JPH05153260A - Electronic conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit other subscribers to learn who has a private talk by providing a secret communication indication means indicating user information on a specified terminal executing secret communication. CONSTITUTION:Electronic conference terminals 1a-1d are connected to a transmission line 3 through communication control nodes 21-2d. When the private talk is indicated in the terminal 1a, for example, a video and sound are multiplexed by the packet multiplex device of the node 2a and it is transmitted to the transmission line 3 as a packet. Since the talk is private in this case, the packet separation device of the node corresponding to the terminal where there is no name concerned in a packet destination fetches the name of the column of the destination for the packet and the name of the column of a sender and transmits them to a control part. In such a case, the ciphered main body of the packet is not processed but it is skipped. Thus, the name of the conference subscriber who has the private talk is indicated to the monitors of the respective terminals 1a-1d.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic conference system using a telephone, a television, a work station and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a company or the like has put into practical use an electronic conferencing system capable of exchanging opinions with each other even by using a telephone, a television, a workstation, etc. ..

In such an electronic conference system, the participants are connected to each other through a predetermined channel so that the opinions of the participants of the conference can reach all other participants at the same time. Apart from this, for example, there is one having a function of enabling secret communication (secret communication) between specific participants using another channel.

By the way, in a conference where normal participants gather at the same place, when adjacent people are telling a secret story, the third party can be a person who does not understand the content of the story. I was able to know who was telling the secret.

However, when the above-mentioned electronic conferencing system is used and the participants are secretly using the secret communication function, who and who are secretly telling the other participants. Can't know. This sometimes caused anxiety that someone might be secretly talking during the meeting, which hindered the smooth progress of the meeting.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional electronic conferencing system having the secret communication function, the other participants are told that each other is secretly using another channel. However, since it is not possible to know this, there is a problem that the meeting progress becomes uneasy and hinders the smooth progress of the meeting.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to determine who is secretly communicating even when participants are conducting confidential communication (secret communication) during an electronic conference. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an electronic conferencing system that participants of can learn and realize smooth conference progress.

[0008]

The present invention is an electronic conferencing system for realizing an electronic conference by connecting a plurality of terminals connected via a transmission line with a predetermined communication channel, and is used in a conference. And a secret communication disclosing means for disclosing user information of the specific terminal performing secret communication by the secret communication means. ..

[0009]

As a result, according to the present invention, confidential communication (secret information)
Even when the conference participants are using the function to tell the secret story, the name of the conference participant who is secretly telling other conference participants and the tone and content Since the fragments and the like can be disclosed, it is possible to eliminate the anxiety of other conference participants who have not participated in the secret story, and to promote the smooth progress of the conference with the same naturalness as a normal conference.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of the embodiment. In the figure, 1a to 1d are electronic conference terminals each including a workstation (including a camera, a microphone, etc.) used for an electronic conference, and these electronic conference terminals 1a to 1d are transmission lines via communication control nodes 2a to 2d. Connected to 3. With this configuration, each of the electronic conference terminals 1a to 1d
By making a round in the transmission path 3 via the respective communication control nodes 2a to 2d, mutual communication is enabled.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the electronic conference terminals 1a to 1d and the communication control nodes 2a to 2d. In this case, the electronic conference terminals 1a to 1d are connected to the camera 1
1, a monitor 12, a microphone 13, a speaker 14, a keyboard 15 and the like. Also, if it is necessary to send an image to the person who is secretly talking, the camera 111
When it is necessary to add a voice to send a voice to the person who is secretly talking, a microphone 131 for that purpose is added. Here, when the communication destination can be appropriately designated for the image of the camera 11 and the voice of the microphone 13, the camera 111 and the microphone 131 dedicated to the confidential information are not necessary.

In the communication control nodes 2a to 2d,
The video signal from the camera 11 is given to the video synthesizing processor 22 via the video A / D converter 21, where it is synthesized, coded by the video coder 23, packetized by the video packet assembler 24, and packetized. It is given to the multiplexer 25. On the other hand, the audio signal from the microphone 13 is the audio A / D converter 26.
To the voice addition processor 27, where the addition processing is performed and the voice encoder 28 encodes the result.
The packet is packetized at 9 and given to the packet multiplexer 25.
Then, the video and audio packetized by the packet multiplexer 25 are multiplexed and sent to the transmission line 3.

The video signal from the camera 111 dedicated to secret information is digitized by the video A / D converter 211, coded by the video encoder 231 and given to the video encryption device 30.
After being encrypted here, it is packetized by the video packet assembler 241 and given to the packet multiplexer 25. On the other hand, the audio signal from the secret-only microphone 131 is digitized by the audio A / D converter 261 and audio coded. The data is encoded by the device 281 and given to the audio encryption device 31, encrypted here, and then packetized by the audio packet assembler 291 and given to the packet multiplexer 25, where the video and audio are multiplexed and the transmission line 3 It is designed to be sent to.

On the other hand, the packet received from the transmission line 3 is
It is given to the packet separating device 32, and the image and the sound are separated here. Then, the video is given to the video packet separator 33,
Here, the packet is separated, further decoded by the video decoder 34 and given to the video synthesizing processor 22, and the video D / A converter 35
Then, it is converted into an analog form and reproduced on the monitor 12. On the other hand, the voice is given to the voice packet separator 36, separated here, further decoded by the voice decoder 37 and given to the voice addition processor 27, converted into an analog signal by the voice D / A converter 38 and reproduced by the speaker 14. Come to do.

Also, the secret packet is given to the packet separating device 32, where video and audio are separated, of which the video is supplied to the video packet separator 331, where it is packet-separated and video-encrypted and decrypted. After the device 39 decrypts the code, the video decoder 341 decrypts it and gives it to the video composition processor 22, the video D / A converter 35 analogizes it, and reproduces it on the monitor 12. It is given to the voice packet separator 361, the packet is separated here, the voice is decrypted by the voice encryption / decryption device 40, and then the voice is decrypted by the voice decoder 371 and given to the voice addition processor 27, and the voice D / A conversion is performed. It is converted into an analog signal by the device 38 and reproduced by the speaker 14.

Reference numeral 41 is the keyboard 15 and control unit 42.
It is an interface that connects between. Further, the control device 42 is for centrally executing control of each circuit according to various commands from the keyboard 15.

In this case, each of the communication control nodes 2a to 2d
Packet multiplexer 25 and packet separator 3
As shown in FIG. 3, each of the data 2 stores a conference type 3a, a conference participant name (may be an address on communication) 3b, and a secret disclosure disclosure flag 3c as disclosure information.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the format of the packet 4 transmitted on the transmission line 3. In this case, the packet 4 is composed of a destination 4a, a sender 4b, and a packet body (character, voice, video) 4c. Then, in the case of a normal conference content that is not a secret story, as shown in the A packet, the names of all the conference participants except the sender are written in the column of the destination 4a by the memory of the packet multiplexer 25, and the sender. The sender's name is written in 4b, and the audio and video information to be transmitted is written in the packet body 4c. In the case of the secret message, only the name (Suzuki) of the secret secret partner is written in the destination 4a by the storage of the packet multiplexer 25 as shown in the B packet, and the sender 4b is the sender (Takahashi).
Is written, and information of audio and video to be transmitted is written in the packet body 4c. Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described.

First, the case of normal conference contents will be described. For example, in the electronic conference terminal 1a, when the video signal from the camera 11 is given to the video A / D converter 21,
Here, it is digitized and given to the video synthesizing processor 22 for synthesizing processing, and further encoded by the video coder 23,
It is packetized by the video packet assembler 24 and given to the packet multiplexer 25. On the other hand, the voice signal from the microphone 13 is given to the voice addition processor 27 via the voice A / D converter 26, where it is subjected to addition processing, and the voice encoder 2
8 is encoded, and is packetized by the voice packet assembler 29 and given to the packet multiplexer 25. And
The packet multiplexer 25 multiplexes the video and audio and sends them as packets 4 to the transmission path 3.

In this case, since the packet 4 is a normal conference content, the sender is excluded from the conference participant names stored in the packet multiplexer 25 in the column of the destination 4a as shown in the packet A of FIG. The names of all are written, and sender 4b
The sender's name is written in, and voice and video information to be transmitted is written in the packet body 4c.

On the other hand, when the packet 4 is received from the transmission line 3 on the side of the other electronic conference terminals 1b to 1d, the packet 4
It is checked whether the destination user 4a has the name of the terminal user. If there is no corresponding name here, it will be skipped to the next packet.

If there is a corresponding name, the packet separating device 32 checks whether the contents of the destination 4a of the packet 4 and the sender 4b are the same as the conference participant 3b of FIG. If they are equal to each other, it is determined that they are not secret stories.

The packet separating device 32 separates video and audio from the main body 4c of the packet 4. Then, the video is supplied to the video packet separator 33, separated into packets here, further decoded by the video decoder 34 and supplied to the video synthesizing processor 22, converted into analog by the video D / A converter 35, and monitored. 12 is played. On the other hand, the voice is given to the voice packet separator 36, where it is packet-separated,
Further, the audio addition processor 2 is decoded by the audio decoder 37.
7, is converted into an analog signal by the audio D / A converter 38, and is reproduced by the speaker 14.

In this case, as a display example on the monitor 12, a display as shown in FIG. In this example, the participants of the electronic conference are actually located at distant places, but the display is such that the atmosphere is such that they are sitting around the conference desk and having a conference. In other words, here, the face pictures 121 to 125 of the participants are arranged on the circumference so that it can be known who is participating in the conference. In this case, it is possible to use characters for the names of the participants instead of the photographs, or to use video images or graphics created in advance with computer graphics.

Next, the case of the secret story will be described. For example, when the secret story is instructed in the electronic conference terminal 1a and the video signal from the camera 111 dedicated to the secret story is given to the video A / D converter 211. , Digitized, sent to the video encoder 231, encoded there and given to the video encryption device 30, encrypted, and then packetized by the video packet assembler 241 and given to the packet multiplexer 25. Be done. On the other hand, the voice signal from the secret-only microphone 131 is digitized by the voice A / D converter 261, coded by the voice encoder 281 and given to the voice encryption device 31, where it is encrypted and thereafter. , And is packetized by the voice packet assembler 291 and given to the packet multiplexer 25. Then, the packet multiplexer 25 multiplexes the video and audio, and forms a packet into the transmission path 3
Sent to.

In this case, since the packet 4 is the confidential information, as shown in the B packet of FIG. 4, the conference participant name 3b stored in the packet multiplexer 25 in the column of the destination 4a to the name of the secret information partner. Only (Suzuki) is written, the sender 4b is written with the name of the sender (Takahashi), and the packet body 4c is written with audio and video information to be transmitted.

On the other hand, on the side of the other electronic conference terminals 1b to 1d, when a packet is received from the transmission line 3 as described above,
It is checked whether the destination 4a of the packet 4 has the name of the terminal user.

If there is a corresponding name, here, in the terminal user (Suzuki), if the contents of the destination 4a of the packet 4 and the sender 4b are matched in the packet separating device 32,
Check if it is equal to the conference participant 3b in FIG. Here, the fact that they are not equal is judged to be a secret.

The packet separating device 32 separates video and audio from the main body 4c of the packet 4. Then, the video is supplied to the video packet separator 331 and packetized,
It is given to the video encryption / decryption device 39, and the encryption is decrypted here. Then, it is decoded by the video decoder 341 and given to the video synthesizing processor 22, and the video D / A converter 3
It is converted into an analog form at 5 and reproduced on the monitor 12. On the other hand, the voice is packet-separated by the voice packet separator 361 and given to the voice encryption / decryption device 40, where the encryption is decrypted. Then, it is decoded by the audio decoder 371 and given to the audio addition processor 27, and the audio D / A converter 3
It is converted to analog in 8 and reproduced by the speaker 14. Next, a method for other conference participants to know that they are secretly talking in this way will be described.

In this case, the packet multiplexer 25 at the communication control nodes 2a to 2d of each of the electronic conference terminals 1a to 1d.
As shown in FIG. 3, the packet demultiplexing device 32 includes a conference type 3a, a conference participant name 3b, and
The secret disclosure flag 3c is stored. In this case, in FIG. 3, “A” is stored as the secret disclosure disclosure flag 3c. Here, assuming that the flag “A” means disclosing the name of the teleconferencing participant who is secretly telling, the flag of the teleconference terminal having no corresponding name in the destination 4 a of the packet 4 is displayed. In the packet separation device 32, the packet 4
Is not addressed to itself and is a secret, but it judges the secret disclosure flag A, takes in the name of the column of the destination 4a and the column of the sender 4b of the packet 4, and inputs these to the control unit 42. send. In this case, the encrypted body 4c of the packet 4 is skipped without being processed.

As a result, the monitor 12 of each terminal 1a-1d
Discloses the names of the electronic conference participants who are secretly talking. In this case, as an example of the display on the monitor 12, FIG.
As shown in (b), a participant's face photo with a secret story,
Here, the face pictures 121 and 122 are displayed in reverse video so that the names of the participants who are secretly talking can be understood.
In this case, if a secret story is being performed among a plurality of participants, the background color of the participant's facial photograph can be changed for each secret story. Also, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), a face photo of the participant who is giving a secret story, here also, the face photos 121 and 122 are displayed by connecting with a dotted line 121a, or as shown in FIG. 6 (b) The name of the participant who is talking (in this example, the name of the face photograph 121 is Takahashi, face photograph 12
The second name is Suzuki. ) Windu 121b
It is also possible to display with. In addition, FIG.
In the example of Fig. 6, if there are multiple secrets, it can be displayed by changing the type of line, and in the example of Fig. 6 (b), multiple secrets can be displayed by displaying different names for each secret. it can. In this case, it is possible to display only the monitor 12 of the conference terminal other than the conference terminal that is secretly recognizing so that the name of the participant who is secretly identifiable.

The secret disclosure flag may be set in advance by the chair of the electronic conference or the user of the electronic conference terminal, or may be set during the conference. If set by the chair, all conference terminals 1
When the flags are rewritten at the same time in a to 1d, in the case of the user, only the flag of the corresponding conference terminal is rewritten. The level of the secret disclosure flag set by the chair is rewritable only when the level is lower than the level set by the user. Then, when the chairman sets the secret disclosure flag to "A", when the secret begins,
The above-mentioned FIG. 5 (b) or FIG.
A screen like (a) or (b) is displayed. Also,
If there is no chairman's setting and the user sets the secret disclosure disclosure flag to "A" in the middle of the meeting, only the request is made.
A screen as shown in (b) or FIG. 6 (a) or (b) is displayed. However, depending on the conference, the settings of the user can be changed to have priority.

When there are a plurality of levels of the secret information disclosure flag, not only the chairperson and the participants can set the secret information, but also the sender of the secret information can set the secret information disclosure flag for each packet. In this case, packet 7 is
As shown in FIG. 7, a destination 7a, a sender 7b, a disclosure flag 7c as disclosure information, a packet body (text, voice, video) 7
It is composed of d. Here, the sender 7b of the packet 7
After that, the disclosure flag 7c is entered without being encrypted, and the packet separation device 32 performs processing according to the flag. When the disclosure flag 7c is entered in the packet 7 in this way, the packet separation device 32 does not match the name 3b of the conference participant and the packet destination 7a and the sender 7b shown in FIG. The judgment is made according to the type of 7c. in this case,
Even when the level of the disclosure flag 7c entered in the packet 7 is lower than the level of the disclosure flag set in the conference terminals 1a to 1d, the confidential information is disclosed at the level of the disclosure flag 7c of the packet 7. Here, there are the following levels of the disclosure flag. Disclosure flag “NULL”: The entire packet body is encrypted and information is not disclosed. Disclosure flag “A”: The entire packet body is encrypted, but only the destination and the sender are disclosed.

Disclosure flag "B": The packet body is not encrypted for s seconds every r seconds (here, s is a short time such that the contents of the packet body are unknown, for example, about 0.1 seconds). Set and disclose the unencrypted part with the destination and sender.

Disclosure flag "C": A keyword, key voice, or key image related to the subject of the electronic conference, or a keyword, key voice, or key image set by the user of the electronic conference terminal for daily information collection. Without encryption, the unencrypted part is disclosed together with the destination and sender.

Disclosure flag “D”: Disclosure is performed by mixing noise. In this case, on the information presentation side, the data in the packet body is processed and output in the same manner as a packet in a normal electronic conference, but noise signals are added to voice and images, and characters are randomly omitted for characters. And garbled characters.

Disclosure flag "E": Characters and images are encrypted, only the voice is not encrypted, and the pitch is reduced so that only the feeling of whispering voice remains. On the information presentation side, characters and images are skipped and only voice is output. In addition, only the voice is not encrypted at all, and the information presentation side changes the pitch according to the distance (actual distance or virtual set distance) to the terminal that is secretly telling the actual conference. It is also possible to present it so that the secret story can be heard during a meeting in the room. Disclosure flag “Z”: All are disclosed without being encrypted.

In the case of the above-mentioned disclosure flags "B" and "C", a method of dividing the encrypted portion and the non-encrypted portion into each block of the packet body and further dividing each into character, voice, and video. Is also possible.

As an image of the secret story based on the addition of these disclosure flags, for example, unencrypted characters are displayed in the balloon 121c beside the face photograph of the participant 121 as shown in FIG. You can do it like this. Alternatively, at the same time as displaying the speech bubble 121c, unencrypted voice may be output from the speaker.
In this case, if the voice mixes with the voice of the electronic conference and is inconvenient, the result of the voice recognition may be displayed in the balloon like the character.

If, for example, the chairman sets the above-mentioned disclosure flag "Z" to all the participants of the conference or to a specific participant before or during the electronic conference,
Even if the participant sets the secret disclosure flag to another level in order to tell the secret, the chairman sets and the disclosure flag takes precedence,
You can also ban all secrets. In the case of electronic conferencing, this may diminish the chair's authority because the participants are not physically close to each other, and frequent secrets may threaten the normal progress of the meeting. These fears can be eliminated in advance by forcibly prohibiting talk.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where all the voices, characters, and images are handled has been described, but only the voices, only the characters,
It can be applied to only images or a combination thereof. Further, as long as the confidential information about the format of the communication packet and the format other than the example described here are disclosed with a level, the present invention includes all.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the conference participants are secretly using the secret communication (secret communication) function, the secret communication is performed to other conference participants. You can disclose the name of the conference participant who is doing the secret, the tone and the fragment of the content that are secretly told, so other conference participants who do not participate in the secret always know who and who is telling the secret. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the anxiety of the conference participants regarding the progress of the conference, and to smoothly proceed the conference with the same naturalness as in a normal conference.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic conference terminal and a communication control node used in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing data stored in a packet multiplexer and a packet demultiplexer used in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a packet format used in the embodiment shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display on a monitor for explaining the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display on a monitor for explaining the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another packet format used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display on a monitor for explaining the embodiment shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a to 1d ... Electronic conference terminal, 2a to 2d ... Communication control node, 3 ... Transmission path, 11, 111 ... Camera, 12 ... Monitor, 121-125 ... Face photo, 13, 131 ... Microphone,
14 ... Speaker, 15 ... Keyboard, 21, 211 ... Video A / D converter, 22 ... Video synthesis processor, 23, 231
... video encoder, 24, 241 ... video packet assembler,
25 ... Packet multiplexer, 26, 261 ... Voice A / D
Converter, 27 ... Voice addition processor, 28, 281 ... Voice encoder, 29 ... Voice packet assembler, 30 ... Video encryption device, 31 ... Voice encryption device, 32 ... Packet separation device,
33, 331 ... Video packet separator, 34, 341 ... Video decoder, 35 ... Video D / A converter, 36, 361 ... Audio packet separator, 37, 371 ... Audio decoder, 38 ...
Audio D / A converter, 39 ... Video encryption / decryption device, 40 ...
Voice encryption / decryption device, 41 ... Interface, 42 ...
Control unit 4, 7, ... Packet, 4a, 7a ... Destination, 4b,
7b ... sender, 4c, 7d ... packet body, 7c ... disclosure flag.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electronic conferencing system for realizing an electronic conference by connecting a plurality of terminals connected via a transmission line with a predetermined communication channel, wherein a communication channel different from a communication channel used in the electronic conference is used. An electronic conference comprising: a secret communication means for performing secret communication between specific terminals; and a secret communication disclosing means for disclosing user information of the specific terminal performing secret communication by the secret communication means. system. 2. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the confidential communication disclosing means discloses the user information of the specific terminal to at least terminals other than the specific terminal. 3. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the confidential communication disclosing means discloses a user name as user information of the specific terminal. 4. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the confidential communication disclosing means discloses the user information in a format according to the disclosure information given to each terminal. 5. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the secret communication disclosing means discloses the user information in a format according to the designation in the terminal instructing the secret communication. 6. The electronic conferencing system according to claim 1, wherein the secret communication means has a function of prohibiting secret communication between all terminals according to an instruction from the specific terminal.