input audio signal. 221 is provided with one voice encoding unit for input to the control unit.

Embodiment 7 FIG. Another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 3 denotes a portion that performs the same operation as in the first and third embodiments, and 52 denotes one video signal input and 2
A video input / output unit 53 having a plurality of video signal outputs; a video input / output unit 53 that decodes video encoded data output from the H221 processing unit between point B and point C and outputs video data;
2 to encode one video signal to be transmitted between point B and C
This is a video codec for outputting to both the H221 processing unit at the point.

Next, an operation different from the first and third embodiments will be described. The video signal input from the video input unit of the video input / output unit 52 is subjected to an encoding process in a video encoding / decoding unit 53, and the H221 processing unit 3b for the point B and the H221 processing for the point C are transmitted as encoded video data. Input to the unit 3c. This configuration can be obtained when the encoding rules of the video signals for the point B and the point C are the same.

As described above, this embodiment is composed of N (N is an integer of 2 or more and 24 or less) recommendations of the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee Recommendation H.264. H.221 that performs multiplexing / demultiplexing using a transmission format conforming to H.221 221 control unit and the N number of H.264 signals after encoding the input video signal. 221 is provided with one video encoding unit for input to the control unit.

Embodiment 8 FIG. Another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In FIG. 13, reference numerals 70b and 70c denote various telematic terminals for inputting and outputting various data. The H221 processing unit 3 includes various telematic terminals 70
b, 70c, and separates and multiplexes data from the telematics terminal and data from the video input / output unit and the audio input / output unit. As data from the various telematic terminals, for example, data of personal computer communication and data of facsimile communication can be considered. Alternatively, data communication between application programs or the like can be considered. Thus, the video conference communication device shown in FIG. 13 separates and multiplexes data used for data processing in addition to video and audio. Even in such a case, by allocating data from the telematic terminal to a specific time slot number, it is possible to perform data communication with a plurality of communication partners using one interface.

Embodiment 9 FIG. What is shown in Example 8 above is
The interface unit handles the ISDN primary rate interface, but the interface unit
It may process N basic interfaces.

Embodiment 10 FIG. In the above embodiment, a case is described in which the video conference communication device transmits and receives video and audio in real time. However, a magnetic disk device and an optical disk device may be provided to store the transmitted data. By having such an external storage device for data storage, video and audio can be communicated in real time with a certain teleconference communication device, and an operator can actually communicate with another teleconference communication device to a partner device. The data can be stored in the external storage device even when there is no person to meet.

Embodiment 11 FIG. In the above embodiment, the memory used for the reception data control unit and the transmission data control unit is FI
Although the description has been given of the case of the configuration using the FO, the FI
The configuration is not limited to the configuration using the FO, but may be configured using other buffers and memories.

Embodiment 12 FIG. In the above-described embodiment, the case where there are four FIFOs as memories used for the reception data control unit and the transmission data control unit has been described. However, it is not necessary that the memory is physically divided into four parts. A case where two memories are divided and used may be used. Further, the case where the reception bit comparator and the transmission bit comparator are provided has been described, but they need not necessarily be physically separated from each other, and may be shared.

Embodiment 13 FIG. In the above embodiment, the case where the video conference communication device communicates with the other two video conference communication devices has been described. However, the case where the video conference communication device communicates with a plurality of three or more video conference communication devices is not limited to two. No problem.

Embodiment 14 FIG. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the ISDN primary rate interface is used and the case where the ISDN basic interface is used have been described. However, other interfaces may be used. In addition, ISDN may not be used, and other digital network may be used. As described above, when using other interfaces or other line networks, the interface units corresponding to those interfaces are used, and the reception data control unit, the transmission data control unit, and the H221 processing unit are configured to process those protocols. It does not matter if the department can handle it. In particular, the H221 processing unit shown in the above embodiment may be any unit capable of performing separation / multiplexing control having a function of separating / multiplexing video, video and audio.

Embodiment 15 FIG. In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which one video conference communication device has both transmission and reception functions. However, a case in which one video conference communication device has a transmission only function or a reception only function may be used. FIG.
4 is a block diagram showing the communication data control unit 43 when the video conference communication device has a function of only transmission. FIG. 15 is a block diagram of the communication data control unit 43 when the video conference communication device has a function of receiving only.

In the case of having a function of only transmission as shown in FIG. 14, there is a transmission data control unit which merely multiplexes the data received from the H221 processing unit. In addition, as shown in FIG. 15, in the case of having a function of only reception, there is only a reception data control unit that separates reception data into data corresponding to the H221 processing unit.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a communication state when the video conference communication device as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 is used. The teleconference communication device at the point A has a function of only transmission as shown in FIG. In this example, broadcast data and video data are transmitted unilaterally from point A to point B and from point A to point C. On the other hand, the video conference communication device at the point B has only a receiving function as shown in FIG. In this example, B
This shows a case where the video conference communication device at the point unilaterally receives data from the point A and data from the point C. The video conference communication device at the point C is a device capable of receiving and transmitting data from the point A and transmitting the data at the point C to the point B.

Embodiment 16 FIG. Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a communication state between point A and point B. It is assumed that both the point A and the point B have the video conference communication device as shown in the first embodiment. In the above-described example, the state of the video conference between the three points has been described, but the video conference communication device described in the first embodiment can be used for the video conference between the two points as shown in FIG. For example, TV 1
The TV 3 and the TV 3 hold a video conference using the first channel of the same interface, and the TV 2 and the TV 4 can hold a video conference using the second channel of the same interface. Conventionally, in order to hold different video conferences between two locations as described above, separate video conference communication devices had to be prepared. However, according to this embodiment, a single video conference communication device can be used by using one video conference communication device. It will be possible to have two separate video conferences.

Embodiment 17 FIG. In the above embodiment, the case where the data to be handled is video, audio, and portable data for performing data processing is described. However, the data to be handled is not limited to video, audio, and portable data, and may be other types of data. Absent. Particularly, in recent years, multimedia has been advanced, and data may be transmitted using not only video and audio but also other media. In this sense, the video conference communication device does not necessarily have a television, but may have a screen instead of a television or a display device. Alternatively, a display device for displaying an image may not be provided.

[0093]

As described above, according to the video conference communication device of the present invention, a video conference communication device capable of holding a multipoint video conference can be obtained. In addition, by adding data and the like, the components of the video conference communication device can be reduced, so that the device can be manufactured at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a video conference communication device using an ISDN primary rate interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a reception data control unit and a transmission data control unit of the video conference communication device using the ISDN primary rate interface according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an ISDN with a video conference communication device at an ISDN primary rate interface according to an embodiment of the present invention;
It is a figure which shows an example of the transmission-and-reception data stream of a primary rate interface.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a communication state in which a video conference between three locations is being held by the video conference communication device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a communication state in which a video conference between three locations is being held by the video conference communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows an ISDN by a video conference communication device with an ISDN primary rate interface according to an embodiment of the present invention;
It is a figure which shows an example of the transmission-and-reception data stream of a primary rate interface.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a video conference communication device using an ISDN basic interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a reception data control unit and a transmission data control unit of a video conference communication device using an ISDN basic interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of transmission / reception data of the ISDN basic interface by the video conference communication device with the ISDN basic interface according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a voice input / output unit and a voice code decoding unit of the video conference communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a voice input / output unit and a voice code decoding unit of the video conference communication device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a video input / output unit and a video encoding / decoding unit of the video conference communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a video conference communication device with an ISDN primary rate interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a reception data control unit of the video conference communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a transmission data control unit of the video conference communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a communication state of the video conference communication device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a communication state of the video conference communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a conventional video conference communication device using an ISDN primary rate interface.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a reception data control unit and a transmission data control unit of a video conference communication device using a conventional ISDN primary rate interface.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transmission / reception data string of an ISDN primary rate interface by a video conference communication device using a conventional ISDN primary rate interface.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transmission / reception data string of an ISDN primary rate interface by a video conference communication device using a conventional ISDN primary rate interface.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a video conference communication device using a conventional ISDN basic interface.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a reception data control unit and a transmission data control unit of a video conference communication device using a conventional ISDN basic interface.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of transmission / reception data of the ISDN basic interface by the video conference communication device using the conventional ISDN basic interface.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example of transmission / reception data of the ISDN basic interface by the video conference communication device using the conventional ISDN basic interface.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a communication state in which a video conference between two points is being held by a conventional video conference communication device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1b Video input / output unit (for point B) 1c Video input / output unit (for point C) 2b Video encoding / decoding unit (for point B) 2c Video encoding / decoding unit (for point C) 3b H221 processing unit (B 3c H221 processing unit (for point C) 4b audio input / output unit (for point B) 4c audio input / output unit (for point C) 5b audio encoding / decoding unit (for point B) 5c audio encoding / decoding Unit (for point C) 6b System / man-machine control unit (for point B) 6c System / man-machine control unit (for point C) 7b H242 processing unit (for point B) 7c H242 processing unit (for point C) 9 ISDN Primary group speed interface unit 20 Receive bit counter 21b Receive bit comparator (for point B) 21c Receive bit comparator (for point C) 22b Receiving FIFO (for point B) 22c Receiving FIFO (for point C) 23b Transmission FIFO (for point B) 23c Receiving FIFO (for point C) 24 Transmission bit counter 25b Transmission bit comparator (for point B) 25c Transmission bit comparator (for point C) 30 ISDN basic interface unit 40 transmission data Control unit 41 Receive data control unit 42 Line control unit 50x Adder 51x Adder

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04M 3/56 H04J 3/00 H04N 7/15

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of time slots for storing transmission / reception data synchronously with a communication network connecting a plurality of communication partners.
An interface unit for controlling transmission / reception of data for video conference using a transmission format having a packet, and a call connection for transmitting / receiving to / from a communication partner, and
A transmission file that stores data transmitted and received with the connected communication partner.
Line control to record the format time slot number
And parts provided corresponding to the plurality of communication partners, said transmission follower
A plurality of demultiplexing control units for multiplexing / demultiplexing the video conference data based on a plurality of time slots in the format, and provided between the interface unit and the plurality of demultiplexing control units, and output from the interface unit. Day
Data corresponding to each of the plurality of demultiplexing control units.
A communication data control unit having a reception data control unit for distributing and outputting the data, and a data input / output unit for inputting / outputting video conference data to be multiplexed / demultiplexed by the plurality of demultiplexing control units, wherein the reception data control unit is Received by the interface unit
One received bit that counts the bit position of the data
A counter, and provided corresponding to each of the plurality of demultiplexing control units,
Bit position counted by the reception bit counter
The received bit at the position is output to the corresponding demultiplexing control unit.
The line control unit records whether the data
Multiple received bits to be compared by the number of the system slot
A corresponding comparator based on a comparison result of the received bit comparator.
Received bits are stored from the interface
Receiving memory for outputting to the demultiplexing control unit
A video conference communication device. 2. Between a communication network connecting a plurality of communication partners
Multiple time slots for storing transmit / receive data synchronously.
Data for videoconferencing using a transmission format with
An interface unit that controls the transmission and reception of data and a call connection for transmitting and receiving
A transmission file that stores data transmitted and received with the connected communication partner.
Line control to record the format time slot number
And a communication unit provided for the plurality of communication partners.
-Television based on multiple time slots in a mat
A plurality of demultiplexing control units for multiplexing / demultiplexing the conference data, and between the interface unit and the plurality of demultiplexing control units;
Output from the plurality of demultiplexing control units.
Data for inputting data to the interface unit
Communication data having a transmission data control unit for performing time-division multiplexing of
And a video conferencing data multiplexed / demultiplexed by the demultiplexing control unit.
A data input / output unit for inputting / outputting data, and the transmission data control unit includes:
One transmit bit that counts the bit position of the data
A counter, and provided corresponding to each of the plurality of demultiplexing control units,
Bit position counted by the transmission bit counter
The transmitted bit at the position is output from the corresponding demultiplexing control unit.
The line control unit records whether the data is data to be output.
Multiple transmission bits to be compared based on the time slot number.
And a corresponding comparator based on the comparison result of the transmission bit comparator.
Store transmission bits from each of the plurality of demultiplexing controllers
And a transmission memory for outputting to the interface unit.
A video conference communication device. 3. An interface unit according to claim 1, wherein :
Data transmission / reception by the integrated digital communication network of the interface
ISDN primary rate interface for controlling communication
The demultiplexing control unit is recommended by the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee.
Notice H. Multiplexing / transmission format based on H.221
N (N is an integer of 2 or more and 24 or less) H. 2
3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is a control unit.
Teleconference communication device. 4. An interface unit according to claim 1, wherein :
Control of data transmission and reception by
ISDN basic interface unit that controls
The separation control unit is based on the International Telegraph and Telephone Advisory Committee Recommendation H. 221
Multiplexing / demultiplexing using a transmission format conforming to the standard 2
H. 221 control unit.
Or the video conference communication device according to 2. 5. The data input / output section inputs and receives a video signal to be transmitted corresponding to a plurality of communication partners.
Multiple video signal input / output for outputting received video signals
And a plurality of demultiplexing controls by encoding an input video signal.
Output to each of said plurality of demultiplexing control units
Decoding the encoded video data input from the
A plurality of video codecs respectively output to the video signal input / output unit.
3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising an encoding unit.
Teleconference communication device. 6. The data input / output unit includes a voice coded data output from the plurality of demultiplexing control units.
Multiple audio decoding units that decode and output data respectively
And the outputs of the plurality of audio decoding units are added to one and output.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising one audio output unit.
Or the video conference communication device according to 2. 7. The data input / output unit includes a speech coded data output from the plurality of demultiplexing control units.
Data to be added to one, decoded and output.
And one audio output for outputting the output of the one audio decoding unit.
3. A tape according to claim 1, further comprising a force portion.
Levi conference communication device. 8. The data input / output unit includes :
Encode a signal and input it to the plurality of demultiplexing controllers
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising one audio encoding unit.
Or the video conference communication device according to 2. 9. The image input / output unit according to claim 1, wherein:
Encode a signal and input it to the plurality of demultiplexing controllers
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising one video encoding unit.
Or the video conference communication device according to 2.