KR100905075B1 - Apparatus and method for relaying data - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a data relay apparatus and a method, and when the image data is transmitted in real time through a wireless communication network, when a sufficient wireless line for transmitting the image data is not secured, the resolution or chromaticity of some of the image areas is reduced. The present invention relates to a data relay apparatus and a method for transmitting the data.

A data relay apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a receiving unit for receiving a transmittable rate and a receiveable rate from a transmitting terminal and a receiving terminal, a transmission rate comparing unit comparing the transmittable rate and the receivable rate, and And an image generator for generating an image having a reduced data amount of the image received from the transmitting terminal according to the comparison result, and a transmitter for transmitting the image having the reduced data amount to the receiving terminal.

Image area, resolution, chromaticity, transmission speed, reception speed

Description

Apparatus and method for relaying data}

The present invention relates to a data relay apparatus and a method, and more particularly, when a video data is transmitted in real time through a wireless communication network, when a sufficient wireless line for transmitting the video data is not secured, the resolution of some video areas of the entire video area. Or it relates to a data relay apparatus and method for reducing and transmitting chromaticity.

With the development of mobile communication technology, the spread of various high quality multimedia services using mobile terminals is increasing. In particular, the spread of services for transmitting and receiving image data as well as audio data using a portable terminal is increasing.

On the other hand, the amount of data involves the consumption of a wide network band for transmitting image data due to its size. However, it is practically impossible to ensure sufficient network bandwidth for a mobile terminal for transmitting and receiving image data.

Therefore, there is a need for the emergence of an invention that enables video data to be transmitted and received more smoothly under the conditions of a given network environment.

An object of the present invention is to reduce and transmit the resolution or chromaticity of a portion of the entire image area when a sufficient wireless line for transmitting the image data is not secured when transmitting image data in real time through a wireless communication network.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects which are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, a data relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention is to compare the transmittable rate and the receiveable speed with a receiver for receiving a transmittable rate and a receiveable rate, respectively, from a transmitting terminal and a receiving terminal. A transmission rate comparison unit, an image generation unit for generating an image having a reduced data amount of the image received from the transmitting terminal according to the comparison result, and a transmission unit for transmitting the image having the reduced data amount to the receiving terminal.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a data transmission apparatus includes a transmission speed confirming unit that checks a transmission speed of an image to be transmitted, and an image generation unit that generates an image in which the amount of data in the image is reduced with reference to the confirmed transmission speed. And a communication unit transmitting an image of which the amount of data is reduced.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a data relay method includes receiving a transmittable rate and a receiveable rate from a transmitting terminal and a receiving terminal, comparing the transmittable rate and the receivable rate, and the comparison result. Accordingly, the method may include generating an image having a reduced data amount of the image received from the transmitting terminal and transmitting an image having the reduced data amount to the receiving terminal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a data transmission method may include: checking a transmission speed of an image that is a transmission target; generating an image having a reduced data amount of the image with reference to the confirmed transmission speed; and reducing the data amount. Transmitting the captured image.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings.

According to the position providing apparatus and method of the present invention as described above has one or more of the following effects.

First, when transmitting video data in real time through a wireless communication network, if there is not enough wireless line for transmitting the video data, it is possible to prevent the loss of the entire video by reducing the resolution or chromaticity of some of the video areas. There is an advantage.

Second, there is an advantage in that the recognition rate is reduced by the user by reducing the resolution or the chromaticity and transmitting only the partial image area having a relatively low importance in the entire image area.

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

1 is a diagram illustrating a data relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein the data relay system includes an intelligent network 110 and a mobile communication network 120.

The intelligent network 110 refers to a network environment in which a new service can be applied to the mobile communication network 120 without changing the software of the exchange 121. The intelligent network 110 includes a media processing server 111.

The media processing server 111 processes the media stream transmitted from the terminals 131 and 132 when the terminals 131 and 132 perform a video call. In the present invention, processing the media stream may include relaying data transmitted between the terminals 131 and 132 to enable a video call. The media stream may include at least one of image data and audio data. Assuming a video call, the media stream preferably contains both video data and audio data.

The mobile communication network 120 forms a communication session between the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132. That is, the mobile communication network 120 relays a media stream for a video call between the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132.

Here, the mobile communication network 120 may be a synchronous mobile communication network, or may be an asynchronous mobile communication network. An embodiment of the synchronous mobile communication network may be an EVDO rA (Evolution Data Only revision A) communication network, and an embodiment of an asynchronous mobile communication network may be a WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) communication network.

The mobile communication network 120 is connected to the terminals 131 and 132 in a wireless section, and controls the terminals 131 and 132 and connects a communication channel, and manages a plurality of base stations 124 and a switch ( As a key network element of the base station controller 123 and the mobile communication network 120 to interwork with 121), it controls voice calls and various additional services, establishes a call path, and provides a connection function with various other devices and external networks. The exchanger 121 may be configured to include.

If the mobile communication network 120 is an EVDO rA communication network, the base station 124, the base station controller 123, and the exchange 121 are each a base station transceiver subsystem (BTS), a base station controller (BSC), and a synchronous MSC. (Mobile Switching Center), if the mobile communication network 120 is a WCDMA communication network, the base station 124, the base station controller 123 and the switch 121 is a Node B (Node B), RNC (Radio Network), respectively Controller), and asynchronous MSC.

The mobile communication network 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a data relay device 122.

The data relay device 122 may exist between the switch 121 and the base station controller 123, and may be included in the switch 121 or the base station controller 123 and configured as a single device.

The data relay device 122 relays data between the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132. Here, the data relay apparatus 122 may relay data with reference to the transmittable speed of the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiveable speed of the receiving terminal 132, for example, the transmittable speed of the transmitting terminal 131. Is greater than the reception speed of the reception terminal 132, the data relay device 122 serves to reduce the data amount of the image data to be transmitted to the reception terminal 132.

Here, the transmission possible speed of the transmission terminal 131 means the maximum transmission speed that the transmission terminal 131 can transmit data to the data relay apparatus 122, and the reception speed of the reception terminal 132 is the data relay. It means the maximum transmission rate that the receiving terminal 132 can receive data from the device 122. The maximum transmission speed of the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132 may be estimated by the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132 through communication with each base station 124.

In order to reduce the amount of data, the data relay device 122 may reduce the resolution or chromaticity of a portion of the image area of the image data. In addition, when it is determined that the image data cannot be smoothly transmitted to the receiving terminal 132 only by reducing the resolution or chromaticity of a part of the image area, the data relay device 122 may reduce the resolution or chromaticity of the entire image area. Of course you can.

In addition, the data relay apparatus 122 may calculate an area to reduce the resolution or chromaticity by referring to the ratio between the transmittable speed of the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiveable speed of the receiving terminal 132. For example, when the transmission speed of the transmission terminal 131 is 100bps and the reception speed of the reception terminal 132 is 80bps, the data relay device 122 is the entire data of the image data received from the transmission terminal 131. The size of some regions can be calculated such that the data amount is reduced by 80% with respect to the amount.

In the present invention, the image data received by the data relay device 122 from the transmitting terminal 131 may be image data having a reduced data amount.

That is, the transmitting terminal 131 predicts the maximum transmission rate at which it can transmit data, reduces the amount of data of the image data to be transmitted to the data relay apparatus 122 so as to transmit at the predicted transmission rate. To transmit.

The data amount reduction of the image data by the transmitting terminal 131 may also be performed by adjusting the resolution or chromaticity as in the data relay device 122.

The receiving terminal 132 which has received the image data from the data relay device 122 checks the reception state of the image data and transmits the result to the transmitting terminal 131 via the data relay device 122. 131 checks the reception state of the image data received from the receiving terminal 132 and transmits the recovered image.

The recovered image is image data generated to recover the previously transmitted image data. If a specific region of the image region of the received image data is lost according to a result of checking the reception state of the image data by the receiving terminal 132, the corresponding region The image for can be retransmitted as a recovery image.

That is, the restored image may correspond to only a specific region of the image region of the image data, not the entire image data.

Also in transmitting the recovered image, the transmitting terminal 131 may reduce the amount of data of the recovered image and then transmit it. That is, when it is determined that the recovered image cannot be transmitted at the transmission possible speed, the transmitting terminal 131 transmits after reducing the resolution or chromaticity of a part or the entire area of the recovered image.

The data relay device 122 may reduce the amount of data on the recovered image as well as the initial image data received from the transmitting terminal 131. In other words, by comparing the transmission speed of the transmitting terminal 131 and the transmission speed of the receiving terminal 132 generates a recovery image of which the amount of data is reduced by the ratio, and transmits it to the receiving terminal 132.

The receiving state of the image data is continuously confirmed by the receiving terminal 132, and the transmitting terminal 131 generates the image data or the repaired image according to the receiving state received from the receiving terminal 132 and receives the receiving terminal 132. To send.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a data relay device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein the data relay device 122 includes a receiver 210, a transmitter 220, a storage 230, a controller 240, and a transmission speed comparison. It includes a unit 250 and the image generating unit 260.

The receiving unit 210 serves to receive a transmittable rate and a receiveable rate, respectively, from the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132. Here, the transmittable rate means the maximum transmission rate at which the transmitting terminal 131 can transmit data, and the receivable rate means the maximum transmission rate at which the receiving terminal 132 can receive data.

In addition, the receiving unit 210 serves to receive image data from the transmitting terminal 131. Here, the received image data may be image data in which the amount of data is reduced by reducing the resolution or chromaticity of a portion of the entire region.

The transmission rate comparison unit 250 compares the transmittable rate and the receiveable rate. The comparison result by the transmission rate comparison unit 250 includes which one has a larger value between the transmittable rate and the receiveable rate, and may include a ratio between the transmittable rate and the receiveable rate. For example, the transmittable rate / receivable rate may be transmitted to the image generator 260.

The comparison result by the transmission rate comparator 250 is transmitted to the image generator 260, and the image generator 260 is an image in which the data amount of the image received from the transmission terminal 131 is reduced according to the received comparison result. Create That is, when the transmittable speed is greater than the receivable speed, the image generator 260 reduces the data amount to smoothly send the received video data at the receivable speed.

In reducing the amount of data, the image generator 260 may calculate the size of the image area to reduce the amount of data by using a ratio of the transmittable rate and the receiveable rate.

The image generator 260 generates image data having a reduced data amount by reducing at least one of resolution and chromaticity of a portion of the entire region of the received image data. For example, the image generator 260 divides the entire image region into quarters. It is then to reduce the resolution or reduce the chromaticity of the image area of a particular quadrant.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a quadrant of an image area 400 of image data. The image generator 260 may reduce the amount of data by reducing the resolution or chromaticity of a specific area 410 among four image areas. have.

In addition, the image generator 260 may reduce the data amount by reducing the resolution or chromaticity of the region 420 arbitrarily selected from the entire region 400 of the image data. FIG. 5 illustrates that an arbitrary region 420 of the entire region 400 is selected for the image data, and the image generator 260 may perform data reduction only on the selected region 420.

Meanwhile, although the arbitrary region 420 illustrated in FIG. 5 is illustrated in the form of a rectangle, this is merely exemplary and may be present in a triangle, circle, ellipse, or other geometric form.

The image area to be reduced in resolution or chromaticity includes an area of low importance among all areas of the received image. That is, the data amount reduction process is performed only on a region of low importance without performing a data amount reduction process on a region of high importance among the entire image regions. For example, an area or a whole region in which a face of a person is displayed in the image region is performed. The data volume reduction process is not performed for the middle region but only the remaining regions.

Sensing an important area such as face detection of a person may be performed through image processing such as edge detection or pattern recognition, which is beyond the scope of the present invention, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Let's do it.

The storage unit 230 temporarily stores the image data received from the transmitting terminal 131 or the image data whose data amount is reduced. The storage unit 230 may include a hard disk, a flash memory, a Compact Flash Card, a Secure Digital Card, an SD Card, a Smart Media Card, an MMC Card, a Memory Stick, or the like. As a module capable of inputting / outputting information, the module may be provided inside the data relay device 122 or may be provided in a separate device. When the storage unit 230 is provided in a separate device, the receiving unit 210 and the transmitting unit 220 may perform data transmission and reception with a separate device.

The transmitter 220 transmits image data having a reduced data amount to the receiving terminal 132.

Meanwhile, although the receiving unit 210 and the transmitting unit 220 of the data relay device 122 are described as directly communicating with the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132, respectively, the receiving unit 210 and the transmitting terminal 131 are described. It is well known that the RAN (Radio Access Network), that is, the base station controller 123 and the base station 124 exist between and between the transmitter 220 and the receiver terminal 132.

The controller 240 performs overall control of the receiver 210, the transmitter 220, the storage 230, the transmission speed comparator 250, the image generator 260, and the data relay 122.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a data transmission apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, wherein the data transmission apparatus, that is, the transmission terminal 131, includes a communication unit 310, an input unit 320, a storage unit 330, and a control unit 340. , A transmission rate checker 350, an image region extractor 360, and an image generator 370.

The communication unit 310 serves to configure a session by communicating with the base station 124 through a mobile communication wireless network. While composing the session, the communication unit 310 transmits and receives a packet to and from the base station 124. The transmission rate checking unit 350 checks the transmission rate of the image to be transmitted using the transmission and reception speed of the packet.

The image generator 370 generates an image in which the amount of data is reduced by referring to the transmission rate confirmed by the transmission rate checker 350. That is, when the transmission speed is smaller than the transmission speed (hereinafter referred to as transmission prediction speed) for smoothly transmitting the video data to be transmitted, the amount of data of the video data is reduced enough to be able to smoothly transmit at the transmission speed. The process of reducing the amount of data may be performed by reducing the resolution or chromaticity of a part of the entire area of the image data. The function of the image generator 370 of the transmitting terminal 131 may be a data relay device 122. Since it is similar to the function of the image generating unit 260, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The storage unit 330 stores the image data and the image data whose data amount is reduced. The storage unit 330 may include a hard disk, a flash memory, a Compact Flash Card, a Secure Digital Card, an SD Card, a Smart Media Card, an MMC Card, a Memory Stick, or the like. As a module capable of inputting / outputting information, the module may be provided inside the transmission terminal 131 or may be provided in a separate device. When the storage unit 330 is provided in a separate device, the communication unit 310 may transmit and receive data with the separate device.

The communication unit 310 continuously receives the reception state of the image data from the reception terminal 132, and accordingly, the image region extraction unit 360 extracts an image region to be restored. That is, the image region extraction unit 360 extracts an area of poor reception state from the image region of the transmitted image data.

As the image region extractor 360 extracts an image region to be restored, the image generator 370 may generate an image (hereinafter, referred to as a repair image) for the corresponding region. In this case, the image generator 370 may perform a data amount reduction process on the corresponding area.

The input unit 320 serves to receive an image area that is a data amount reduction target or an image area that is a data amount retention target. That is, the user may perform a data amount reduction process on a specific area of the entire image area, but the data amount reduction process may be limited on another specific area, and the user may use the input unit 320. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a specific region 410 may be selected from the divided regions, and as illustrated in FIG. 5, an arbitrary region 420 may be selected from the entire image region 400. May be configured as a button, a wheel, a touch screen, or the like.

The control unit 340 is a communication unit 310, the input unit 320, the storage unit 330, the transmission rate check unit 350, the image area extraction unit 360, the image generating unit 370 and the transmission terminal 131 Perform overall control.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transmitting and receiving an image having a reduced data amount according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In order to transmit and receive an image having a reduced data amount, first, a video call between the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132 is connected (S610).

After the video call connection is completed, the transmitting terminal 131 and the receiving terminal 132 are connected to the respective RAN (141, 142) to check the transmission possible speed and the reception possible speed (S611, S612).

The confirmed transmittable speed and the receivable speed are transmitted to the data relay apparatus 122 (S621 and S622), and the data relay apparatus 122 temporarily stores them in the storage 230.

Then, the transmitting terminal 131 compares the transmission possible speed and the transmission prediction speed, and performs image processing on the image data to be transmitted according to the result, thereby generating image data having a reduced data amount (S630). On the other hand, when the transmittable rate is the same as or larger than the predicted transmission rate, the process of generating the image data in which the data amount is reduced may be omitted.

The original image data or image data whose data amount is reduced is transmitted to the data relay device 122 (S640), and the data relay device 122 compares the transmittable speed and the receiveable speed (S650).

Thus, the data relay 122 performs a data amount reduction process on the image data received from the transmitting terminal 131 according to the comparison result (S660). On the other hand, if the receivable rate is the same as or greater than the transmittable rate, the process of generating image data with reduced data amount may be omitted.

The data relay device 122 transmits the image data received from the transmitting terminal 131 or the image data having a reduced data amount to the receiving terminal 132 (S670).

As the image data is received from the data relay device 122, the receiving terminal 132 checks the reception state of the image data (S680). That is, the lost part of the received image data is checked. The receiving terminal 132 then transmits the reception state to the transmitting terminal 131.

In response to receiving the reception state of the image data from the reception terminal 132, the transmission terminal 131 generates a recovery image (S690). In this case, the transmitting terminal 131 may generate a recovered image having a reduced data amount.

The recovered image is transmitted to the receiving terminal 132 through the data relay device 122 (S700). At this time, the data relay device 122 reduces the amount of data for the recovered image by referring to the transmittable speed and the receiveable speed. You can also do

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. You will understand that. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

1 is a diagram illustrating a data relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing a data relay device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram showing a data transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 to 5 are diagrams illustrating an image area of which data amount is reduced according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transmitting and receiving an image having a reduced data amount according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

210: receiver 220: transmitter

230: storage unit 240: control unit

250: transmission rate comparison unit 260: image generation unit

Claims (14)

A receiving unit for receiving a transmittable rate and a receiveable rate from a transmitting terminal and a receiving terminal, respectively; A transmission rate comparison unit comparing the transmission rate and the reception rate; An image generation unit generating an image in which the amount of data of the image received from the transmitting terminal is reduced when the transmission rate is greater than the reception rate according to the comparison result; And And a transmitter for transmitting an image of which the amount of data is reduced to the receiver terminal. The method of claim 1, And the image generating unit generates an image having the reduced data amount by reducing at least one of a resolution and a chromaticity of a partial region of the received image. The method of claim 2, The partial region may include a region of low importance among all regions of the received image. The method of claim 2, And the image generating unit determines the size of the partial region by referring to the ratio of the transmittable rate and the receiveable rate. A transmission speed checking unit for checking a transmission speed of an image to be transmitted; An image generator configured to generate an image in which the amount of data of the image is reduced with reference to the identified transmittable speed; A communication unit transmitting an image of which the amount of data is reduced; And And an image region extracting unit configured to extract a region having a poor reception state from the image region of the image in which the data amount is reduced by referring to the reception state of the image in which the data amount is reduced. delete The method of claim 5, And the communication unit transmits the extracted area. Receiving a transmittable rate and a receivable rate, respectively, from a transmitting terminal and a receiving terminal; Comparing the transmittable rate and the receiveable rate; Generating an image having a reduced data amount of an image received from the transmitting terminal when the transmission rate is greater than the reception rate according to the comparison result; And And transmitting the image of which the amount of data is reduced to the receiving terminal. The method of claim 8, The generating of the image may include generating an image having the reduced amount of data by reducing at least one of a resolution and a chromaticity of a partial region of the received image. The method of claim 9, The partial region may include a region of low importance among all regions of the received image. The method of claim 9, The generating of the image may include determining the size of the partial region by referring to the ratio of the transmittable rate and the receiveable rate. Confirming a transmission speed of an image to be transmitted; Generating an image in which the amount of data in the image is reduced with reference to the identified transmittable speed; Transmitting an image of which the amount of data is reduced; And And extracting a region having a poor reception state from the image region of the image having the reduced data amount by referring to the reception state of the image having the reduced data amount. delete The method of claim 12, And transmitting the extracted area.

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