JPH05274236A - Remote control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remote control with good responsiveness and also to correspond even to general purpose application by separating into image information, graphic information and text information, multiplexing, and transmitting. CONSTITUTION:A picture information extracting means 2 extracts picture information at a host 10, a storage means 3 separates the picture information into text information 3a and graphic information 3b and outputs it, and a multiplexing means 4 multiplexes this text information 3a and the graphic information 3b by the length of bits respectively different from each other and outputs it as multiplexed data to a digital transmission line for every octet timing. Further, the multiplexed data through the digital transmission line is converted into the text information and the graphic information again by a display means 7 and screen displayed on the side of a terminal 20. Also at true terminal 20, an output means 8 outputs operational information corresponding to input operation to the digital transmission line, and an input means inputs the operational information to be supplied to the host 10.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

This invention relates to ISDN (Integrat
ed Services Digital Network) relates to a remote control device capable of remotely controlling a terminal connected via a line.

[0002]

As is well known, in recent years, various techniques for performing data communication between computers using a telephone line have been put into practical use. Among these types of technology, a system in which one of the computers connected via a telephone line is regarded as a "host" and the other is regarded as a "terminal", and the "host" side remotely controls the other "terminal" There is.

The function of such a remote control system is realized by communication software resident on both the "host" and the "terminal" side provided with a communication interface, for example, "host". It has functions such as transmitting the display screen of the application software to be executed on the side to the "terminal" side and transmitting the input operation on the "terminal" side to the "host" side. That is, in this remote control system, the graphic screen information and the character screen information are transmitted from the “host” to the “terminal” side in a time-sharing operation, while the “terminal” is transferred from the “terminal” to the “terminal”. The input information such as the key operation made on the side of "" is transmitted.
By doing so, it is possible to remotely operate two computers installed apart from each other as if they were one computer.

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional remote control system, the screen is 640 × 400.
When 16 colors are displayed in pixels, the amount of information transmitted from the "host" to the "terminal" is approximately 1 per graphic screen.
It is a huge amount of data of M bits. Therefore, it takes a lot of transmission time to transmit the graphic screen information from the “host” to the “terminal” side, and further, the transmission of the character screen information is kept waiting while the graphic screen is being transmitted. As a result, there is a problem that the responsiveness on both the "host" side and the "terminal" side deteriorates.

In addition, in the conventional remote control system,
It can only support dedicated applications that are compatible with the communication software that resides on both the "host" and "terminal" sides, and when using general-purpose applications, the remote control described above cannot be realized. There were also drawbacks.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device capable of remote control with good response and capable of coping with general-purpose applications.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a first computer and a second computer which are connected to each other through a digital transmission line, and screen information of the first computer is supplied to the second computer. And the second
In the remote operation device for supplying operation information according to an input operation performed by the computer to the first computer, the screen information is extracted, and the screen information is separated into graphic information and text information and output. Extracting means, multiplexing means for multiplexing the graphic information and the text information with mutually different bit lengths, and outputting the multiplexed data as multiplexed data to the digital transmission line at every octet timing; and the graphic information from the multiplexed data. And display means for separating the text information and displaying the graphic information and the text information on the screen, an output means for outputting the operation information to the digital transmission line, and the operation information supplied via the digital transmission line. Input means for inputting to the first computer It is characterized in Rukoto.

[0008]

According to the above construction, the extracting means extracts the screen information in the first computer, separates the screen information into graphic information and text information, and outputs the graphic information and text information.
The multiplexing means multiplexes the graphic information and the text information with bit lengths different from each other, and outputs the multiplexed data to the digital transmission line at each octet timing as multiplexed data. As a result, the graphic information and the text information are simultaneously transmitted to one transmission channel at different transmission rates, so that the time required for the transmission of the text information is shortened and the responsiveness is improved.

Further, the multiplexed data via the digital transmission line is converted into graphic information and text information again by the display means and displayed on the screen of the second computer. In the second computer,
The output means outputs the operation information corresponding to the input operation to the digital transmission path, and the input means inputs the operation information supplied via the digital transmission path to the first computer. As a result, remote control can be performed with good responsiveness, and it is possible to support general-purpose applications.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the software functional configuration of a remote control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The remote control device shown in this figure is an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) which is a digital communication network.
The host 10 and the terminal 20 are connected via the. In addition, this embodiment is based on this ISDN.
It corresponds to a digital transmission line called "INS Net 64". In this digital transmission line, a B channel for user information transfer is defined, and 64 Kbps.
Has a transmission speed of.

The host 10 and the terminal 20 are each composed of a well-known personal computer, and have software function elements 1 to 9. That is, 1 is a predetermined application software that is activated on an OS such as MS-DOS. Reference numeral 2 is a screen information extracting means for extracting screen information generated according to the operation of the application software 1. Reference numeral 3 is a storage means. The storage unit 3 temporarily stores the supplied screen information as the text screen information 3a and the graphic screen information 3b, and sequentially outputs the screen information at predetermined timings.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a multiplexing means, which multiplexes the text screen information 3a and the graphics screen information 3b and outputs the multiplexed data as serial multiplexed data to the B channel. Since this multiplexing means 4 transmits to the B channel, it generates data of 8-bit width at every octet timing (8 KHz). At this time, for example, of 8 bits, 6 bits are allocated to the graphic screen information 3a, and the remaining 2 bits are allocated to the text screen information 3b. As a result, the B channel is used as two communication paths having different transmission rates. That is, the graphic screen 3a assigned 6 bits for each octet timing (8 KHz) is transmitted at a transmission rate of 48 Kbps, while the text screen information 3b assigned 2 bits is transmitted at a transmission rate of 16 Kbps. Is equivalent to being done.

Reference numeral 5 is a separating means for separating the multiplexed data supplied via the ISDN line into text screen information 6a and graphics screen information 6b and outputting the separated text data. Reference numeral 6 is a storage means for temporarily storing the text screen information 6a and the graphics screen information 6b and sequentially outputting them at a predetermined timing. Reference numeral 7 is a display means for displaying the text screen information 6a and the graphic screen information 6b supplied from the storage means on the screen. Reference numeral 8 is an output means for outputting operation information generated in response to a key input operation performed on the terminal 20 to the above-mentioned B channel. 9
Is input means for inputting operation information supplied via the B channel to the application software 1.

Next, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the host 10 having the above-described functional configuration. It should be noted that, in this figure, a configuration common to a known personal computer is omitted. In FIG.
Reference numerals 11 and 12 denote buffer memories for temporarily storing the graphic screen information 3a and the text screen information 3b, respectively, which correspond to the storage means 3 described above. Reference numeral 13 denotes a transmission multiplexer, which corresponds to the above-mentioned multiplexing means 4. That is, the graphic screen information 3a having a width of 6 bits and the text screen information 3b having a width of 2 bits are multiplexed in accordance with the timing pulse supplied at each octet timing, and the multiplexed information is output as serial multiplexed data. Reference numeral 14 is an interface circuit for matching the communication interface with the ISDN communication network. A reception buffer memory 15 temporarily stores the operation information supplied from the interface circuit 14, and corresponds to the input means 9 described above.

Next, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the terminal 20, and a configuration common to a well-known personal computer is omitted. In this figure, 21 is an interface circuit for matching the communication interface with the ISDN communication network, and 22 is the multiplexed data supplied from this interface circuit 21 which is separated into text screen information 6a and graphics screen information 6b and output. It is a separator for reception and corresponds to the separating means 5 described above. Reference numerals 23 and 24 denote buffer memories for temporarily storing the graphic screen information 6a and the text screen information 6b, respectively, and correspond to the storage means 6 described above. 25
Is a transmission buffer memory for temporarily storing operation information supplied via the bus, and corresponds to the output means 8 described above.

Next, the operation of the embodiment having such a configuration will be described. First, both the host 10 and the terminal 20 activate the same OS and set them to be connected to each other via the B channel. When a predetermined application software is executed on the host 10 side in such a state, the screen information generated according to the execution of the software, that is, the content of the VRAM is read. Of the data read from this VRAM, the information corresponding to the graphic screen is set in the buffer memory 11, and the information corresponding to the text screen is set in the buffer memory 12. The data temporarily stored in the buffer memories 11 and 12 are read out at each octet timing, converted into multiplexed data by the transmission multiplexer 13 and output to the B channel.

Here, of the 8-bit multiplexed data output at every octet timing, the graphic screen information 3a to which 6-bit width is allocated is transmitted at 48 Kbps, while the text to which 2-bit width is allocated. The screen information 3b will be transmitted at a transmission rate of 16 Kbps. As a result, as in the conventional case, the text screen information 3b is not transmitted after the graphic screen information 3a is transmitted.
Since b is transmitted at the same time, the time required to transmit the text screen information is shortened and the responsiveness is improved.

The multiplexed data thus transmitted is again separated into graphic screen information 6a and text screen information 6b on the terminal 20 side and temporarily stored in the buffer memories 23 and 24, respectively. Then, the information 6a and 6b written in the memories 23 and 24 are sequentially read out at each octet timing and displayed on the screen of the terminal 20. As a result, the operating status of the host 20 is
Will be displayed on the side.

Next, in the terminal 20, when a normal key input operation or a pointing device such as a mouse is operated, operation information generated in response to this operation is sequentially written in the transmission buffer memory 25. The operation information written in the buffer memory 25 is read by an interrupt process executed at regular intervals and is supplied to the B channel via the interface circuit 21. Next, the operation information input to the host 10 side via the B channel is transmitted to the host 10 via the reception buffer memory 15.
Is taken into. As a result, the key processing routine operating under the OS of the host 10 requests the application software for the key input processing according to this operation information. As a result, the input operation performed on the terminal 20 side is executed by the host 10, and the remote operation is realized.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the operation status of the application software in the host 10 can be displayed on the terminal 20, and the input operation on the terminal 20 side can be given to the host 10. Moreover, since such remote control uses two communication paths having substantially different transmission speeds, it has extremely good responsiveness as compared with the conventional one. Moreover, since the above-described remote operation is realized by the hardware configuration, it is possible to remotely operate a general-purpose application without being limited to a dedicated application as in the conventional case.

In the above embodiment, one B channel for ISDN is used.
For example, two B channels may be used without being limited to this. When transmitting the screen information, a well-known image compression process used in facsimiles such as MR, MH, and MMR systems may be performed to improve the transmission efficiency. By doing so, the responsiveness of remote operation is further improved.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, the extracting means extracts the screen information in the first computer, outputs the screen information by separating it into graphic information and text information, and multiplexes them. The converting means multiplexes the graphic information and the text information with bit lengths different from each other, and outputs the multiplexed data to the digital transmission line at each octet timing as multiplexed data.
Further, the multiplexed data via the digital transmission path is converted into graphic information and text information again by the display means and displayed on the screen of the second computer. Further, in the second computer, the output means outputs the operation information corresponding to the input operation to the digital transmission path, and the input means inputs the operation information supplied via the digital transmission path to the first computer. The remote control can be performed with good responsiveness, and it can be applied to general-purpose applications.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a host 10 in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal 20 in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Application software, 2 ... Screen information extraction means, 3 ... Storage means, 4 ... Multiplexing means, 5 ... Separation means, 6 ... Storage means, 7 ... Display means, 8 ... Output means, 9 ... Input means, 10 ... host, 20 ... terminal ISDN ... digital transmission line.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first computer and a second computer which are connected to each other through a digital transmission line. The screen information of the first computer is supplied to the second computer, and the second computer is also provided. In the remote control device for supplying the first computer with operation information according to the input operation performed by the above-mentioned, the extraction means for extracting the screen information and separating and outputting the screen information into graphic information and text information. And a multiplexing unit that multiplexes the graphic information and the text information with bit lengths different from each other and outputs the multiplexed data to the digital transmission line at each octet timing as multiplexed data, and the graphic information and the text from the multiplexed data. Separate information and display the graphic information and text information on the screen Display means for displaying, operation means for outputting the operation information to the digital transmission path, and input means for inputting the operation information supplied via the digital transmission path to the first computer. Remote control device characterized by.