JPH06189302A - Video telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the video telephone set whose hardware and software specifications are easily revised corresponding to plural kinds of communication networks. CONSTITUTION:A voice companding circuit is made up of a DSP 31 to which an IC card 8 is connected. A voice companding circuit is housed in a ROM 8a in the IC card 8 and the CELP system or VSELP system voice companding processing is executed by a coding processing program loaded in a RAM 8b. Thus, the voice coding function of the voice companding circuit is revised by replacing one IC card 8 with another.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a videophone device, and more particularly to a videophone device compatible with a plurality of different image and audio processing systems.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, with the development of an advanced information society, demand for a communication medium for transmitting / receiving a large amount of information at high speed has increased, and ISDN (Integrated Services Digital) has been used as a communication system corresponding to this communication demand. Network:
A digital communication network such as a service integrated digital network) has been put into practical use, and a facsimile device, a videophone device, etc. have been developed and put into practical use as a communication terminal connected to this digital communication network.

In addition, a communication terminal such as a telephone device connected to an existing analog communication network such as an existing telephone line is highly functionalized, and a videophone device connectable to the analog communication network has been developed.

In particular, the videophone device has the merit that the user can talk while looking at the facial expression of the other party, and also has the merit that the information that is difficult to convey to the other party can be shown and transmitted only by the explanation. By applying the above, for example, a company can realize a video conference with a branch office or a sales office in a remote place, and it is expected to be widely used because it has the potential of a video conference system.

Video telephone devices are roughly classified according to the type of communication network to be connected and the type of image and voice transmission function. For example, a device having a monochrome still image transmission function by connecting to an analog telephone line or an analog telephone line. Some are connected to have a color still image transmission function and some are connected to a digital telephone line to have a color moving image transmission function.

A video telephone device connected to such a digital communication network and an analog communication network has a communication function of transmitting and receiving by multiplexing image information and audio information,
Regarding the communication procedure corresponding to the connected communication network and the encoding method of image information and audio information transmitted / received in addition to the communication signal based on the communication procedure, CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee) It is stipulated for each type of communication network by the recommendation.

[0007]

However, in the video telephone apparatus connected to such a conventional digital communication network and analog communication network as described above, it is connected to both the communication network to be connected in advance and the transmission / reception side. Image of videophone device,
Since the hardware specifications and software specifications related to communication procedures, image and audio encoding methods are fixed to a single function so that only the audio transmission function is supported, different communication networks and different types of videophone devices can be used. There was a problem that it could not be used.

An object of the present invention is to provide a videophone device whose hardware specifications and software specifications can be easily changed corresponding to a plurality of types of communication networks.

[0009]

The means of the present invention are as follows.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the image data and the voice data are coded and decoded based on a predetermined algorithm, and the image data and the voice data coded according to a predetermined procedure are telephone line. In a videophone device that transmits and receives image data via the, and displays image data, the main part of the communication control processing means based on the above-described predetermined procedure is constituted by a removable cartridge.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image data and the voice data are encoded / decoded based on a predetermined algorithm, and the image data and the voice data encoded according to a predetermined procedure are telephone line. In a videophone device that transmits and receives image data via the, and displays image data, the main part of the encoding / decoding processing means for encoding / decoding image data and audio data based on the above-mentioned predetermined algorithm is a removable cartridge. It is characterized by being configured.

[0012]

The operation of the means of the present invention is as follows.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the image data and the audio data are encoded / decoded based on a predetermined algorithm, and the image data and the audio data encoded according to a predetermined procedure are processed. In a videophone device that transmits and receives via a telephone line and displays image data, the main part of the communication control processing means based on the above-mentioned predetermined procedure is constituted by a removable cartridge, and according to the invention of claim 2. For example, the main part of the encoding / decoding processing means for encoding / decoding image data and audio data based on the above-mentioned predetermined algorithm is composed of a removable cartridge.

Therefore, the communication function of the video telephone device,
The image and sound processing functions can be easily changed according to the type of communication network and the type of videophone device to be connected, so that the communication function of the videophone device can be improved and the convenience is improved. be able to.

[0015]

EXAMPLES Examples will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 to 5 are views showing an embodiment of the video telephone device of the present invention.

First, the structure will be described. FIG. 1 is an external view of the videophone device 1. In this figure, a videophone device 1 includes a camera unit 2 for capturing an image, a monitor 3 for displaying an image captured by the camera unit 2 and an image received via a line, a power switch, A key operation unit 4 provided with an image mute switch and the like,
It is composed of a connection section 5 for connecting a telephone, a card insertion slot 6 for inserting an IC card 8, and an eject switch 7 for ejecting the IC card 8 from the card insertion slot 6. Further, in FIG. 1, the IC card 8 is composed of a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and stores an image / sound compression / expansion program, a communication processing program, and the like described later.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the videophone device 1 shown in FIG. In the figure, the videophone device 1 includes a lens mechanism 11, a CCD 12, an A / D conversion circuit 13, a color processing circuit 14, an image compression / expansion circuit 15, a dual port memory 16, a counter 17, and a D / A conversion circuit 1.
8, monitor 19, CPU 20, audio compression / expansion circuit 21,
It is composed of a modem 22 and an NCU 23, and each unit is connected to a bus 24.

Further, in FIG. 2, a handset 25 is connected to the NCU 23. The lens mechanism 11 and the CCD 12 are housed in the camera unit 2 of FIG. 1, the lens mechanism 11 has its focal length controlled by the CPU 20, and the CCD (Charge Co-upled Device) 12 is incident through the lens mechanism 11. The incident light of the image is photoelectrically converted and accumulated, and the analog image signal is output to the A / D conversion circuit 13.

The A / D conversion circuit 13 converts the analog image signal input from the CCD 12 into a predetermined digital image signal and outputs it to the color processing circuit 14. Color processing circuit 14
Processes the digital image signal input from the A / D conversion circuit 13 and outputs image data as a video signal to the image compression / decompression circuit 15.

The image compression / expansion circuit 15 includes a color processing circuit 14.
The image data input from is subjected to a predetermined encoding method, that is, compression (encoding) processing according to the type of image to be handled (still image, moving image), for example, a block encoding method, a predictive encoding method, or An encoding process such as an orthogonal transform encoding system is executed, and an expansion (decoding) process of the reception compressed image data received through the line and demodulated by the modem 22 is executed, and the expanded image data is The compressed image data is output to the dual port memory 16 and written, and the compressed image data is output to the CPU 20 via the bus 24.

The dual port memory 16 is a RAM (Ra
ndom access memory) and the like, and forms a memory area in which the image data output from the image compression / expansion circuit 15 is written for each predetermined number of display lines, and sequentially outputs the written image data to the D / A conversion circuit 18. . Further, in the dual port memory 16, the output timing of the expanded image data to the D / A conversion circuit 18 is controlled by a predetermined timing signal input from the counter 17.

The D / A conversion circuit 18 converts the expanded image data sequentially input from the dual port memory 16 into an analog image signal and outputs the analog image signal to the monitor 19 to display its own captured image and received image. The monitor 19 is a CRT
(Cathode Ray Tube) etc.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) 20
Outputs various control signals for controlling each unit in the videophone device 1 to each unit via the bus 24, and at the same time, the NCU 2
3 executes the communication control program according to the line type connected to 3. Further, the CPU 20 determines that the image / sound data multiplexed and transmitted from the other party's videophone device is NCU2.
3 is received, demodulated by the modem 22, and input, the image / audio data is separated, the compressed image data is output to the image compression / expansion circuit 15 via the bus 24, and the compressed audio data is output to the bus. It is output to the audio compression / expansion circuit 21 via 24. Further, the CPU 20
Compressed image data input from the image compression / decompression circuit 15 via the bus 24 and the audio compression / decompression circuit 21 to the bus 24.
The compressed audio data input via
The audio data is output to the modem 22 via the bus 24.

The voice compression / expansion circuit 21 is used for the handset 2
5 to the digital audio data which is A / D converted and input by the modem 22 via the NCU 23, a predetermined encoding method, for example, CELP (Code-Excited Linear Predivti).
on) method and VSELP (Vec-tor Sum Excited Linear P
rediction) method etc. to perform compression (encoding) processing,
Further, the compressed audio data input from the CPU 20 is expanded (decoded), and the compressed audio data is processed by the CPU 20.
And the expanded voice data is output to the modem 22.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the voice compression / expansion circuit 21 includes a DSP (Digit-al Signal Process).
r) 31 and is configured to be connected to the IC card 8 shown in FIG. The voice compression / expansion circuit 21 is a ROM (Read Only Memor) in the IC card 8.
y) The CELP or VSELP audio compression / expansion processing is executed by the encoding processing program stored in the RAM 8a and loaded in the RAM 8b.

The modem 22 modulates the image / sound data multiplexed and input by the CPU 20 and NCU 23.
In addition to outputting to the CPU 20, the multiplexed image / audio data received and input by the NCU 23 is demodulated and output to the CPU 20. Further, the modem 22 converts an analog voice signal input from the handset 23 via the NCU 23 into predetermined digital voice data by the analog front end and outputs the digital voice data to the voice compression / expansion circuit 21.
The expanded audio data input from the audio compression / expansion circuit 21 is converted into an analog audio signal by the analog front end and output to the handset 25 via the NCU 23.

The NCU (Network Control Unit) 23 is
The so-called AA-NCU is called NCU2.
A line (for example, a telephone line or ISDN) is connected to 3. The NCU 23 automatically receives an incoming call from the line and performs an automatic outgoing call process to the line. Also, N
A handset 25 is connected to the CU 23, and voice signals are exchanged between the modem 22 and the handset 25.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, the processing executed by the CPU 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the power of the videophone 1 is turned on by the operation of the operator and the IC card is set in the card insertion slot 6, the operation of turning off the power is checked (step S1), and the operation of turning off the power is performed. Immediately, this process ends immediately, and if the power-off operation is not performed, the image processing related parts (camera part and image processing, display related parts)
Is started up (step S2), and each part related to voice processing is started up (step S3).
Then, it is determined whether or not the line is connected to the other party according to a predetermined procedure (step S4). When the line is not connected, the procedure returns to step S1. When the line is connected,
Communication capability data is transmitted / received to / from the partner, the communication capability of the partner is transferred to the DSP 31 (step S5), and it is determined whether the communication capabilities match (step S6). If they do not match, an error message indicating that the setting is impossible is displayed on the monitor 19 to notify the operator and step S1 is performed.
(Step S7), and when they match, the sending / receiving process as the videophone device 1 is executed (Step S).
8). Then, it is determined that the communication is off, and this processing ends (step S9).

That is, the own image input from the camera unit 2 is displayed on the monitor 19, and the image data and the voice data input from the handset 25 are multiplexed to obtain the multiplexed image. The voice data is modulated by the modem 22 and then transmitted by the NCU 23 to the destination video telephone device via the line. When the NCU 23 receives the multiplexed image / voice data transmitted from the destination telephone device via the line, the modem 22 demodulates the data, the CPU 20 separates the compressed image data and the compressed voice data, and compresses them. The image data is expanded by the image compression / expansion circuit 15,
The image of the partner operator is displayed on the monitor 19, and the compressed voice data is expanded by the voice compression / expansion circuit 21, converted into a voice signal by the modem 22 and output from the handset 25. Is played.

The audio processing executed by the audio compression / expansion circuit 21 during the execution of the processing by the CPU 20 shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the DSP 31 is started up by starting up each part related to the voice processing in step S3 shown in FIG. 4 above, the voice encoding processing program stored in the ROM 8a in the connected IC card 8 is temporarily loaded into the RAM 8b (step S11), the communication capability of the other party is CEL
It is checked whether or not it is the P method (step S12). CE
If it is the LP system, the flag indicating the CELP system is turned on (step 13), and if it is not the CELP system, it is checked whether or not the communication capacity of the other party is the VSELP system (step S14). V for the VSELP system
A flag indicating the SELP system is turned on (step S15), and when it is not the VSELP system, a flag indicating another system is turned on (step S16).
Next, the voice encoding program loaded in the RAM 8b is written by the communication capability data of the other party (step S1).
7) The compression / expansion processing of the audio data is executed corresponding to the transmission / reception processing as the videophone device 1 (step S18). Next, it is checked whether or not the communication is completed (step S19), and the voice / voice is transmitted until the communication process is completed.
The compression / expansion process is repeatedly executed and the present process ends (step S19).

As described above, in the videophone device 1, the ROM 8a and the RAM 8b in which the voice encoding program executed by the voice compression / expansion circuit 21 is stored in the IC card 8 are stored.
Therefore, if an IC card storing different voice coding programs is prepared according to the communication capability of the communication line to be connected, the voice function part can be changed immediately, and the video telephone device 1 It is possible to easily change a plurality of communication functions without limiting the communication function to the single function, and it is possible to greatly improve the communication function and the usability of the videophone device.

In the above embodiment, the voice encoding program is changed by the IC card 8. However, the image encoding program executed by the image compressing / expanding circuit 15,
The communication control program executed by the CPU 20, the processing program of the color processing circuit 14 or the processing program of the modem 22 can be changed by the IC card 8. Further, although the program is stored in the IC card, a hardware configuration for executing the processing may be mounted, and the function applied to the IC card is not limited to software or hardware. Of course, it is possible.

[0036]

According to the present invention, the main part of the communication control processing means based on a predetermined procedure is constituted by a removable cartridge, and the image data and the audio data based on a predetermined algorithm are coded / decoded. Since the main part of the encoding / decoding processing means is composed of a removable cartridge, the communication function of the videophone device, the image and voice processing function, the type of communication network connected and the type of the videophone device are connected. Therefore, the communication function of the videophone device can be improved and the convenience can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of a videophone device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of the videophone device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the audio compression / expansion circuit of FIG.

4 is a flowchart of a processing program executed by the CPU of FIG.

5 is a flowchart of a processing program executed by the audio compression / expansion circuit of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Videophone Device 2 Camera Part 3 Monitor 4 Key Operation Part 5 Connection Part 6 Card Insertion Port 7 Eject Switch 8 IC Card 8a ROM 8b RAM 11 Lens 12 CCD 13 A / D Conversion Circuit 14 Color Processing Circuit 15 Image Compression / Expansion Circuit 16 Dual port memory 17 Counter 18 D / A conversion circuit 19 Monitor 20 CPU 21 Voice compression / expansion circuit 22 Modem 23 NCU 24 Bus 25 Handset

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An encoding / decoding process of image data and audio data based on a predetermined algorithm,
In a videophone device that displays image data by transmitting and receiving image data and audio data encoded according to a prescribed procedure via a telephone line, the main part of the communication control processing means based on the prescribed procedure can be attached and detached. Videophone device characterized by being configured with a simple cartridge. 2. The encoding / decoding process of image data and audio data based on a predetermined algorithm,
In a videophone device that displays image data by transmitting and receiving image data and voice data encoded according to a predetermined procedure via a telephone line, encoding and decoding image data and voice data based on the above predetermined algorithm. A videophone device in which a main part of encoding / decoding processing means to be converted is configured by a removable cartridge.