JPH06217019A - Multi-spot video conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the operability of a multi-spot video conference system during the conferences by displaying various system control information on the screen of a video conference terminal when a multi-spot video conference is carried out by means of the optional video conference terminal of an NTSC signal system set in a network. CONSTITUTION:The multi-spot video conference system consists of the exchanges A and B which contain plural video conference terminals and a multi-spot conference device 3. A video/voice synthesizer 4 synthesizes the video and voice signals sent from the video conference terminals. A changeover switch selects the images allotted to the conference attendant terminals. A superimposing device synthesizes the character information with those allotted images. Then a control part 5 receives the control signals from the conference terminal and the switchboard main bodies and controls each device included in the device 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multipoint video conference system, and more particularly to a multipoint video conference system in a network composed of a plurality of video signal exchanges accommodating a plurality of NTSC system video conference terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are two conventional multipoint video conference systems.

The first system is a system in which the number of terminals accommodated in the network is limited to the range in which all the terminals can be connected by one switching device, and the multipoint conference device is installed therein. Then, a dedicated TV conference terminal capable of controlling the multipoint conference device directly from the connected terminal is installed.

The feature of the first system is that since the connectable terminals can be limited, various information held in the multipoint conference apparatus is controlled by designation from the terminals.

The second method is a method in which a plurality of switching devices networked together are provided and a multipoint conference is held between a plurality of terminals accommodated in each switching device. Then, a video synthesizer and a voice synthesizer are installed in the exchange, and in response to a connection request from the terminal, the exchange selects a path between the designated terminal and the video synthesizer and the voice synthesizer, and It secures resources and connects them.

In the second method, the terminal is not dedicated to the multipoint conference, but is assumed to be a simple type terminal, the connection request to the switching device is also made in the procedure of the general telephone terminal, and the numerical information is also used as the control information. Is limited to. Then, by transmitting these pieces of information to the video synthesizer and the voice synthesizer via the plurality of exchanges along the connection path, the video is switched and the function unique to the multipoint conference is realized. .

Regarding the display function of the character information, the control device receives the control information from the terminal, and the RGB information
A control device for converting a signal into an NTSC signal and transmitting / receiving a control signal to / from the exchange device is installed, and when the service request is made from the terminal, the exchange device connects the terminal and the character information control device, and By notifying the control device of the service to be used, various information in the character information control device is displayed on the terminal.

Further, information is input and selected by control information from the terminal, for example, a telephone directory is held in the character information control device, and a connection partner is selected from this telephone directory for connection.

[0009]

In the first conventional method, the operability of the conference is improved by limiting the connectable terminals and dedicating the chairperson's terminal that controls the progress of the conference. Among the accommodated terminals, the terminals that can participate in the multipoint conference are limited.

Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to cope with the increase in the number of terminals and the expansion of the accommodation area.

In the second conventional method, terminals can be provided at the lowest possible price and the utilization rate can be improved by increasing the number of terminals, but they are not displayed on the screen required for a multipoint conference. It is necessary to provide functions such as notification of the presence or absence of a speech request from the terminal and display of the number of the connected terminal on the exchange side. However, in this conventional method, it is difficult to notify the terminal side of the information of the participating terminal recognized by the switching apparatus side by screen display.

Therefore, there is a problem in that the operability is significantly inferior to the system in which a terminal dedicated to a multipoint conference is installed.

[0013]

A multipoint video conference system of the present invention is composed of a plurality of exchanges respectively accommodating a plurality of video conference terminals and a multipoint conferencing device, and the multipoint conferencing device comprises a plurality of the multipoint conferencing devices. A video synthesizing device for synthesizing video signals from the TV conference terminal, a voice synthesizing device for synthesizing audio signals from the plurality of TV conference terminals, a changeover switch for selecting a video to be delivered to the conference participating terminals, and the delivery video. A superimposing device for synthesizing character information into a multipoint conference control device, and a multipoint conference control device for controlling each device in the multipoint conference device by receiving a control signal from the conference terminal and a control signal from the exchange. It is characterized by being provided.

The TV conference terminal is an NTSC signal type TV conference terminal.

Further, the multipoint conference apparatus is characterized in that an image including conference participation terminal information is distributed to each of the TV conference terminals based on an instruction from the TV conference terminal.

Further, the conference participation terminal information includes at least one of the terminal number of the TV conference participation terminal, the number of terminals, and the additional TV conference participation terminal number.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the multipoint video conference system of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the multipoint conference apparatus in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the network of this embodiment comprises a plurality of exchanges A and B. The exchange A has a chair terminal 11 and participating terminals 12a, ...
A video / audio signal switching device 1a that accommodates a terminal line from 2e, a control signal switching device 2 that receives a control signal such as a selection signal from the chairman terminal 11, a multipoint conferencing device 3, and all of the switching equipment A. The exchange B includes a video / audio signal exchange device 1b for accommodating a terminal line from the participating terminal 12n and a central control device 6b.

The relay line from the video / audio signal switching device 1a is housed in the video / audio signal switching device 1b, and the central control devices 6a and 6b are connected by a control signal line.

Further, the multipoint conference apparatus 3 in the exchange A
Includes a video / audio synthesizer 4 and a controller 5.
The video / audio synthesizer 4 includes a chair terminal 11 and participating terminals 12a, 12e, 12e,
The video / audio signals from 12n are synthesized. Further, the control section 5 receives the control signal from the chairman terminal 11 via the control signal exchange device 2 and the control information from the central control device 6a to control the video / audio synthesizing device 4 and also to control the central control device 6a. In response to the instruction, the database information in the multipoint conference apparatus 3 is created as a video signal.

Next, the multipoint conference apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The voice synthesizer 31 synthesizes all the input voice signals a from the chair terminal 11 and the participating terminals 12a, 12e, and 12n, and then outputs the output voice signal b by subtracting the voice of its own terminal to prevent howling. Is output to the output line and the synthesized voice of all lines is output for terminals without voice input.

The video selection switch 33 is a bidirectionally connected chairman terminal 11 and participating terminals 12a, 12e, 12e, 1
2n inputs the input video signal c from each terminal, the composite video signal d from the video compositing device 32, and the input / output video signal e of the superimposing device 34 in order to select each display video, An output line for output to each terminal and an output line for distribution to a terminal connected in one direction is accommodated, and an arbitrary input line and output line are connected in accordance with an instruction from the multipoint conference control device 35 to obtain each desired one. The output video signal f is output to the terminal. Further, the input video signal g is input to the video synthesizer 32.

The image synthesizing device 32 includes an image selection switch 33.
An input video signal c input from each terminal and an input / output video signal e of the superimposing device 34 are combined according to a combination pattern from the multipoint conference control device 35 and a placement instruction on the pattern, and a combined image is input. The signal d is output to the video selection switch 33.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the composite pattern used in FIG. 2, and is (a), (b), (c), (d).
Indicate 4 multi-screens, 9 multi-screens, 16 multi-screens and 13 multi-screens, respectively, and the lower 1/5 of each screen is a superimpose field.

Returning to FIG. 2, the superimposing device 34 superimposes the character information h from the multipoint conference control device 35 on the output video signal e of the video selection switch 33 according to the instruction of the multipoint conference control device 35. Further, only the character information h is used as the input / output video signal e and the video selection switch 33
You can also output to.

The terminal control line conversion device 36 converts the control information input from the chairman terminal 11 via the control signal exchange device 2 into a format that can be interpreted by the multipoint conference control device 35.

The auxiliary storage device 37 holds name display data for all terminals accommodated on the network, guidance information on operating methods during the conference, superimposing position, fixed part information, etc., and is a multipoint conference control device. 35 is searched and output according to the request.

The multipoint conference controller 35 is the central controller 6
In response to the operation instruction from a and the control information from the terminal control line conversion device 36, it issues an instruction to retrieve necessary data to the auxiliary storage device 37, and also controls the video selection switch 33 so that the original data of the synthesis source is controlled. The screen is drawn into the superimposing device 34, and superimposition of the searched video information is instructed.

Further, when the control information i from the chairman terminal 11 is analyzed and as a result, it is judged that the output video signal is to be switched, the video selector switch 33 is controlled to control the chairman terminal 1.
The video signal f is output to 1.

When it is determined that the request is to change the composite video pattern, the video compositing device 32 is controlled to output the specified video.

Furthermore, when it is determined that the request requires resources in the exchange A that cannot be controlled only in the multipoint conference apparatus 3 (for example, a request to add a new terminal to the conference), the central unit The information is transmitted to the control device 6a.

Regarding the control information from any of the participating terminals 12i, the video / audio switching device accommodating the participating terminal terminates, the information is transmitted to and from the central control device 6a, and the control information is transmitted from the central control device 6a. Give instructions.

Next, services that can be provided in the multipoint video conference system of the present invention will be described.

(1) Participating terminal list display service Even if a multi-screen is combined as a conference video of a multipoint video conference, in the case of a conference in which a certain number or more of participating terminals participate,
It is not possible to display all terminals at the same time. At this time, this service displays the numbers and names of participating terminals. In this service, the list can be displayed on the screen, or a multi-screen can be configured and displayed on one screen.

The participating terminal list display service will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 in combination with FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a sequence chart showing the signal flow of each part when displaying the list of participating terminals in FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display synthesized and displayed in the sequence of FIG. Is.

In FIG. 5, (a) shows a display example of 9 multi-screens, and (b) shows an example of accumulation of the terminal name file in the auxiliary storage device in FIG. And (c) is 16
A display example of a multi-screen is shown, and the character information screen shown in FIG. Also, (d) is 9
Another display example of the multi-screen is shown. Only the displayable part of the character information screen shown in FIG. 7B is displayed in the superimpose field at the bottom, and the display contents can be moved by operating the chair terminal. it can.

As shown in FIG. 4, a multipoint conference start notification and a participating terminal number are sent from the chair terminal 11 to the central control unit 6a.
Then, the central control device 6a secures the resources necessary for the conference and adds the information of the chairperson terminal number, the participating terminal number and the number of terminals participating in the conference to the secured multipoint conference device 3 to start the conference. Notify me.

Next, in the multipoint conference apparatus 3, the multipoint conference controller 35 searches the terminal name file in the auxiliary storage device 37 by the designated terminal number, and the video synthesizer 32
5 to synthesize the display screen of the list of chairperson terminals and participating terminals shown in FIG. At this stage, the list screen is in a non-display state.

Further, the multipoint conference control unit 35 sends the used line and the combination pattern instruction to the image combining unit 32 so as to combine the multi-screens according to the number of terminals. Further, by driving the video selection switch 33, the line used and the video composition device 3
Send a connection instruction between the two.

At this stage, the multi-screen shown in FIG. 5B is displayed for the participating terminals which have already responded, and the conference is started.

Next, in order to hear the opinions of the participating terminals which are not displayed on the screen during the conference, the list display request information of the participating terminals is output from the chairman terminal 11, and this request information is transmitted via the central control unit 6a. Instead, it is directly input to the multipoint conference control device 35. Here, if a display request for a composite screen is made, the multipoint conference control device 35 instructs the video selection switch 33 to connect the superimposing device 34 and the video compositing device 35, and at the same time superimpose. Character information is sent to the device 34 to instruct start of superimpose.

Next, the multipoint conference control device 35 notifies the video synthesizing device 32 of the change of the synthesizing pattern due to the increase of the information to be synthesized and the newly added used line number. At this stage, the image displayed on each terminal is shown in FIG.
As shown in (c), the list of participating terminals becomes a superimposed screen. A cursor exists on the character information screen, and scrolling can be performed by an operation from the chair terminal 11.

Next, when the chairman terminal 11 gives an instruction to end the reference to the list display, the multipoint conference control device 35 causes the video selection switch 33 to display the superimposing device 34 and the video synthesizing device 3.
A release instruction between the two is issued, a superimpose stop instruction is given to the superimpose device 34, and a composite pattern restoration request is given to the video synthesizing device 32. As a result, the video displayed on each terminal returns to the screen shown in FIG.

Next, the list of participating terminals is displayed on the chair terminal 11
The operation in the case of displaying only in will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a connection state in the multipoint conference apparatus at the time of superimposing on the currently displayed screen in the embodiment shown in FIGS.

From the chair terminal 11 to the multipoint conference control device 35
When a superimposing instruction request for a list of participating terminals is made, the video selection switch 33 temporarily disconnects the connected video compositing device 32 and the output route ra to the chairman terminal 11, and superimposes the video composing device 32. Device 34
The routes rb and rc to the chair terminal 11 are switched via the input and output of.

Next, the multipoint conference control device 35 instructs the superimposing device 34 to start superimposing so as to superimpose the character information screen. As a result, the screen shown in FIG. 5D is displayed on the chair terminal 11. When it is difficult to see the superimposed portion of the background image, it is possible to display only the list screen by an instruction from the chair terminal 11.

This display also returns the video selection switch 33 to the initial state (the video selection switch 33 is switched to the root ra) by the list display reference end instruction of the chairman terminal 11, and the superimpose stop instruction is given. Go back to the original screen.

(2) Service for adding conference participation terminal using terminal number and name data In the prior art, the terminal number of the terminal directly added by the chairman terminal was dialed, but in the present embodiment, auxiliary storage is used. Device 3
Using the data stored in 7, a list of terminals not participating is displayed instead of “displaying a list of participating terminals”.
Next, a desired terminal is searched by the scroll function of the screen, and when the terminal is found, the selection code is input.

The multipoint conference control unit 35 transfers the designated terminal number to the central control unit 6a, and the central control unit 6a recognizes that there is a request for an additional terminal from the chairman terminal 11, and the publicly known method. To connect.

(3) Compulsory display service for terminals not displayed on screen from the chair terminal In the conventional technology, there is no action from the chair for the participating terminals not displayed on the screen, and the request from the participating terminals is not accepted. Although only the screen display was made in the form of responding, in the present embodiment, the list of participating terminals can be viewed from the chair terminal 11 at any time, and from the terminal list display, the terminal to be screen-displayed can be selected as the above-mentioned "Conference participation". In the same manner as the "additional service for terminal", the hidden display participating terminal can be displayed if the replacement target screen position is also specified.

In the operation of this service, regarding the connection method between the multipoint conference apparatus 3 and each participating terminal, the method of creating a list screen of the participating terminals, moving the cursor, etc. The description is omitted here.

Next, a service for displaying the utterance requesting terminal on the chairman terminal when the utterance request is made from the screen non-display terminal will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a sequence chart showing an operation sequence when the utterance request terminal is displayed on the chairperson terminal in the embodiment shown in FIGS.

In the conventional multipoint conference system, even if the central controller recognizes the terminal number of the utterance requesting terminal, there is no means for notifying it to the chair terminal, so this service cannot be realized. In this embodiment, this service is realized by using the superimpose function.

That is, when the central control device 6a recognizes the utterance request from the utterance request terminal, it transfers the terminal number of the utterance request terminal to the video / audio signal exchange device 1a and the control signal exchange device 2. Then, the multipoint conference apparatus 3 is notified that there is a statement request and the statement requesting terminal number.

In the multipoint conference apparatus 3, the name data is extracted from this terminal number by the above-mentioned method, and the output video to the chairman terminal 11 is temporarily drawn into the superimposing apparatus 34 to display the speech request and the speech request terminal. The number and name data are superimposed and output and displayed on the chair terminal 11.

As a result, the chair terminal 11 is shown in FIG.
The screen shown in is displayed, and it is possible to recognize from which terminal the speech request is made.

[0061]

As described above, the multipoint TV of the present invention.
The conference method is high even if a simple TV conference terminal is allowed to join without adding a terminal dedicated to the multipoint conference by adding the function of outputting the character information to the TV screen to the image combining function of the multipoint conference device. Operability can be secured.

Therefore, even if a multipoint conference is requested from an arbitrary terminal, the multipoint conference can be operated without a sense of discomfort, and the introduction of the TV conference system can be promoted and the number of terminals can be increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a multipoint video conference system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the multipoint conference apparatus in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a combined pattern used in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sequence chart showing a signal flow of each unit when displaying a list of participating terminals in FIGS. 1 and 2.

5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display that is synthesized and displayed in the sequence of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a connection state in the multipoint conference apparatus at the time of superimposing on the screen currently displayed in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

7 is a sequence chart showing an operation sequence when a utterance request terminal is displayed on a chair terminal in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b Video / audio signal switching device 2 Control signal switching device 3 Multipoint conference device 4 Video / audio synthesizing device 5 Control unit 6a, 6b Central control device 11 Chairman terminal 12a, 12e, 12n Participating terminal 31 Voice synthesizing device 32 Video synthesizer 33 Video selection switch 34 Superimposing device 35 Multipoint conference control device 36 Terminal control line conversion device 37 Auxiliary storage device a Input audio signal b Output audio signal c, g Input video signal d Composite video signal e Input / output video Signal f Output video signal h Character information i Control information

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A multi-point conferencing apparatus comprising a plurality of exchanges, each accommodating a plurality of TV conference terminals, and the multi-point conferencing apparatus, wherein the multi-point conferencing apparatus combines a video signal from the plurality of TV conference terminals. A voice synthesizing device for synthesizing voice signals from the plurality of TV conference terminals, a changeover switch for selecting a distribution video to the conference participating terminals, a superimposing device for synthesizing character information on the distribution videos, and a conference terminal Multipoint conferencing controller for controlling each device in the multipoint conferencing device by receiving a control signal from the switch and a control signal from the exchange.
V conference method. 2. The multipoint video conference system according to claim 1, wherein the TV conference terminal is an NTSC signal system video conference terminal. 3. The multipoint conferencing apparatus distributes an image including conference participation terminal information to each of the TV conference terminals based on an instruction from the TV conference terminal.
Multipoint video conference system described. 4. The multipoint video conference system according to claim 3, wherein the conference participation terminal information includes at least one of a terminal number of the video conference participating terminal, the number of terminals, and an additional video conference participating terminal number.