JPH11265337A - Terminal auxiliary device and terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal auxiliary device capable of extending functions for sound input and image input without being influenced by limitaion to hardware or resources in a terminal equipment. SOLUTION: Image data from a camera 10 and sound data from a microphone 12 are digitized by respective input devices 14, 16 in the terminal auxiliary device 1. These digitized image and sound data are processed as a packet by a controller 18 and supplied to a network 22 through a network adaptor 20. A terminal equipment 2 can extend functions for image input and sound input by adding a receiving function and an analytical function of data outputted from the device 1 based on driver software supplied from the adaptor 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a terminal auxiliary device and a terminal device using a computer system that requires voice input and image input.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in various terminal systems using a personal computer, a workstation, or the like, functions such as image input and voice input, and high-quality image output and high-quality sound output are provided. In order to provide the terminal device, dedicated hardware and software corresponding to each terminal device are required. For example, on a personal computer,
By attaching a dedicated expansion board to the expansion slot and incorporating driver software for driving, the device function is added. In addition, when a new device function is added to the existing hardware, it is necessary to perform an additional work or a built-in work inside the terminal device hardware.
Further, depending on the terminal system, the number of expansion slots, interrupt number, DMA (direct memory access)
Due to source restrictions such as numbers, expansion of devices may not be possible.

[0003] It is desirable that the voice input and image input devices required by the terminal system be available and expandable, but these devices are not manufactured, or even if they are manufactured, the expansion slots are insufficient. If there is no room for the assignment of the interrupt number or the DMA number, it is necessary to give up the addition of these input devices or replace the terminal system main body with one that can be added.

[0004] Even if a desired expansion device is available and expandable, since the expansion device is a dedicated board specified for each hardware, hardware of other architectures may not be available. Cannot be diverted. Also, software and hardware settings are required for each machine.

[0005] By the way, when trying to extend the function to the terminal system, it is not limited to the voice input device and the image input device,
Consideration is required from the following viewpoints. (1) It is preferable that the expansion device does not depend on the architecture of the hardware on the terminal body side, that is, it can be used for any type of hardware. (2) It is convenient if existing application software on the terminal body side can be used to drive the expansion device. (3) It is more convenient if information can be transmitted remotely by using a network.

The present invention focuses on the above points,
It is an object of the present invention to extend the functions of voice input and image input without being affected by the limitations of hardware and resources of a terminal device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a terminal assisting apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the signal input means for obtaining image data and audio data exchanges signals with other devices via a network. An image input unit having a function of digitizing the image data; an audio input unit having a function of digitizing the audio data; image data and audio data digitized by the image input unit and the audio input unit For controlling the supply of data to a specific terminal device via the network; and interface means for supplying data output from the control unit to the network.

[0008] One of the main modes is characterized in that a transmission means for transmitting the image data and the audio data to the image input means and the audio input means by wireless is provided.

The terminal device of the present invention is connected to the terminal auxiliary device by a network, and receives the image data and the audio data via the network, and is supplied to the network. Interface means for taking in data; and software means which functions as a driver of the interface means and has a function of analyzing the taken-in data.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail. <First embodiment>

First, a first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the present embodiment. The terminal auxiliary device 1 is configured to be connected to the terminal device 2 via a network 22. First, from the transmitting side, the camera 10
Is connected to the image input device 14. The output side of the microphone 12 is connected to the audio input device 16. The signal output side of the image input device 14 is connected to the control device 18. The signal output side of the audio input device 16 is also connected to the control device 18. The signal output side of the control device 18 is connected to a network adapter (network interface) 20. The signal output side of the network adapter 20 is connected to the network 22.

The image input device 14 is for inputting an analog video signal from the camera 10 and digitizing the same. For the format of digitized video signals, see MotionJPEG, MPEG,
There are various things such as AVI and QuickTime,
Here, there is no particular limitation, and any may be used. The audio input device 16 is for digitizing an analog audio signal from the microphone 12 or an audio input.

The control device 18 controls image data and audio data digitized by the image input device 14 and the audio input device 16. Specifically, the fetched data is stored in a storage circuit (here, included in the control device 18) of the terminal auxiliary device 1, and is divided into a certain length for transfer using the network 22. Then, information (IP address) of the transmission source (terminal auxiliary device) and the transmission destination (terminal device) is embedded in the header.
The obtained data is in a so-called “packet” format. Information on the transfer destination and the transfer source is set in the control device 18. This setting can be made by a hardware switch, but can also be made remotely by connecting a network or a terminal.
The network adapter 20 exchanges signals with other devices. That is, the captured data is transmitted to the designated terminal device. The packet data is transferred onto the network 22 via the network adapter 20.

In this case, when taking in and communicating data without interruption for a fixed period of time, two buffer memories for processing are prepared, and one buffer memory is used for processing, dividing, and embedding addresses. During the transfer, the other buffer memory takes in the data. Then, when the data transfer of one buffer memory is completed, the buffer memory is switched and the same processing is repeated, whereby continuous processing is possible.

Next, several methods for transmitting the captured data to a designated terminal device will be described. The current mainstream network technology is TC
P and UDP. Of these, TCP (Transmsmiss
In the case of using the ion control protocol, the terminal auxiliary device 1 informs the terminal device 2 to be connected that the data transfer is to be started, and after confirming, starts the data transfer. When the data transfer is complete, close the connection.
On the other hand, in the case of UDP (User Datagram Protocol), information (IP address) relating to a receiving destination is embedded in data and transmitted to a network. A plurality of terminal devices connected to the network receive the data if they find one that is addressed to themselves. In this embodiment, either of them can be used, but TCP is effective when quantitative data is sent periodically and reliably.
UDP for continuous data flow (broadcasting, monitoring, etc.)
Is valid.

Next, the mechanism of the terminal device 2 on the receiving side will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, the input side of the network adapter 24 is connected to the network 22. The output side of the network adapter 24 is connected to the terminal control device 26. The output side of the terminal control device 26 is connected to the display device 28.

First, in order to facilitate understanding of this embodiment, a case where a function such as image input and voice input is extended by a conventional terminal device having the same reception interface processing and function will be described with reference to FIG. I will explain it. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hierarchical structure from hardware to application applications in a normal terminal device (computer). In FIG. 1, an image input device 100A and a voice input device 100B, which are hardware 100, are installed in empty expansion slots as expansion boards of a computer. Therefore, driver software 102 for managing and controlling those expansion boards is required. Become. The image input extension board has a driver 102A dedicated to image input, and the audio input extension board has a driver 102B dedicated to audio input.
is necessary. Further, as an application 106,
Dedicated application 106A for inputting images and sounds
is necessary.

Next, a hierarchical structure from hardware to applications according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the terminal assistant device 1
The image data and the audio data can be considered to be data of the same property for the network 22. If there is an application that requires image data and audio data from the terminal auxiliary device 1, an API (Application Program Interface) portion of a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) composed of original hardware and driver software The terminal device 2 connected to the network 22 through an interface corresponding to the above-described standard normally transmits and receives data according to an installed program. By adding a function of receiving data from the terminal auxiliary device 1 and an analysis function to the program, as shown in FIG. 3, what was originally provided by hardware and a dedicated driver is covered by the driver 102C of the network adapter 24. The OS10
4. The interface viewed from the application 106 is the same as that in FIG. That is, the transfer of image data and audio data is realized by adding necessary functions to the driver software 102C of the network adapter 24 without adding (changing) hardware to the terminal device. <Embodiment 2>

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 shows a terminal assistance device 30 having a plurality of image input devices 30 and voice input devices 34.
0 is the network 22 and a plurality of terminal devices 301 to 303
FIG. Multiple cameras 30A-30
C is a plurality of image input devices 32A of the terminal assisting device 300.
To 32C. Similarly, the plurality of microphones 34A to 34C are connected to the plurality of audio input devices 36A to 36C.
C, respectively. Each image input device 32A-
The output side of 32C and the output side of each of the audio input devices 36A to 36C are connected to the control device 38. Control device 38
Is connected to a network adapter 40. Since the input device of this embodiment includes a plurality of image input devices 32 and a plurality of voice input devices 36, the operation of the control device 38 is similar to that of the control device of the first embodiment, and is also effective in selecting an input signal or selecting a terminal. Is also performed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state of data transfer when a plurality of cameras 30A to 30C and microphones 34A to 34C are used. In the figure, from the terminal assistant device 300, data images A to C of cameras, audio data A to C,
Are received in a time-division manner and sent to the network 22 in an appropriate order (arbitrary). The data sent is the source
(Terminal device 300) and destination (terminal devices 301 to 30).
This is a packet in which the information (IP address) of 3) is embedded.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the format of image data and audio data. In FIG. 6A, transmission source information and transmission destination information are embedded in image data and audio data, respectively. FIG. 6B shows an example in which image data and audio data are combined into one, and transmission source information and transmission destination information are added thereto. Receiving terminal device 301
In steps 303 to 303, a packet flowing through the network 22 is monitored, and is taken in only when it is confirmed that the packet is image data or audio data sent from the terminal auxiliary device 300 to itself. For example, image A of camera A, microphone A
Is received by the terminal device 301. <Other embodiments>

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 shows an example in which signals from the camera 10 and the microphone 12 are wirelessly transmitted to the image input device 14 and the audio input device 16, respectively. In FIG. 7, the output side of the camera 10 and the output side of the microphone 12 are:
It is connected to the transmitting device 50. On the other hand, the output side of the receiving device 52 is connected to the image input device 14 and the audio input device 16, respectively. Other components are the same as in the first embodiment. Signals from the camera 10 and the microphone 12 are output from the transmitting device 50 and transferred to the receiving device 52 wirelessly (wirelessly, infrared rays). The receiving device 52
The received signal is received and supplied to the subsequent image input device 14 and audio input device 16 respectively.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the second embodiment is wireless. In the figure, the input device is a plurality of cameras 3
0A to 30C and a plurality of microphones 34A to 34C, and accordingly, a plurality of transmitting devices 60A to 60C
And receiving devices 62A to 62C. Output sides of the plurality of receiving devices 62A to 62C are connected to an image switch 64 and an audio switch 66, respectively. The output side of the image switch 64 is connected to the image input device 68.
The output side of the audio switch 66 is connected to the audio input device 70. An output side of the image input device 68 is connected to a control device 72.
It is connected to the. The output side of the voice input device 70 is also connected to the control device 72. The output side of the control device 72
It is connected to the network adapter 74. The control device 68 is also connected to the image switch 64 and the sound switch 66.

Cameras 30A-30C, microphones 30A-3
0C are output from the transmitting devices 60A to 60C, and the receiving devices 62A to 62C are wireless (wireless, infrared).
Transferred to C. The receiving devices 62A to 62C receive the transferred signals and supply corresponding signals to the image switch 64 and the sound switch 66, respectively. The image switch 64 is
The input image signals of the cameras 30A to 30C are supplied to the image input device 68 while switching in a time-division manner. On the other hand, the sound switch 66 is connected to the input microphones 34A to 34A.
The audio signal C is supplied to the audio input device 70 while switching in synchronization with the video signal in a time-division manner. The above switching selection is controlled by the control device 72. After that,
This is the same as in the second embodiment.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects can be obtained. (1) The image input from the image input device and the audio input from the audio input device can be transmitted to a specific terminal device specified in advance by a network. (2) Various functions can be expanded without being affected by hardware or resource restrictions on the terminal device side. (3) Various functions can be simultaneously added to a plurality of terminal devices, or a plurality of functions can be added to one terminal device. (4) Since the data of the extended function is transmitted wirelessly, it is possible to avoid complicated wiring. (5) The extended function data received from the network
Since a driver function that treats the data as equivalent to the hardware data on the terminal side is provided, the function can be extended without adding hardware to the terminal device. (6) By driving the terminal assisting device in a time-sharing manner, it is possible to perform the same function expansion in a plurality of terminals.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a hierarchical configuration diagram of hardware and software in a normal terminal device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical configuration of hardware and software of the terminal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how data is transferred when a plurality of cameras and microphones are used.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format of image data and audio data.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,300,400 terminal assistant device 2,301,302,303 terminal device 10,30 camera 12,34 microphone 14,32,68 image input device 16,36,70 audio input device 18,38 , 72 ... control device 20, 24, 40, 74 ... network adapter 22 ... network 26 ... terminal control device 28 ... display device 50, 60 ... transmission device 52, 62 ... reception device 64 ... image switching device 66 ... audio switching device 102 … Driver software

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A terminal assisting device for exchanging signals with another device via a network, wherein a signal inputting unit for obtaining image data and audio data is provided. The image inputting unit having a function of digitizing the image data; Voice input means having a function of digitizing data; the image input means and the image data and voice data digitized by the voice input means;
Control means for controlling supply to a specific terminal device via the network; and interface means for supplying data output from the control means to the network. Terminal auxiliary equipment. 2. The terminal assisting device according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission unit that transmits the image data and the audio data to the image input unit and the audio input unit, respectively, wirelessly. 3. A terminal device connected to the terminal auxiliary device according to claim 1 or 2 via a network and receiving the image data and the audio data via the network, wherein the terminal device is supplied to the network. A terminal device, comprising: interface means for taking in existing data; software means which functions as a driver of the interface means and has a function of analyzing the taken-in data.