KR100587772B1 - Voice Communication Method And System - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a voice communication method and system, and more particularly, to a voice communication method and system for instant voice communication between users in conjunction with an online game or an online community service.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a voice communication method includes receiving communication information including location information and a voice channel receiving port from a user, storing the communication information in association with the user in a communication database, and providing the user with a predetermined criterion. Determining a member corresponding to one of the sessions, retrieving communication information associated with the member from the communication database, generating session information including communication information associated with the member, and storing the session information in the session database; Receiving and copying a voice signal from a member having a talk right among the members, and transmitting the copied voice signal to a member other than the member having the talk right based on the session information.

Voice communication, online games, community, one-to-many

Description

Voice Communication Method And System

1 is a diagram illustrating a network connection of a voice communication system for performing a voice communication method according to the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a voice communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a network connection of a client terminal, a voice communication system, and a game server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 illustrates an example of data transmitted by a game server to a voice communication system as information associated with a user, in one embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in a communication database according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of data stored in a session database according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

7 illustrates a voice communication system in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

8 is an internal block diagram of a general-purpose computer system that can constitute a voice communication system or the like according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

111, 112, 113: client terminal

120: voice communication server 130: game server, community server

701: user interface unit 702: communication database

703: session processing unit 704: session information generation unit

705: Session Database 706: Voice Relay

801: processor 802: RAM

803: ROM 804: Mass Storage Device

805: input and output interface 806: CD ROM

807: network interface

The present invention relates to a voice communication method and system, and more particularly, to a voice communication method and system for instant voice communication between users in conjunction with an online game or an online community service.

An online game refers to a game in which users can access a game system through a network and exchange information with the game system in real time. In the case of a game that supports team play among these online games, communication between users is important because the tactical strategy of each team is important, and the conventional game system is formed based on characters between users. Communicate by sending and receiving instant messages.

However, such a text-based instant messaging method has a problem in that the concentration of the game in progress is deteriorated because it is necessary to input a character through a keyboard operation and read a message received from a counterpart user while playing an online game.

In addition, the importance of real-time communication such as urgent contact and simultaneous notification among members is also important in community services including various groups through the Internet. Therefore, it is necessary to support communication among users belonging to the same community. However, the conventional community service also supports users to communicate by using a short message in text, and has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to accurately express or communicate emotions and intimacy between users decreases.

In order to overcome these drawbacks, a method has recently been devised or known to solve the problem by integrating a voice / video chat system with an online game system or a community system as an alternative to text-based instant messaging. However, the conventional voice communication method using the voice / video chat system has the following problems.

First, in the conventional voice / video chat system, the receiving party explicitly communicates with the receiving party because the receiving party explicitly accepts the voice chat request so that the communication is possible or only when the chat room is created in advance. It is difficult to promptly respond at the receiving side during the operation or community activity of the online game, especially during the operation of the online game, and there is a problem in that the immediateness of communication required by the characteristics of the online game or the community service is significantly reduced.

Second, in the case of group communication using a conventional voice / video chat system, a multi-party (N: M) communication method is used. Therefore, when several people speak at the same time, each voice signal generated from each voice channel of a plurality of speakers is used. A voice mixing technique should be applied to mix each voice channel so that the receiver can hear it as if it were a single sound.

In this case, the load of the voice chat server to support the mixing and distribution functions of the voice channel increases, and there is a cost to increase the computing capability of the voice chat server to handle the increased load.

In addition, even when the user terminal performs a mix of voice channels in order to reduce the load on the voice chat server, the user terminal is loaded, which is a factor that interferes with the normal operation of an online game or community service. .

In addition, there is a problem that the voice quality is degraded in the process of mixing the voice channel.

Third, in the case of using the voice / video chat system, even if the user does not speak, the data encoded with the background noise for performing the voice chat is continuously transmitted and received between the user terminal and the voice chat server. The voice / video chat system uses a finite network resource (e.g., DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), modem's link bandwidth) by sharing the online game or community service. In this case, there is a problem that the game is not made smoothly due to a transmission delay such as data required for the game.

Although the technology for many voice / chat systems has been developed for the reasons described above, there are few suitable voice / video chat systems that can be integrated and operated with online games or community services. It was difficult to introduce a video chat system.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, and provides a voice communication method and system that can perform one-to-one or one-way one-to-many voice communication in real time while using an online game or community service in real time. It aims to do it.

To this end, unlike the general voice / video chat method, the present invention omits the call setup procedure as much as possible, and provides a voice communication method and system capable of instant voice communication without an explicit intention of accepting the other party.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a one-to-one or one-way one-to-many voice communication method and system which is cheaper and has better voice quality than a multi-party (N: M) method using a voice signal mixing technique. do.

In addition, the present invention because only the voice / video data of the speaker is delivered, the amount of data transmitted and received is significantly reduced compared to the general voice / video chat system, thereby minimizing the impact on the data transmission required for the linked online game or community system It is an object to provide a communication method and system.

In order to achieve the above object and to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the voice communication method according to the present invention receives a communication information including a location information and a voice channel receiving port from a user, the user in a communication database Storing the communication information in association with, determining a member corresponding to one session among users according to a predetermined criterion, retrieving communication information associated with the member from the communication database, associated with the member Generating and storing session information including communication information in a session database, receiving and copying a voice signal from a member having a talk right among the members, and copying the copied voice signal based on the session information. Sent to a member other than the member Steps.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the session information further includes a certain voice right, the voice is a right to grant to the user allowed to transmit the voice signal, only one member of the member has the right to speak, The voice communication method according to the invention further comprises the step of determining a member having a say based on the say right logic.

According to another aspect of the invention, the step of determining the member corresponding to one session among the user according to the predetermined criteria, the step of receiving a user's selection from the user, and selected from the user and the user Determining a user as a member corresponding to the session.

According to another aspect of the invention, the step of determining the member corresponding to one session among the users according to the predetermined criteria, the step of receiving the user's selection from the game server to which the user's terminal is connected And determining the user selected by the game server as a member corresponding to the session.

The present invention also provides a computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the above-described voice communication method.

The present invention also provides a user interface for receiving communication information including location information and a voice channel receiving port from a user, a communication database for storing the communication information in association with the user, among users according to a predetermined criterion. A session processing unit for determining a member corresponding to one session and generating a control command for establishing the session; a session for retrieving communication information associated with the member from the communication database according to the control command and generating session information; An information generation unit, a session database for storing the session information, and a member receiving a voice signal from a member having a voice, and copying the voice signal, and a member other than the member having the voice, based on the session information. Send to It includes a voice relay unit.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of the present invention in detail.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network connection of a voice communication system for performing a voice communication method according to the present invention. Reference numerals 111, 112, and 113 denote client terminals, and reference numeral 120 denotes a voice communication server. The voice communication server 120 serves to relay voice communication between the client terminals 111, 112, and 113, and the voice communication server 120 and the client terminals 111, 112, and 113 are connected through a communication network such as the Internet. It is.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a voice communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The voice communication method according to the present embodiment may be performed by the voice communication system 700 as shown in FIG. 7, and the voice communication system 700 is a system installed on the voice communication server 120 side.

The voice communication system 700 receives communication information including location information (such as an IP address and a data exchange port for call control) and a voice channel receiving port from the client terminal 111 of the user in steps 201 and 202. Communication information is stored in the communication database 702 in association with the user.

The voice communication system 700 determines the member corresponding to one session at step 203. Various member determination methods can be used to determine the members corresponding to one session.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the voice communication system 700 receives a user's selection from the user, and determines the user and the selected user as members corresponding to the session. For example, when the user of the client terminal 111 selects the users of the client terminals 112 and 113, the member corresponding to the session becomes the user of the client terminals 111, 112 and 113. Hereinafter, each user corresponding to the client terminals 111, 112, and 113 will be referred to as user A, user B, and user C.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the voice communication system 700 receives a user's selection from a game server to which users A to C are connected. 3 is a diagram illustrating network connections of the client terminals 111, 112, 113, the voice communication system 700, and the game server 130 in the present embodiment. The game server 130 is connected to the voice communication system 700 and the client terminals 111, 112, and 113 through a communication network such as the Internet.

The voice communication system 700 determines a user, for example, user A to user C, received from the game server 130 as a member corresponding to the session.

Game server 130 is based on any one or more of the connected user, based on any one or more of the user's position, role, capabilities in the virtual game world, the team to which the user belongs, the region where the user is located in the game space You can select the member that corresponds to.

That is, in the voice communication method according to the present embodiment, a game member provides a function of shouting to a game member in the vicinity of the user in the game world, or a user who joins the same team is automatically included in the session. It can provide the ability to share operations and perform team play.

In addition, when the user A accesses the game server 130, the game server 130 may determine among the connected users that the user registered (registered) as a member of the session corresponding to the user A.

The voice communication program installed on the client terminal side to perform the voice communication method according to the present embodiment may be included in a game program for playing a game provided by the game server 130 or in conjunction with the game program. It can also be an independent program that runs. In the case of an independent program, the game program is activated and the voice program is inactive during the game. Even in this case, pressing a hot key allows the voice program to maintain the deactivation state and obtain the right to speak. According to the present embodiment, while the voice program is left in an inactive state, the user can support the acquisition of the right to speak while playing the game, and the right to speak and the voice communication can be performed even when the game program is activated.

In order to obtain the right to speak, a preset button of a keyboard, mouse, microphone, joystick, or other known computer input device or an external input device specialized for voice communication for game may be used.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the communication information is transmitted from the client terminal (111, 112, 113) to the game server 130, the game server 130 as described later together with the communication information Information for generating session information may be transmitted together to the voice communication system 700. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data transmitted by the game server 130 to the voice communication system 700 as information associated with user A. As shown in FIG.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the game server 130 to display the game character associated with the member corresponding to the session distinguished from the game character associated with other users. For example, a game character associated with a member belonging to the same session may have a different color from other characters or have a special item. Therefore, the user who plays the game can easily recognize the counterpart character who is in voice communication with the user.

In addition, the present embodiment has been described in the case of interworking with a game server for providing an online game, the voice communication method according to the present invention can be performed in conjunction with an independent service other than game services, such as community services.

However, before determining the user A through the user C as a member corresponding to the session, the voice communication system 700 must determine whether the user A through the user C are in a voice communication enabled state. To this end, the voice communication system 700 according to another embodiment of the present invention uses a voice communication state from the client terminals 111, 112, and 113 to determine whether the user A or the like is in a state capable of voice communication. Get information about For example, in the case of the client terminal 111, when the client terminal 111 connects to the voice communication system 700, the client terminal 111 not only inputs the communication information to the voice communication system 700, but also the client terminal 111. Transmits information indicating that the voice communication is enabled.

In addition, the client terminal 111 transmits information to the voice communication system 700 informing that the voice communication has become impossible before the voice communication system 700 is disconnected. In addition, the information on the voice communication state may be a 'rejection' for accessing the voice communication system 700 but not performing voice communication.

The voice communication system 700 further stores information on the voice communication state as described above of the client terminal 111 in association with the user A in the communication database 702. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in the communication database 702.

Therefore, the voice communication system 700 may refer to the data stored in the communication database 702 to determine whether the user A to the user C are in a voice communication enabled state, and the user A to user C may be in the voice communication state. Voice communication system 700 determines User A through User C as members corresponding to the session. As a result of the determination, when there is a user who is in a state in which voice communication is impossible (no connection, rejection, etc.), only the user except the user is determined as a member corresponding to the session.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, to determine whether the user A to the user C is in a state capable of voice communication, the client terminal (111, 112, 113) using the communication information stored in the communication database The test message is transmitted to the test message, and a predetermined response message is received from the client terminals 111, 112, and 113 in the test message. The response message includes information on whether or not the client terminals 111, 112, and 113 are capable of voice communication, and the voice communication system 700 enables voice communication between users A and C based on the information. After determining whether it is in a state, only the user who is capable of voice communication is determined to be a member corresponding to the session.

The voice communication method according to the present embodiment may use various methods as described above in order to determine a member corresponding to a predetermined session.

When the member corresponding to the session is determined, the voice communication system 700 retrieves communication information associated with the members (User A to User C) from the communication database 702 and generates session information including the communication information. Store in session database 705 (steps 204 and 205).

6 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in the session database 705. As shown in Fig. 6, the session information includes a session identifier for identifying a session, communication information associated with each member (location information and voice channel receiving port), a member who started the session (user A in this embodiment), and a voice. Information such as logic, members who have a say, timeouts, and the like are included.

The right to speak is a right to transmit a voice signal, and the voice communication system 700 receives only a voice signal from a user who has a right to speak, and such a voice has only one person among the members.

The voice communication system 700 determines, in step 206, a member having a voice based on the voice logic stored in the session database 705, and various voice logic may be used, depending on the embodiment. In FIG. 6, first, the right to speak is given to the member who applied for the right to speak. That is, the voice communication system 700 memorizes the order of the members who applied for the right to speak and gives the right to speak in the above order.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the voice communication system 700 receives a status or role associated with the user A to the user C in the game world from the game server 130, and the right to speak according to the status or role The voice logic that makes the decision may use the logic. For example, when playing a game with team play, a voice logic is used that gives the team leader priority over the voice.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the game server 130 sells the 'speaking' item, and the voice communication system 700 uses the voice right logic to give only the members who have the 'speaking' talk. Can be.

At this time, the 'capability' of the data as shown in FIG. 4 includes information on whether the 'talk' item is held, the voice communication system 700 receives the data from the game server 130 to the data The right to speak may be granted on the basis of

Users with 'speaking' items can smoothly negotiate operations compared to users who can only receive voice signals, which can increase the odds or score of online games, and service providers that offer online games can sell 'speaking' items. Through this, new added value can be created.

If the member with the current voice is user A, voice communication system 700 receives the voice signal from user A in step 207, copies the voice signal in step 210, and user 2 in step 211. The copied voice signal is transmitted to B and user C.

The user A inputs a voice signal through a microphone while pressing the specific key of the keyboard and pressing the specific button of the mouse while holding the voice (that is, while the specific input is continued), and the client terminal 111 Transmits the voice signal to voice communication system 700. At this time, since the user A can simply input a voice while pressing the specific key, the user A can easily input a voice signal while concentrating on an online game or the like.

In addition, even when the voice communication program installed in the client terminal 111 is executed independently of the game program to perform the present embodiment, the voice communication program is activated even when the voice communication program is not activated. It is desirable to press a specific key to input voice.

In addition, when the member corresponding to the session is determined and the setting of the session information is completed to enable the voice communication, the voice communication system 700 indicates that the session setting is completed to the client terminals 111, 112, and 113. In addition, the client terminals 111, 112, and 113 inform the user A to the user C that voice communication is possible through an effect sound or a simple message.

In addition, whenever the voice is transferred, the client terminal of the newly-voiced user informs the user of the right to speak through a sound effect or a simple message. When the user inputs a voice while pressing a specific key, the client terminal may inform the user of a unique sound effect or a simple message that the right to speak is not granted.

According to the above-described configuration, since the voice signal received and transmitted by the voice communication system 700 is a voice signal (ie, a voice signal transmitted from one channel) transmitted from one member having a voice, a conventional voice signal is used. The process of mixing the same voice signal is unnecessary. Therefore, in the voice communication method according to the present embodiment, when the voice signals are mixed, the load in the voice communication system 700 is increased, the cost is increased to purchase equipment for processing the load, and the mixing is performed. Since there is no problem of degrading voice quality in the process, voice communication with good voice quality can be performed at low cost.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the voice communication system 700 determines whether a request for modulation of a voice signal from a user A is input in step 208 before performing steps 210 and 211, When the request for modulation of the voice signal is input as a result of the determination, step 209 of modulating the voice signal received in step 207 is performed. In this case, the voice communication system 700 includes various modulation algorithms (for example, an algorithm for modulating a voice of a female, a male, a child, an elderly person, etc.), and from the user A according to the modulation algorithm selected by the user A. Modulate the voice signal.

For example, members of an online game may select a desired modulation method of a voice signal in order to express the personality of the virtual character selected in the game or to ensure the privacy of their own voice. When user A, a male gamer, selects a female character as a virtual character in an online game, the user may request to modulate his or her voice into a female voice by modulating a voice signal.

On the other hand, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the modulation of the voice signal may be performed in the client terminal 111 of the user A, not the voice communication system 700 of the voice communication server 120 side. In this case, the client terminal 111 modulates the voice signal of the user A using a voice modulation algorithm stored in the client terminal 111 and transmits the modulated voice signal to the voice communication system 700.

Receiving the modulated voice signal, the voice communication system 700 copies and transmits the modulated voice signal to user B and user C without performing voice signal modulation. According to the present embodiment, the voice communication system 700 does not need to perform the modulation of the voice signal, so that the load on the voice communication system 700 is reduced.

Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the voice communication system 700 further receives a predetermined audio signal from the user, and stores the audio signal in the communication database 702 in association with the user. When the user A inputs and stores an audio signal, the user A inputs a request for combining the audio signal and the voice signal. When the audio signal synthesis request is received, the voice communication system 700 retrieves an audio signal associated with user A from the communication database 702, synthesizes the audio signal input from the user A with the audio signal, and synthesizes the audio signal. The voice signal is copied and transmitted to user B and user C. The audio signal may be background music or sound effect. Therefore, members can express various expressions using audio signals, thereby enabling more colorful voice communication.

Meanwhile, instead of receiving an audio signal from the user, the voice communication system 700 may store various audio signals in a predetermined database and allow the user to select an audio signal to be synthesized with the voice signal.

In addition, when the user inputs and stores a plurality of audio signals, an input for selecting one audio signal among a plurality of audio signals stored in association with the user is additionally received in addition to the voice signal synthesis request.

On the other hand, the synthesis of the audio signal and the audio signal may be performed in the client terminal 111, in this case, the audio signal only needs to be stored in the client terminal 111 and the user A is the voice communication system 700 ), And the voice communication system 700 does not need to have a large storage capacity for storing the audio signal.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the audio signal may be not a background music or an effect sound but a famous dialogue of a movie or a pre-recorded voice. In this case, user A requests to transmit the audio signal, and voice communication system 700 transmits only the audio signal to user B and user C without synthesizing with the audio signal. In this case, since only the transmission request of the audio signal needs to be received without receiving the voice signal from the user A, the amount of data that the voice communication system 700 needs to transmit and receive is reduced.

On the other hand, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the audio signal may be stored in the client terminal 111, not the voice communication server 120 side. In this case, instead of inputting the voice signal, user A may instruct the audio signal to be transmitted to user B and user C by instructing the audio signal to be transmitted to voice communication system 700.

The client terminals 112 and 113 that have received the voice signal (or the modulated voice signal, the predetermined audio signal, and the predetermined audio signal) output the voice signal through a speaker in step 213. Provide to user B and user C.

In addition, the voice communication system 700 determines whether or not a predetermined timeout (for example, one minute) has elapsed since the user A has a voice in step 212, and the determination result timeout has elapsed. In the case, the right to speak is retrieved from the user A, and the right to speak is given to the member having the next speaking right according to the speaking right logic stored in the session database 705.

In the voice communication method according to the present embodiment, since only one member having a voice can transmit a voice signal, since one member has a voice for a long time may interfere with smooth voice communication, and thus, the session database 705 may be used. The set timeout is stored, and the time is counted from the point at which the right to speak is granted so that another member can have the right to speak when the timeout elapses.

If a situation arises in which a session needs to be terminated, such as when all members disconnect, or send a command to reject voice communication, the voice communication system 700 deletes the corresponding session information from the session database 705 and the above information is deleted. Terminating the session prevents unnecessary session information from remaining, thereby increasing the consumption of the session database 705. User A through User C transmit a voice signal (if they have a right to speak) while pressing a specific key until the session is terminated, and receive a voice signal from the voice communication system 700 (if a user does not have a right to speak). Voice communication can be performed in real time at any time.

When the voice communication program installed in the client terminal accesses the voice communication system 700, the voice communication program receives information about the communication status of the buddy, which is the user registered by the user, from the voice communication system 700, and displays the buddy list and The communication status corresponding to the buddy is displayed. Thus, the user can know the communication state of his buddy. In addition, when the communication state of the buddy is changed, the voice communication system 700 notifies the client terminal of this fact, and the client terminal changes and displays the communication state corresponding to the buddy.

The present invention also provides a computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for performing the voice communication method according to each of the above-described embodiments.

The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The medium or program instructions of the medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks, such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. The medium may be a transmission medium such as an optical or metal wire, a waveguide, or the like including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal specifying a program command, a data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

Hereinafter, a voice communication system according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. 7 is a diagram illustrating a voice communication system 700 according to the present embodiment, and the voice communication system 700 includes a user interface unit 701, a communication database unit 702, a session processing unit 703, and session information generation. A unit 704, a session database 705, and a voice relay 706.

The user interface unit 701 receives communication information including location information and a voice channel receiving port from the client terminals 111, 112, and 113, and the communication database 702 stores the communication information in association with the user. .

The session processor generates a control command for determining a member corresponding to a predetermined session and setting up the session by various methods as described in the above embodiments. When the game server 130 determines a member corresponding to the session, the voice communication system 700 further includes an interface for transmitting and receiving data as shown in FIG. 4 with the game server 130.

The session information generating unit 704 receives the control command and searches for communication information associated with the member in the communication database 702 according to the control command to generate session information as shown in FIG. 705 stores the session information.

The voice relay unit 706 determines a member having a voice according to the voice right logic included in the session information, receives and copies a voice signal from the member having the voice, and copies the copied voice signal into the session information (session information). Communication information included in the communication information), to members other than the member having the right to speak.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the process of determining the member corresponding to the session and generating the session information for the session is simple, call setup can be made simpler and faster than in the related art. Accordingly, members corresponding to the session can perform one-to-one or one-to-many voice communication in real time.

Since the data structure stored in the communication database 702 has been described with reference to FIG. 5 and the session information has already been described with reference to FIG. 6, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

8 is an internal block diagram of a general-purpose computer system that can be employed to construct a voice communication system and the like according to the present invention.

Computer system 800 includes one or more processors 801 connected to a main memory including random access memory (RAM) 802 and read only memory (ROM) 803. The processor 801 is also called a central processing unit (CPU). As is well known in the art, the ROM 803 serves to transfer data and instructions to the CPU unidirectionally, and the RAM 802 typically transfers data and instructions bidirectionally. Used to. RAM 802 and ROM 803 may include any suitable form of computer readable media. Mass storage 804 is bidirectionally coupled to processor 801 to provide additional data storage capabilities, and may be any of the computer readable recording media described above. The mass storage device 804 is used to store programs, data, and the like, and is typically an auxiliary memory device such as a hard disk which is slower than the main memory device. Certain mass storage devices such as CD ROM 806 may be used. The processor 801 may include one or more input / output interfaces such as video monitors, trackballs, mice, keyboards, microphones, touchscreen displays, card readers, magnetic or paper tape readers, voice or handwriting readers, joysticks, or other known computer input / output devices. 805 is connected. Finally, the processor 801 may be connected to a wired or wireless communication network through the network interface 807. Through this network connection, the procedure of the method described above can be performed. The apparatus and tools described above are well known to those skilled in the computer hardware and software arts.

The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention.

According to the present invention, there is provided a voice communication method and system capable of one-to-one or one-way one-to-many voice communication in real time while using an online game or community service.

In addition, according to the present invention, members can perform one-to-one, one-to-many voice communication in real time, and a call setup process (session setting is completed until voice communication is possible, compared to a VoIP telephone system or a general conference voice / video chat system). Because of this simple process, instant voice communication is possible.

In addition, according to the present invention, once determined to be a member corresponding to the session, there is no need to wait for an explicit reception permission response of a recipient (a member who does not have the right to speak), thereby enabling instant voice communication, thereby enabling online games or community activities. It has the effect of instant one-to-one and one-to-many voice communication without interruption.

In addition, according to the present invention, unlike the general conference type voice / video chat server, since the one-to-many (1: N) method is adopted in group communication, the process of mixing voice signals as in the multi-party (N; M) method Since this is unnecessary, efficient voice communication can be carried out at low cost, and the deterioration of the voice quality generated in the voice mixing process is prevented in advance, thereby enabling high quality voice communication.

In addition, according to the present invention, the amount of data transmitted and received is significantly reduced compared to a general voice / video chat system, it is possible to minimize the effect on the data transmission required for the linked online game or community system.

Further, according to the present invention, the voice communication program installed in the client terminal does not necessarily need to be integrated with other service programs such as an online game program or a community program. Therefore, it can be executed as an independent program separate from the online game program or community program, so it can be relatively less affected by other programs, thereby preventing the deterioration of the voice signal quality during the transmission and reception of voice signals. have.

On the contrary, according to the present invention, the voice communication program may be integrated with other service programs such as an online game program or a community program. In this case, since the components of the service server such as a game server and the voice communication server do not need to exist in duplicate, and an interface with the game server is not necessary, the development and operation costs are reduced.

As described above, the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, which can be variously modified and modified by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Modifications are possible. Accordingly, the spirit of the present invention should be understood only by the claims set forth below, and all equivalent or equivalent modifications thereof will belong to the scope of the present invention.

Claims (22)

delete In the voice communication method, Receiving communication information including location information and a voice channel receiving port from a user; Storing the communication information in association with the user in a communication database; Determining a member corresponding to one session among users according to a predetermined criterion; Retrieving communication information associated with the member from the communication database; Generating and storing session information including communication information associated with the member and predetermined talk right logic in a session database; Determining a member having utterance based on the utterance logic, wherein the utterance is a right to grant to a user who is allowed to transmit the voice signal, which only one of the members may have; Receiving and copying the voice signal transmitted while one of the members has the right to speak; And Transmitting the copied voice signal to a member other than the member having the right to speak based on the session information. Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 2, And said right to logic grants a right to speak in the order in which a request for a right to speak is input from said member. 4. The voice communication according to claim 3, wherein the request for utterance is applied by selecting a predetermined input means of a predetermined input device associated with the member, and the program for processing the request for utterance is performed in an inactive state. Way. The method of claim 2, The step of determining a member having a voice based on the voice logic, Recovering the right to speak when a predetermined timeout has elapsed and assigning the right to another member determined based on the right to speak logic; Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 2, Determining a member corresponding to one session among users according to the predetermined criterion, Receiving a user's selection from the user; And Determining the user and a user selected from the user as members corresponding to the session Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 2, The determining of a member corresponding to one session among users according to the predetermined criteria may include: Receiving a user's selection from a game server to which the user's terminal is connected; And Determining a user selected by the game server as a member corresponding to the session Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein The user selected by the game server, As a user participating in a game provided by the game server, A user selected based on one or more of whether the user is registered by the user, the status of the user in the virtual game world, a role, an ability, a team of the user, and a region in which the user is located. Voice communication method. The method of claim 7, wherein And displaying the game character associated with the member corresponding to the session separately from the game character associated with the other member. The method of claim 8, The session information further includes voice logic to grant a voice in accordance with the status or role of the user in the game world, The right to speak is an authority granted to a user who is allowed to transmit the voice signal, and only one member of the member has the right to speak, And determining a member having utterance based on the utterance logic. The method of claim 2, Receiving information about a communication state from the user; And Further storing information about the communication status in association with the user in the communication database. More, The determining of a member corresponding to one session among users according to the predetermined criteria may include: Searching for a user capable of voice communication among users based on the information about the communication state; Determining a member corresponding to the session among the searched users Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 2, The determining of a member corresponding to one session among users according to the predetermined criteria may include: Transmitting a test message to a terminal of a predetermined user using communication information stored in a communication database; Receiving a response message to the test message from the terminal; The response message includes information on whether the terminal is capable of voice communication; and Determining the user as a member corresponding to the session based on the received message Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 2, Receiving and copying a voice signal from the member having a voice among the members, Receiving a request for modulation of a voice signal from a member having the right to speak; Modulating the received voice signal; And Copying the modulated speech signal Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 2, Receiving a predetermined audio signal from the user; And Further storing the audio signal in association with the user in the communication database. More, Receiving and copying a voice signal from the member having a voice among the members, Receiving an audio signal synthesis request from the user; Retrieving an audio signal associated with the user from the communication database; Synthesizing the audio signal and the audio signal received from the user; And Copying a voice signal synthesized with the audio signal Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 2, Receiving a predetermined audio signal from the user; Storing the audio signal in association with the user in a communication database; And Copying the audio signal when there is an audio signal transmission request from the user; Transmitting the copied audio signal to a member other than the member having the right to speak based on the session information. Voice communication method further comprising. The method of claim 2, If the session is terminated, deleting session information associated with the session from the session database Voice communication method further comprising. delete In the voice communication method, Inputting location information and a voice channel receiving port into a predetermined voice communication server; Receiving a user registered by the user as a buddy and receiving information on a communication state associated with the buddy from the voice communication server; Displaying the buddy and a communication state corresponding to the buddy; When a member corresponding to a predetermined session is determined, transmitting a voice signal input through a microphone to another member corresponding to the session through the voice communication server while a specific input from the input device continues to have a voice. A right to speak is granted to a user who has allowed to transmit the voice signal, wherein only one of the members has the right to speak, and the member having the right to speak is determined based on predetermined talk logic; Receiving a voice signal from another member corresponding to the session and having a voice while not having the voice; And Outputting the received voice signal through a predetermined speaker; Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 18, The transmitting of the voice signal input through the microphone while a specific input from the input device is continued, Modulating the input voice signal; And Transmitting the modulated voice signal Voice communication method comprising a. The method of claim 18, The transmitting of the voice signal input through the microphone while a specific input from the input device is continued, Maintaining a predetermined audio signal; Synthesizing the audio signal and the voice signal; And Transmitting a voice signal synthesized with the audio signal Voice communication method comprising a. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for performing the method of any one of claims 2 to 16 and 18 to 20. delete

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