JPH04290361A - Multi-point video conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve convenience by making the conference attendance state understood to conference attendants at all times even when there is no request from the conference attendants during conference. CONSTITUTION:Video conference controllers 1 to 3 are provided with functions rewriting a conference attendance member table to be held every time when various events accompanied by the increasing or decreasing of the number of conference attendants are generated during the conference, notifying the only contents of event to conference attendance terminals 5 to 13, and transmitting the conference attendance member table to terminals newly participating in the conference. The video conference terminal equipments 5 to 13 are provided with functions storing the conference attendance member tables to be notified from the video conference controller, rewriting the member table every time various kinds of events are notified, and displaying it to the conference attendants.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multipoint teleconference system that allows participants to always know the status of their participation in a videoconference.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a system having this type of device, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-225957 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
There was one shown in Japanese Patent No.-142238. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional multipoint video conference system. In FIG. 1, 1 to 3 are video conference control devices, 4 is a switching network, and 5 to 13 are video conference terminals.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a video conference control device using a conventional video conference participant search method. In FIG. 2, 15 is a line interface unit that controls the interface with the switching network 4, 16 is a CPU unit that performs call management, various event management, memory rewriting, etc., and 18 is the name (number) of the terminal scheduled to participate in the conference, conference participation status, etc. This is a memory unit that stores member tables etc. consisting of .

Furthermore, FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a video conference terminal device using a conventional video conference participant search method. In FIG. 3, 19 is a line interface unit that controls the interface with the switching network 4, 20 is a CPU unit that performs call management, memory rewriting, etc., and 22 is a memory unit that stores a table of members participating in a conference and the like.

Next, a conventional video conference control device 1
The operations in steps 3 to 3 will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG. Now, it is assumed that the television conference terminal 5 is the conference organizer, and the television conference terminals 6 to 13 are the conference participants (hereinafter, the television conference terminals are simply referred to as terminals). Assume that in step 70, the conference organizer 5 requests the video conference control device 1 to hold a conference at the terminals 5 to 9. If it is possible to hold a conference, the video conference control device 1 controls the conference participating terminals 6 to 9 in step 71.
After calling , the conference is started in step 72, and the participation status of the terminal requested by the conference organizer 5 is written in the member table of the memory, and each participating terminal is notified of the participation status.

[0006] After the conference is in progress in step 73, the video conference control device 1 determines in step 74 whether there is an inquiry from a participating terminal about the members participating in the conference, and if there is no inquiry, the process proceeds to step 76 and the conference is terminated. If there is an inquiry about participating members, the terminal that made the inquiry about the participating members is notified of the conference participation status by referring to the member table in step 75.

[0007] In step 76, the video conference control device 1 determines whether an event that changes the conference participation status, such as leaving the conference midway or joining midway, has occurred. If there is no event, the process proceeds to step 78, and if there is an event, the table is updated to the latest conference participation status table according to the event that occurred in step 77.

[0008] In step 78, it is checked whether the conference is over, and if the conference is over, the participating terminals are notified of this in step 79, and then the line is disconnected, and the corresponding conference is ended. If the conference does not end in step 78, the process returns to step 74.

[0009]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional multipoint video conferencing systems operate according to the steps described above.
Even if an event occurs that changes the conference participation status, such as leaving or joining a conference in the middle of a conference, a conference participant must inquire about the conference participation status from the terminal to the video conference control device 1. It was not possible to know the status of participation in the meeting. Therefore, there is a problem in that each conference participant cannot always grasp the participation status of the corresponding conference.

[0010] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when various events that involve an increase or decrease in the number of conference participants occur during a conference, it is possible to Another object of the present invention is to provide a multipoint video conference system that allows the current conference participation status to be displayed on a video conference terminal device.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A multipoint video conference system according to the present invention includes a plurality of video conference terminal devices and one or more video conference control devices. a means for creating and storing a conference participation member table at the start of the conference;
A means of notifying the table to all conference participating terminals, and rewriting the conference participating member table according to the conference participation status that changes depending on the event when various events occur that cause an increase or decrease in the number of conference participating terminals during the conference. and a means for notifying all conference participating terminals of the content of the event each time the event occurs, and the video conference terminal device is provided with a conference participating member table that is notified from the video conference control device when the conference starts. means for storing and displaying the contents of various events to the conference participants; means for displaying the contents of various events notified from the video conference control device to the conference participants and rewriting the conference participating member table according to the notification contents; and the conference participating member table. The system is equipped with a means for displaying the information to conference participants.

0012

[Operation] In the present invention, the video conference control device creates a conference participation member table when convening conference participants, and when a participating terminal participates in the conference, it notifies each terminal of the conference participation status and displays it to the conference participants. However, when various events occur that involve an increase or decrease in the number of conference participants, the member table is rewritten and each participating terminal is notified of the content of the event (a terminal joins or leaves the conference midway), and the terminal device side The member table is rewritten according to the contents of the notified event and displayed to conference participants.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the system configuration diagram of the multipoint video conference system shown in FIG. 1, the configuration diagram of the video conference control device shown in FIG. 2, and the configuration diagram of the video conference terminal device shown in FIG. It has a configuration.

The functions of the video conference control device 1 include a means for creating and storing a table of members participating in the conference at the start of the conference, a means for notifying the table to all terminals participating in the conference, and a means for notifying the table of members participating in the conference during the conference. A method for rewriting a conference participating member table according to the conference participation status that changes depending on the event when various events occur that involve an increase or decrease in the number of participating terminals, and a method for rewriting the conference participating member table according to the conference participation status that changes depending on the event, and a method to update the event contents to all conference participating terminals each time the event occurs. shall have a means of notifying.

[0015]Furthermore, as functions of the video conference terminal device 5, there is a means for storing and displaying a conference participating member table notified from the video conference control device 1 to the conference participants at the start of the conference, and a means for displaying the conference participating member table notified from the video conference control device 1 at the start of the conference. The present invention includes means for displaying the contents of various events to be notified to conference participants and rewriting a conference participating member table according to the notification contents, and means for displaying the conference participating member table to the conference participants.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 and the member table update example shown in FIG. Terminal 5 is the conference organizer, and terminals 6 to 13
are conference participants. Assume that in step 40, the conference organizer 5 requests the video conference control device 1 to hold a conference at the terminals 6 to 9. If it is possible to hold a conference, the teleconference control device 1 controls the teleconference terminal device 5 in step 41.
A conference participation member table is created by 9 to 9, and in step 42 the teleconference terminal devices 5 to 9 are called.

When there is a request to start a conference from the convening terminal 5, the attendance status of each video conference terminal device is written in the member table in step 43, and the member table is notified to the video conference terminal devices participating in the conference in step 44. will be held. In step 45, each terminal device participating in the video conference writes the notified member table in its memory and displays it to the conference participants.

[0018] In step 46, the video conference control device 1 investigates whether an event that affects the conference participation status, such as leaving the conference midway or joining midway, has occurred. If there is no event, the event continues to be monitored, and if an event occurs, the member table is rewritten according to the situation in step 47, and the event (for example, terminal 7 leaves midway) is sent to all participating terminals in step 48. Notify. Step 49
The video conference terminal device rewrites the member table based on the event notified in , and displays the new member table to conference participants (see FIG. 5).

[0019] In step 50, the video conference control device checks whether there is a terminal that has newly joined the conference. If not, the process proceeds to step 46, and if so, in step 51, the newly joined terminal is notified of the member table. . Step 5
The terminal device newly participating in the video conference in step 2 writes the notified member table into memory, displays it to the conference participants, and proceeds to step 46. The event will be managed until the end of the meeting.

[0020]Although the above embodiment shows a case where the entire member table is always displayed to conference participants, normally, the status is displayed to conference participants only when an event occurs (see Fig. 6 shows an example of what is displayed on the monitor of each participating terminal when terminal 7 leaves the conference midway through), it is also possible to display the conference participating member table upon request from a conference participant. Even in such a case, the effects of the present invention remain unchanged.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a multipoint video conference system allows conference participants to always know the participation status of other members even if there is no request during the conference. This configuration has the effect of improving the convenience of the video conference device for the device user.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a video conference system showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a video conference control device showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a video conference terminal device showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing how a member table is updated in an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing how an event is displayed on a monitor of a video conference terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 to 3 TV conference control device 4 Switching network 5 to 13 TV conference terminal 15 Line interface unit 16
CPU section 18 Memory section 19 Line interface section 20
CPU section 22 Memory section

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: In a multipoint video conference system having a plurality of video conference terminal devices and one or more video conference control devices, a conference participating member table is created and stored in the video conference control device at the start of the conference. a means for notifying the table to all terminals participating in the conference, and a means for notifying all conference participating terminals of the table, and when various events occur that increase or decrease the number of terminals participating in the conference while the conference is being held, members participating in the conference according to the participation status of the conference that changes depending on the event. A means to rewrite the table,
Each time the event occurs, means is provided to notify all conference participating terminals of the contents of the event, and the video conference terminal device stores a conference participating member table notified from the video conference control device at the start of the conference. means for displaying the contents of various events notified from the video conference control device to the conference participants, and means for rewriting the conference participating member table according to the notification contents; 1. A multipoint video conference system characterized by comprising means for displaying information on a multipoint video conference system.