JPH0738671A - Electronic conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To revise the data transfer mode corresponding to a form of conference in the video conference system. CONSTITUTION:A conference tool management section 12 sends a control command to revise the transfer mode to an AV transfer reproduction control section 13 by network communication. Then the AV transfer reproduction control section 13 revises the transfer mode stored in the memory 2 based on the control command to control transfer of data according to the transfer mode.

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 such as a video conference system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional video conference system,
A workstation or a device having a similar CPU is used as a terminal for each geographically distant person, and video data and audio data can be transferred between the terminals via a network to hold a conference in real time. Has been done.

That is, in such a video conference system, video data and audio data of the participants of the conference, materials such as manuscripts and drawings used in the conference, and a progress program (hereinafter, such material is also referred to as video data) are used. It is made possible to provide an environment in which each participant sees and modifies and puts in a state called a so-called environmental area.

[0004]

By the way, in such a video conference system, in order to provide a state (environment) similar to that of an actual conference, usually, the video data and audio data of each participant are simultaneously transmitted. There was a so-called full-duplex data transfer in which data was transmitted and received.

Therefore, a large amount of video data and audio data is transferred between the terminals via the network, and a heavy load is applied to each terminal and the network. As a result,
For example, there has been a problem that the reaction operation to the operation of the common area and the operation speed of the application used at the same time decrease.

Therefore, it is conceivable to configure the system so that it can withstand a large load, but in this case, there is a problem that the system becomes costly and large.

A data transfer method (transfer mode)
However, the video conference system using only the full-duplex system (full-duplex mode) can provide only a uniform environment for discussion (discussion). That is,
The full-duplex system could only provide a so-called well-end conference type environment.

Therefore, for example, when one of the plurality of persons is the chairperson of the conference and the chairperson speaks in order to proceed with the conference, the speeches of the other participants are usually artificial. However, if the discussion is heated, even if the speech is stopped, the participants may continue without stopping the speech, and as a result, the progress of the conference may be hindered.

In the conventional system, it was not possible to provide an environment for forcibly excluding such utterances that hinder the conference.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and is to reduce the load on the system and to provide an environment in which various types of meetings can be held. is there.

[0011]

The electronic conferencing system of the present invention controls the transfer of data based on the memory 2 as a storage means for storing the transfer mode of data and the transfer mode stored in the memory 2. , As the transmission means for transmitting the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 as a change unit for changing the transfer mode stored in the memory 2 and the control command for changing the transfer mode to the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 by network communication. Conference Tool Management Department 1
And 2 are provided.

In this electronic conferencing system, the data is video data and audio data, and the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13
Video data and audio data transfer mode is full-duplex transfer mode, audio data only transfer mode is full-duplex mode,
The transfer mode of the video data and the audio data can be changed to the half-duplex mode, or the transfer mode of only the audio data can be changed to the full-duplex mode.

Further, the electronic conferencing system further comprises a mouse 3 as a selection means for selecting a transfer mode, and the conference tool management section 12 is provided with a control command for changing to the transfer mode selected by the mouse 3. Can be transmitted to the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13.

[0014]

In the electronic conference system having the above structure, the conference tool management unit 12 is caused to transmit a control command for changing the transfer mode selected by the mouse 3 to the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 by network communication. . Then, based on this control command, the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 changes the transfer mode stored in the memory 2 and controls the data transfer according to the transfer mode. Therefore, for example, the data transfer mode can be changed according to the format of the conference held in the electronic conference system.

[0015]

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a video conference system to which the present invention is applied. CPU1
Is an interface 11, a conference tool management unit 12, A
The V transfer reproduction control unit 13 and the like are included. The interface 11 manages input / output between the memory 2, the mouse 3, the display 4, and the conference tool management unit 12. The conference tool management unit 12 manages processing of blocks such as the memory 2, the mouse 3, and the display 4, which form the video conference system. The AV transfer reproduction control unit 3 controls transmission of video data or audio data, and
It receives the sent video or audio data and controls its playback.

The memory 2 comprises a flag storage section 21,
In this area, for example, information regarding whether or not data is being transferred now and information regarding the data transfer mode are stored based on ON / OFF of the flag. The mouse 3 is operated when giving a command to the system. The display 4 displays the transferred video data and the like, and also displays a screen for system control, which will be described later.

In the video conference system described above, the video data or audio data recorded or picked up by a camera or a microphone (not shown) is supplied to the AV transfer reproduction control section 13. Then, the AV transfer reproduction control unit 1
3 transfers the video data and the audio data to another terminal in the data transfer mode represented by the flag stored in the flag storage unit 21 of the memory 2.

Similarly, the video data and audio data transferred from other terminals are transferred to the AV transfer reproduction control unit 1.
3 and is converted into a reproducible data format. Then, the video data is supplied to and displayed on the display 4, and the audio data is supplied to and output from a speaker (not shown).

Next, the operation of changing the data transfer mode will be described. First, for example, the mouse 3 is operated, and a control screen of the master system as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the display 4. The control screen is composed of buttons 31a to 31c on which images of participants in the conference are displayed and a mode button 32 for changing the data transfer mode. When the mode button 32 is operated by the mouse 3, A pop-up menu 33 including selection buttons 33a to 33d for selecting the transfer mode is displayed as shown in FIG.

Here, the selection buttons 33a to 33d are
For example, set the transfer mode of video data and audio data to full-duplex transfer mode, the transfer mode of audio data only to full-duplex mode, the transfer mode of video data and audio data to half-duplex mode, or the transfer mode of audio data only. This button is for changing to full-duplex mode.

Selection button 3 displayed on the display 4
When any one of 3a to 33d is selected by the mouse 3, the selection signal corresponding to the selected button is transmitted via the interface 11 to the conference tool management unit 1
Entered in 2. Upon receiving the selection signal, the conference tool management unit 12 sends a control command for changing the transfer mode of the system to the transfer mode corresponding to the selection signal.
It is transmitted to the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 by network communication.

Upon receiving the control command from the conference tool management unit 12, the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 stops transmission / reception of video data and audio data, and at the same time, the memory 2
The flag related to the transfer mode stored in the flag storage unit 21 is reset (changed) to a new set value so as to express the transfer mode corresponding to the control command.

After that, the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 transmits a control command indicating the completion of the change processing to the conference tool management unit 12, and when the control command is received by the conference tool management unit 12, the conference tool management unit 12 A control command for permitting the start of transmission / reception of the stopped video data and audio data is transmitted to the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13.

When the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 receives a control command from the conference tool management unit 12 to permit the start of data transmission / reception, the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 refers to the flag relating to the transfer mode in the flag storage unit 21 of the memory 2, and the flag is set. In order to control the transmission and reception of data in the transfer mode indicated by, the processing for changing the internal state is performed, and when this processing ends, the control for indicating the end of processing to the conference tool management unit 12 is performed. Send a command. After transmitting this control command, the AV transfer reproduction control unit 1
3 starts control of transmission / reception of video data and audio data in the changed transfer mode.

When the conference tool management unit 12 receives the control command indicating the end of the process from the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13, the conference tool management unit 12 recognizes that the transfer mode changing process is completed.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of changing the transfer mode will be further described. Note that in FIG. 4, steps S3 to S described on the left side
7 and S10 to S13 are AV transfer reproduction control unit 13
Shows the processing of.

In the case of changing the transfer mode, first, in step S1, any one of the selection buttons 33a to 33d (FIG. 3) displayed on the display 4 is selected by the mouse 3, and the selection signal is controlled by the conference tool. Is supplied to the section 12. Then, in step S2,
A mode change signal (control command) for changing to the transfer mode corresponding to the selection signal is transmitted to the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 by network communication, and step S3
Proceed to.

In step S3, the mode change signal is received by the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13, and in step S4
Then, it is determined whether or not the transfer mode indicated by the mode change signal is the same as the transfer mode currently set.

When it is determined in step S4 that the transfer mode indicated by the mode change signal is the same as the transfer mode currently set, steps S5 and S6 are skipped and the process proceeds to step S7. Also,
When it is determined in step S4 that the transfer mode indicated by the mode change signal is not the same as the currently set transfer mode, the process proceeds to step S5, and the transfer (transmission / reception) of the video data and the audio data is stopped. Proceed to S6.

In step S6, the state of the flag relating to the transfer mode stored in the flag storage unit 21 of the memory 2 is changed so as to express the transfer mode indicated by the mode change signal, and the process proceeds to step S7 to change the flag. Processing completion signal (control command) indicating the completion of processing
Is transmitted to the conference tool management unit 12 by network communication, and the process proceeds to step S8.

In step S8, the processing completion signal is
Received by the conference tool management unit 12, step S9
Then, a transfer start signal (control command) permitting the start of the transfer of the video data and the audio data is transmitted to the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 by network communication, and the process proceeds to step S10.

In step S10, the transfer start signal transmitted in step S9 is received by the AV transfer reproduction control section 13, and the process proceeds to step S11 to refer to the flag relating to the transfer mode stored in the flag storage section 21 of the memory 2. The transfer mode is a mode in which video data and audio data are transferred in full duplex, a mode in which only audio data is transferred in full duplex, a mode in which video data and audio data are transferred in half duplex, and only audio data. Of the full-duplex transfer mode is determined.

Then, the process proceeds to step S12, and based on the determination result of step S11, the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13
The internal state of is changed, that is, in the transfer mode after the change,
So that you can control the sending and receiving of data,
The internal state of the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 is changed, and the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S13, step S12
Processing completion signal (control command) indicating that the processing of changing the internal state of the AV transfer reproduction control unit 13 in FIG.
However, through the network communication, the conference tool management unit 12
The process completion signal is received by the conference tool management unit 12. After that, the process returns to step S1 and waits for selection of the selection buttons 33a to 33d displayed on the display 4.

As described above, since the transfer mode of the system can be changed, it is possible to provide the environment corresponding to the conference format.

Furthermore, in this case, the video data and the audio data are not always transferred in the full-duplex transfer mode, but are transferred in the half-duplex mode as necessary, and the video data and the audio data are transferred. Since only one of them can be transferred in the full-duplex mode, the amount of data to be transferred is reduced, and thus the load on the system can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to prevent the reaction speed of the system from being lowered and to improve the operability.

In this embodiment, the transfer mode changing operation by the terminal as the master system has been described, but the terminal as the subsystem accesses the terminal as the master system by network communication. Then, the transfer mode can be changed.

In this embodiment, the network environment for connecting the terminals is not mentioned, but any environment such as Ethernet environment, FDDI network environment or ISDN network environment should be used as this environment. You can Here, Ethernet is widely adopted as a network environment,
It can be used easily. Further, when FDDI is used, the data transfer efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, when ISDN is used, the wide area of the system can be improved.

[0039]

As described above, according to the electronic conference system of the present invention, the transmitting means is caused to transmit the control command for changing the transfer mode selected by the selecting means to the changing means by network communication. . Then, based on this control command, the changing unit changes the transfer mode stored in the storage unit, and controls the data transfer according to the transfer mode. Therefore, for example, the data transfer mode can be changed according to the format of the conference held in the electronic conference system.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control screen displayed on a display 4.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control screen displayed on a display 4.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 CPU 2 Memory 3 Mouse 4 Display 11 Interface 12 Conference Tool Management Section 13 AV Transfer Playback Control Section 21 Flag Storage Section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Storage means for storing a transfer mode of data, and control of transfer of the data based on the transfer mode stored in the storage means, and changing the transfer mode stored in the storage means. An electronic conferencing system comprising: a changing unit; and a transmitting unit that transmits a control command for changing the transfer mode to the changing unit by network communication. 2. The data is video data and audio data, and the changing means sets a transfer mode of the video data and the audio data to a full-duplex transfer mode, a transfer mode of only the audio data to a full-duplex mode, and a video. The data and voice data transfer mode is changed to a half-duplex mode, or the voice data only transfer mode is changed to a full-duplex mode.
The electronic conferencing system described in. 3. The selection means for selecting the transfer mode is further provided, and the transmission means transmits a control command for changing to the transfer mode selected by the selection means to the change means. The electronic conference system according to claim 1 or 2.