JPH0823526A - Video telephone - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record messages as many as possible in a storage means capable of random access. CONSTITUTION:This video telephone provided with an operation mode for automatically detecting an incoming call from a communicating party, connecting a line to the communicating party and starting automatic recording is provided with a first recording means 1 for recording encoded data transmitted from the communicating party in a recording medium 3 as they are and a second recording means 2 for tentatively decoding the encoded data transmitted from the communicating party, encoding the decoded data by an encoding system different from the previous encoding system again and then recording them in the recording medium 3. When the encoding system of a message transmitted from the communicating party is an inefficient encoding system, by tentatively decoding the message and then encoding it again by the second recording means 2, the data amount of the message is substantially reduced and a message amount recordable in the recording medium 3 with a limited capacity is increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a videophone, and is particularly suitable for use in a videophone having an answering machine mode for automatically recording a message sent from a communication partner when he / she is absent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional videophone having an answering machine, a videophone is provided with a VTR control function. A videophone and a VTR are combined to form a decoded image signal and Some have recorded audio signals on VTRs.

Further, when a storage device such as a hard disk is incorporated in a videophone, the encoded data sent from the communication partner via the line is stored in the hard disk as it is, stored, and reproduced later. Some even tried to decrypt it.

[0004]

However, although the one recorded in the VTR in the above-mentioned conventional example can record for a long time, it takes time to retrieve a necessary one from a plurality of recorded messages. There was a problem that it would take.

On the other hand, in the case of recording in a randomly accessible storage means such as a hard disk, contrary to the case of recording in a VTR, there is an advantage that the recorded message can be searched at high speed. However, in this case, there is a problem that the amount of data to be stored is determined by the coding capability of the communication partner. For this reason, if there is only a low compression rate encoding system such as "G.711" as the voice encoding system of the communication partner, there is a problem that the recordable message becomes extremely small. It was

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to be able to record as many messages sent from a communication partner as possible in a randomly accessible storage means.

[0007]

The videophone of the present invention comprises:
In a videophone having an operation mode in which an incoming call from a communication partner is automatically detected and a line is connected to the communication partner to start an answering machine, the encoded data sent from the communication partner is recorded as it is. And a first recording means for recording the encoded data sent from the communication partner, and the decoded data is encoded again by an encoding method different from the previous encoding method. Second recording means for recording on a recording medium after being converted.

Another feature of the present invention is that the recording medium is a hard disk.

Another feature of the present invention is a videophone having an operation mode in which an incoming call from a communication partner is automatically detected and a line is connected to the communication partner to start an answering machine. Determination means for determining whether or not to record the encoded data sent from the communication partner on the recording medium as it is, and a first means for recording the encoded data sent from the communication partner on the recording medium as it is. The recording means and the encoded data sent from the communication partner are once decoded, and the decoded data is re-encoded by an encoding method different from the previous encoding method and then recorded on the recording medium. A second recording means for recording.

Another feature of the present invention is that a voice input means, an image input means, a voice encoding means for selecting and encoding a voice signal from a plurality of methods, and a plurality of image signals. Image encoding means for selecting from the methods and encoding, multiplexing means for multiplexing encoded audio and image data, and data separation for separating the multiplexed data into encoded audio and image data Means, an image decoding means for decoding the encoded image data, an audio decoding means for decoding the encoded audio data, and an image and an audio signal from the image and audio input means Selecting means for selecting the selected image and audio signals and sending them to the image and audio encoding means, a central control means for overall control, a storage means for storing the encoded image and audio data, Data decoding means, data separation means, central control means, and line connection means for controlling the data path of each public line. In the absence of automatic recording mode, the image and voice decoding means decode the data. The encoded image and audio signals are sent to the image encoding means and the audio encoding means by the selecting means, encoded by these encoding means in a predetermined system, and the encoded image data and audio data are converted into The data is stored in the storage means.

Another feature of the present invention is that the image coding means performs resolution conversion of the image.

[0012]

Since the present invention has the above technical means, when the encoding system of the message sent from the communication partner is an inefficient encoding system, the encoded message sent from the communication partner is It is possible to significantly reduce the amount of data by first decoding and then re-encoding data, which reduces the recording capacity as much as possible and limits the recording capacity. It becomes possible to record many messages in the medium.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a videophone of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a functional configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of a videophone.

In FIG. 1, is the first recording means, is the second recording means, a is the decoding means, b is the re-encoding means, is the recording medium, is the determining means, and is the line connection means. There is. Of these means, the first
The recording means is provided for recording the encoded data sent from the communication partner as it is on the recording medium.

The second recording means temporarily decodes the encoded data sent from the communication partner, and encodes the decoded data in a predetermined encoding different from the previous encoding method. It is provided for re-encoding by the method and then recording on the recording medium.

In this embodiment, the decoding means a for temporarily decoding the coded data sent from the communication partner and the decoded data are coded different from the previous coding method. Re-encoding means b for re-encoding by the encoding method is provided in the second recording means.

The recording medium is for recording and accumulating the encoded data given from the first recording means or the second recording means. Further, the judging means is for judging whether or not the coded data from the communication partner inputted through the line connecting means is to be recorded as it is on the recording medium. Sends the input encoded data to the first recording means. In the case of re-encoding, the input encoded data is sent to the second recording means.

Since the videophone of this embodiment is configured as described above, it is possible to record as many messages as possible in a randomly accessible storage means such as a hard disk.

That is, when the coding system of the communication partner is a coding system having a low compression rate, the received coding data is once decoded by the decoding means a of the second recording means. Next, since the re-encoding means b can encode the received message with a more efficient encoding method than the received encoded data, the received message can be efficiently transmitted regardless of the encoding method of the communication partner. Data can be compressed, and a large amount of encoded data can be recorded in a hard disk having a limited recording capacity.

Next, a more specific structure of the video telephone of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the videophone of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 1 is a microphone, 2 is a video camera, and 3 and 4 are A / A for converting analog image and audio signals to digital.
D converters 5 are delay circuits for delaying data.

Reference numeral 6 is a resolution converter for converting the resolution of the image signal in accordance with the encoding system, 7 is a standard encoding system or a voice encoding unit having a unique high efficiency encoding system, and 8 is a standardization system. An image encoding unit having an encoding system or a unique high-efficiency encoding system, and 9 is a data multiplexing unit that multiplexes the audio data and the image data encoded by the encoding units 7 and 8.

Reference numeral 10 is a data separation unit for separating multiplexed audio and image data, 11 is an image decoding unit for decoding encoded image data, and 12 is a sound for decoding encoded audio data. Decoding unit, 14 delay circuit for delaying the signal, 13 inverse resolution converter for performing resolution conversion for displaying the decoded image signal, 15 and 1
A D / A converter 6 converts a digital signal into an analog signal.

Reference numeral 17 is a monitor for displaying an image signal output from the D / A converter 15, 18 is a speaker for producing an audio signal output from the D / A converter 16, and 19 is a central control unit for controlling the system. , 20 is a hard disk for accumulating data, 21 is a data multiplexer 9, a data separator 1
0 and a data bus control unit 22 for controlling data exchange between the central control unit 19 and a public line, and a line I / F 22 for connecting lines and arbitrating at the time of connection.

Reference numerals 23 and 24 are selectors for switching between input signals from the microphone 1 and the video camera 2 and reception signals from the image decoder 11 and the audio decoder 12. These selectors 23 and 24 normally select the input signals from the microphone 1 and the video camera 2. Hereinafter, the operation of the videophone shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2 will be described step by step.

First, the operation when used as a normal videophone will be described. During normal operation, the audio signal and the image signal input from the microphone 1 and the video camera 2 are converted into digital signals by the A / D converters 3 and 4, respectively, and then the image signal is encoded by the resolution converter 6. The resolution is converted according to the resolution for performing. In addition, in order to correct the time lag between the audio signal and the image signal (deviation caused by resolution conversion and encoding),
The delay circuit 5 delays by a predetermined time.

Then, the coding method selected by the arbitration with the communication partner by the line I / F 22 at the time of line connection is the voice coding unit 7, the image coding unit 8, the image decoding unit via the central control unit 19. 11 and the speech decoding unit 12.

Then, after being encoded respectively by the audio encoding unit 7 and the image encoding unit 8 and multiplexed by the data multiplexing unit 9, they are given to the line I / F 22 through the data bus control unit 21, It is sent to the communication partner via the public line.

Further, the image coded data and the voice coded data sent from the communication partner via the public line are
The data separation unit 10 separates each into image coded data and audio coded data, which are given to the image decoding unit 11 and audio decoding unit 12 to be decoded.

The image signal thus decoded is
After being converted to the resolution to be displayed by the inverse resolution converter 13, the resolution is applied to the D / A converter 15, where it is converted into an analog signal, and then is guided to the monitor 17 for display.

On the other hand, the decoded audio signal is given to the delay circuit 14, where the time lag with the image data is corrected, and then converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 16. , Is sent to the speaker 18 and is sounded. By performing the above-described operation, it becomes possible to carry out bidirectional communication of images and voice, and it functions as a videophone.

Next, a method of recording a response message used in the recorded message mode will be described. In the response message recording mode, the audio signal and the image signal from the microphone 1 and the video camera 2 are encoded as in the normal operation and multiplexed by the data multiplexing unit 9.

Then, after that, the data bus control section 21 sends the data to the central control section 19, and the central control section 19 prepares for recording audio and image coded data on the hard disk 20. Then, when the recording of the answering message for answering machine is started, the response message at an arbitrary time is recorded on the hard disk 20.

Next, referring to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the case of the videophone according to the present embodiment, the operation in the recorded message mode is roughly classified into two steps. First, a two-step operation is performed in which a response message for notifying the communication partner is sent, and then a message sent from the communication partner is recorded.

That is, when the message recording mode is entered by performing a predetermined operation, the selectors 23 and 24 convert the image signal and the audio signal from the image decoding unit 11 and the audio decoding unit 12 into the image encoding unit 8 and the audio signal. Decoding section 9
Is set so that the incoming call from the line is waited for (step P1).

Next, it is judged whether or not there is an incoming call from the line (step P2), and when there is an incoming call from the line, the line I
/ F22 has received a call to the central control unit 19 after arbitrating the connection procedure of the line and the coding capability,
And an incoming call processing for notifying the contents of arbitration (step P
3).

The central control unit 19 receives the notification from the line I / F 22 and receives the image decoding unit 11 and the audio decoding unit 12.
Is notified that the encoded data of the response message stored in the hard disk 20 is to be decoded. Further, it notifies the audio encoding unit 7 and the image encoding unit 8 that the encoding is performed by the encoding method with the communication partner arbitrated by the line I / F 22.

Then, the central controller 19 reads the response message from the hard disk 20 and sends it to the data bus controller 21. The data bus control unit 21 sends this data to the data separation unit 10. The response message is separated by the data separation unit 10 into image coded data and audio coded data, and the image decoding unit 11 and the audio decoding unit 12 are separated.
Are decrypted respectively.

This decrypted data is the selector 23.
And 24 to be sent to the audio encoding unit 7 and the image encoding unit 8 for encoding. Then, the data multiplexing unit 9
After being multiplexed by, the data is sent from the line I / F 22 via the data bus control unit 21 to the communication partner as a response message via the line (step P4).

However, if the encoded data recorded on the hard disk 20 can be directly transmitted due to the relationship with the communication partner, the encoded data read from the hard disk 20 can be transferred to the central control section 19 → data bus control section 21 → line I. / F
It can be sent directly to the communication partner through the order of 22.

In this way, after transmitting the response message, recording of the message sent from the communication partner is started. Here, there are two methods for recording the message sent from the other party.

That is, there are a method of recording the sent encoded data as it is on the hard disk 20 and a method of performing decoding once, re-encoding it and recording it on the hard disk 20. These two methods are judged by the central control unit 19 according to the encoding system of the received encoded data and the like, and whether or not to change the encoding system of the received message is selected (step P5). .

When the encoded data sent from the communication partner is directly recorded in the hard disk 20 (jump to step P8), the encoded data received by the line I / F 22 is transferred to the data bus control unit. It is sent to the central control unit 19 via 21 and recorded on the hard disk 20 by the central control unit 19.

On the other hand, when decoding is performed once and then encoded again and recorded in the hard disk 20 (proceeding to step P6), the encoding method arbitrated by the line I / F 22 is image-decoded from the central control unit 19. The encoding unit 11 and the audio decoding unit 12 are notified, and the audio encoding unit 7 and the image encoding unit 8 are notified so as to select a more efficient encoding method.

Then, the encoded data received by the line I / F 22 is sent to the data separation unit 10 via the data bus control unit 21, and is separated by the data separation unit 10 into image and audio encoded data. It

After that, the image is decoded by the image decoding unit 11 and the audio decoding unit 12 and sent to the audio encoding unit 7 and the image encoding unit 8 through the selectors 23 and 24, and the audio encoding unit 7 and the image are extracted. The encoding is performed by the encoding unit 8 (step P7). Thereafter, the image signal and the audio signal are multiplexed by the data multiplexing unit 9, and then the data bus control unit 21
And sent to the central controller 19,
Is recorded on the hard disk 20 by (step P
8).

A second embodiment of the videophone of the present invention is shown in FIG. This is the same as the function of each block in the first embodiment described above, but in the present embodiment, the selectors 23 and 24 are the A / D converters 3 and 4.
And the resolution converter 6 and the delay circuit 5. Other than this, since the normal operation is the same as that of the first embodiment, only the points different from the first embodiment will be described below.

The major difference from the first embodiment is that it does not need to have a highly efficient coding system as a coding system. That is, when recording the response message, in the case of the present embodiment, the resolution converter 6 performs resolution conversion on the signal that has been subjected to the inverse resolution conversion by the resolution converter 6, so that the image size to be encoded here This is because the amount of data can be reduced by a method other than encoding by reducing the number of frames.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, the message from the communication partner can be accumulated in the accumulating means by re-encoding it by the encoding method different from the received encoded data. Even a message encoded by an inefficient method can be encoded again by a highly efficient method to reduce the amount of data and then stored in a randomly accessible storage unit. As a result, if a highly efficient encoding system is provided, a large amount of messages can be stored in a randomly accessible storage means such as a hard disk without degrading image quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram showing an outline of a videophone of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a videophone of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the videophone in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a videophone according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of Codes] First Recording Means Second Recording Means a Decoding Means b Re-Encoding Means Recording Media Judging Means Line Connecting Means 1 Microphone 2 Video Camera 3 A / D Converter 4 A / D Converter 5 Delay Circuit 6 Resolution Converter 7 Speech Encoding Section 8 Image Encoding Section 9 Data Multiplexing Section 10 Data Separation Section 11 Image Decoding Section 12 Speech Decoding Section 13 Inverse Resolution Converter 14 Delay Circuit 15 D / A Converter 16 D / A converter 17 monitor 18 speaker 19 central control unit 20 hard disk 21 data bus control unit 22 line I / F

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A videophone having an operation mode of automatically detecting an incoming call from a communication partner and connecting a line to the communication partner to start an answering machine. First recording means for recording data as it is on a recording medium, and coded data sent from the communication partner is once decoded, and the decoded data is coded different from the previous coding method. And a second recording unit which records again on the recording medium by re-encoding by the encoding method. 2. The videophone according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a hard disk. 3. In a videophone having an operation mode of automatically detecting an incoming call from a communication partner and connecting a line to the communication partner to start an answering machine, an encoding transmitted from the communication partner. Judgment means for judging whether or not to record the data as it is on the recording medium, first recording means for directly recording the encoded data sent from the communication partner on the recording medium, and the first recording means sent from the communication partner. And second decoding means for decoding the coded data once and again coding the decoded data by a coding method different from the previous coding method and then recording the coded data on a recording medium. A videophone that is characterized. 4. An audio input unit, an image input unit, an audio encoding unit for selecting and encoding an audio signal from a plurality of systems, and an image encoding unit for selecting and encoding an image signal from a plurality of systems. Means, multiplexing means for multiplexing encoded voice and image data, data separating means for separating the multiplexed data into voice and image encoded data, and decoding the encoded image data Image decoding means for converting,
Audio decoding means for decoding encoded audio data, and image and audio signals from the image and audio input means and decoded image and audio signals are selected and sent to the image and audio encoding means. A selection means, a central control means for performing overall control, a storage means for storing encoded image and audio data, a data multiplexing means, a data separation means, a central control means, and a data path for each public line are provided. In the automatic recording mode in the absence, the image and audio signals decoded by the image and audio decoding means are processed by the selecting means in the image encoding means and the audio encoding means. And the encoded image data and audio data are stored in the storage means. A videophone that is characterized by: 5. The videophone according to claim 4, wherein the image coding means performs resolution conversion of an image.