KR20110063986A - Terminal for hierarchical multipoint communication and method for producing connection margin - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A multiparty communication terminal and connection margin method of calculation are provided to calculate a connection margin value performing an existing terminals. CONSTITUTION: A media processing unit(510) receives media from a neighboring terminal of a communication terminal. The media processing unit receives media from a user. The media processing unit mixes a media of a rest terminal except for a media of a corresponding terminal. The media processing unit transmits a mixed media to the corresponding terminal.

Description

Terminal for hierarchical multipoint communication and method for producing connection margin}

The present invention relates to hierarchical multi-party communication, and more particularly, to a hierarchical multi-party communication terminal and a method of calculating a connection margin value.

The ubiquitous environment aims to create an environment in which communication and computing services can be provided anytime and anywhere without any limitation of time and space. Multilateral communication technology is one of the basic technologies for various services in the ubiquitous environment.

1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining a multi-party communication method according to the prior art.

1 and 2, in the multi-party communication operating in the ubiquitous environment, most of the participants' wireless terminals are concentrated in one or two wireless networks.

In the case of using a communication server for multi-party communication in a ubiquitous environment, wireless terminals of communication participants located at close distances use a communication server located relatively far from each other.

In the ubiquitous environment, when the multi-party communication is configured in a centralized manner as shown in FIG. 1, the communication form may be inefficient because all participants' media are processed at a remote communication server.

In addition, when configuring communication in a distributed manner as shown in FIG.

Therefore, an alternative method of terminal mixing without using a communication server may be an alternative to multi-party communication using a communication server in a ubiquitous environment.

While there are many advantages in applying such a terminal mixing method to a ubiquitous environment, each terminal must calculate a connection margin value in order to configure the connection of the terminal of the communication participant.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for calculating a connection margin performed by existing terminals when a new terminal participates in hierarchical multi-party communication.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when a new participant terminal requests a connection for hierarchical multi-party communication, a communication terminal for reconfiguring a communication connection is disclosed.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a communication terminal receives a media from a neighboring terminal of the communication terminal, receives a media from a user, and mixes the media of the other terminals except the media of the terminal and transmits the media to the corresponding terminal. And a connection margin value calculator configured to calculate a connection margin value using a media processing time or a media processing power amount according to media processing of the media processor.

According to another aspect of the present invention, when a new participant terminal requests a connection for hierarchical multi-party communication, a connection margin calculation method performed by a communication terminal for reconfiguring a communication connection is disclosed.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the method of calculating a connection margin value may include calculating a number of first maximum neighboring terminals by using media processing time of the communication terminal, and processing media for a predetermined minimum conference holding time of the communication terminal. Calculating the number of second maximum neighbor terminals using the amount of power, selecting a smaller number of the first and second maximum neighbor terminals as the number of maximum neighbor terminals of the communication terminal, and selecting the selected number of maximum neighbor terminals. Calculating a connection margin by subtracting the number of neighboring terminals from the number.

According to the present invention, when a new terminal participates in hierarchical multi-party communication, it is possible to provide a method for calculating a connection margin value performed by existing terminals.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all transformations, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known technology may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

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

3 is a diagram illustrating a communication connection of a hierarchical multi-party communication system composed of terminals for performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. More specifically, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a logical connection for hierarchical multi-party communication in the form of a graph. In the hierarchical multi-party communication system according to the present invention, a terminal mixing method is applied, and call control and media exchange of terminals are performed through neighboring terminals. That is, each terminal in the hierarchical multi-party communication system is only responsible for call control and media processing of neighboring terminals. In the hierarchical multi-party communication system to which the terminal mixing method is applied, media processing and communication throughput are distributed through hierarchical communication, thereby solving the problem of excessive power consumption of a specific terminal.

Referring to FIG. 3, when hierarchical multi-party communication is configured as shown in FIG. 3, a terminal having one neighbor terminal (terminal B (20), terminal C (30), terminal D (40)) is an end terminal. The terminal (A terminal 10) having a plurality of neighboring terminals may be defined as a non-terminating terminal.

A terminal wishing to communicate by hierarchical multi-party communication may request a communication connection to any terminal in hierarchical multi-party communication.

For example, assuming that the D terminal 40 is a terminal for which communication connection is desired, the D terminal 40 may be connected by making a connection request to the A terminal 10. In this case, the terminal D 40 may be a neighboring terminal of the terminal A 10, and at the same time, the terminal A 10 may be a neighboring terminal of the terminal D 40.

Hierarchical multi-party communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention can be configured as shown in Figure 3, the terminal (B terminal 20, C terminal 30, D terminal 40) is connected to the lower A new communication connection can be made at the request of the desired terminal.

Hereinafter, a method of reconfiguring a communication connection by requesting a new participant's terminal to request a hierarchical multi-party communication for the purpose of understanding the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. A terminal requesting connection to any terminal connected to hierarchical multi-party communication is defined as a connection request terminal, and a terminal receiving a connection request from the connection request terminal is defined as a connection response terminal. Herein, if the connection request terminal is assumed to be the D terminal 40, the connection response terminal may be any one of the A terminal 10, the B terminal 20, and the C terminal 30.

The D terminal 40 makes a connection request to the A terminal 10. Upon receiving the connection request, the terminal A 10 transmits a message to the neighboring terminals (terminal B, terminal 20, and terminal C 30) asking whether the connection can be processed. In this case, the B terminal 20 and the C terminal 30 may transmit a message received from the A terminal 10 to the neighbor terminal when there is another neighbor terminal besides the A terminal 10. In this way, each terminal connected to the hierarchical multi-party communication may receive a message asking whether the new connection can be processed. The terminal (terminal B (20) and terminal C (30)) receiving the message calculates a connection margin value using its computing resources and the remaining power amount, and transmits it to the connection response terminal (terminal A (10)). do. The method of calculating the connection margin will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. Accordingly, the connection response terminal (terminal A 10) may receive connection margin values of all terminals (terminal B 20 and terminal C 30) except for those participating in hierarchical multi-party communication. At this time, the connection response terminal (terminal A 10) calculates a connection margin value.

Thereafter, the connection answering terminal (terminal A 10) selects a candidate terminal having a connection margin value equal to or greater than a preset reference box (eg, 0). The connection answering terminal (terminal A 10) may calculate an average media delay value of the candidate terminal and select a candidate terminal having a minimum average media delay value as a connectable terminal. Here, the average media delay value represents an average value of media delays between terminals when a logical connection is formed by connecting a connection request terminal to a candidate terminal. Here, the media delay represents the number of hops between terminals.

The connection response terminal (terminal A 10) may introduce a connectable terminal as a connection request terminal (terminal D 40) and connect the hierarchical multi-party communication. Assuming that the connectable terminal is terminal A 10, terminal A 10 transmits a message introducing the connectable terminal to terminal D 40, and terminal D 40 connects to terminal A 10. You can connect on request.

Among the terminals connected to the hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention, the non-end terminal (terminal 10) transmits media to neighboring terminals (terminal B, terminal 20, terminal C, terminal 30, and terminal 40). Can be transmitted by excluding media of the terminal.

For example, referring to FIG. 3, terminal A 10 may receive media from neighbor terminals (terminal B 20, terminal C 30, terminal D 40). The terminal A 10 mixes and transmits media of the A, C, and D terminals to the terminal B 20, and transmits a mixture of media of A, B, and D terminals to the C terminal 30. At 40, the A, B, and C terminals can be mixed and transmitted. This will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a media processing unit of a terminal for performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. In more detail, FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a media processing unit configured when three neighboring terminals of a terminal performing hierarchical multi-party communication. Hereinafter, in order to understand the present invention, it is assumed that the communication connection configuration of the hierarchical multi-party communication system is shown in FIG. 3, and the media processing unit shown in FIG. 4 is a media processing unit of terminal A 10 shown in FIG. 3. It will be described on the assumption. Here, the media processing unit may receive media from the neighboring terminals (terminal B (20), terminal C (30), terminal D (40)) and receive media from the user, and the media processing unit may process the media to It can transmit to the neighbor terminal. Here, the media may be multimedia data input from a camera or a microphone provided in the terminal.

Referring to FIG. 4, the media processor includes a real time protocol (RTP) receiver 410, a data input unit 420, a media recovery unit 430, a mixer 440, a data output unit 450, and a media compressor 460. ) And an RTP transmitter 470.

The RTP receiver 410 may receive compressed media from neighboring terminals, respectively. Here, the RTP receiver 410 may include three RTP receivers 411, 412, and 413 corresponding to neighboring terminals (the B terminal 20, the C terminal 30, and the D terminal 40). Here, the neighboring terminals (terminal B (20), terminal C (30), terminal D (40) may compress the media and transmit it to terminal A (10).

The data input unit 420 receives media from a user.

The media restoration unit 430 receives the compressed media from the RTP receiving unit 410 and restores it. The media restoring unit 430 may include three media restoring units 431, 432, and 433 corresponding to three RTP receivers 411, 412, and 413.

The mixer 440 may selectively receive media from the data input unit 420 or the three media restoring units 431, 432, and 433. That is, the mixer 440 includes four mixers 441, 442, 443, and 444 for each terminal, and each mixer may mix media of the remaining terminals except for the media of the corresponding terminal.

The data output unit 450 may receive media from the B, C, and D terminals from the mixer 441 and output the media.

The media compression unit 460 receives and compresses the mixed media selectively from the mixer 440, and the RTP transmission unit 470 transmits the compressed media to the neighboring terminal.

For example, the mixer 412 may receive and mix media of the A, C, and D terminals, and compress the media of the 461 media compressor, and transmit the 471 RTP transmitter to the B terminal 20.

Accordingly, by transmitting the media processing unit excluding the media of the corresponding terminal, each terminal performing hierarchical multilateral communication does not receive its own media when receiving media from a neighboring terminal.

The description has been made on the assumption that there are three neighboring terminals of the A terminal 10. In general terms, when the number of neighboring terminals is N, the media processing unit of the terminal performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to the present invention has N RTP receivers, media restoration units, media compression units, and RTP transmitters, and mixes N media. One mixer can be N + 1.

5 is a configuration diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a terminal for performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal according to the present invention may be a terminal connected to a hierarchical multi-party communication or a terminal requesting a connection to be connected to a hierarchical multi-party communication.

Referring to FIG. 5, a terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a media processor 510, a connection margin calculator 520, a storage 530, and a controller 540.

The media processing unit 510 may receive media from neighboring terminals (terminal B (20), terminal C (30), terminal D (40)) and receive media from a user, and the media processing unit may select media. Can be mixed and transmitted to neighboring terminals. That is, the media processing unit may mix and transmit the media of the remaining terminals except the media of the corresponding terminal to the corresponding terminal. Since the media processing unit 510 has been described above with reference to FIG. 4, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The connection margin calculator 520 calculates a connection margin of the terminal. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the connection margin calculating unit 520 may calculate the connection margin using the media processing time or media processing power (power consumption of the media processing unit) according to the media processing of the media processing unit 510. have. That is, the connection margin calculator 520 may calculate the connection margin using the media processing time or the amount of media processing power of each component of the media processor 510 (see FIG. 4).

In general, in order for a terminal to process media in real time, the media processing time should be less than or equal to the media generation time. Thus, this can be represented by the following equation (1).

[Equation 1]

Here, n _imax1 is the maximum number of neighbor terminals of terminal i (integer), and t _prp is a packet transmission delay time, which is calculated by dividing the size (bit / packet) of each media packet by the network bandwidth (bit / second). Can be. t _decoding is the media decompression time to decompress the compressed media packet, t _mixing is the media mixing time to _admix the plurality of media packets, t _encoding is the media compression time to compress the media _packet , and T _packet is the generation of the media packet. Period (media creation time), in units of sec / packet.

Each term in Equation 1 may correspond to a time required for processing media in each component of the media processor 510. That is, n _imax1 t _{prp corresponds} to the plurality of RTP receivers 410 and the RTP transmitter 470, n _imax1 t _decoding corresponds to the plurality of media recovery units 430, and (n _imax1 +1) t _mixing May correspond to the plurality of mixers 440, and n _imax1 t _encoding may correspond to the plurality of media compression units 460.

In summary Equation (1), the maximum number of adjacent terminals of the terminal i (n _imax1) can be represented by the following equation (2).

[Equation 2]

Thus, according to Equation 2, the connection margin calculator 520 may calculate the number n _imax1 of the first maximum neighbor terminal by using the media processing time of the media processor. Here, the media processing time may be any one or more of media generation time (T _packet ), transmission delay time (t _prp ), media decompression time (t _decoding ), media mixing time (t _mixing ), and media compression time (t _encoding ). It may include.

As the resource of the CPU of the terminal (eg, CPU speed, memory capacity, communication speed, etc.) increases, the media processing time becomes shorter, and thus the number n _imax1 of the first maximum neighboring terminal increases.

The amount of media processing power P _packet consumed by the media processor 510 to process the media packet may be represented by Equation 3 below.

&Quot; (3) "

Here, P _prp is the amount of transmission power consumed to transmit or receive the packet, P _decoding is the amount of media recovery power consumed to restore the media packet, P _mixing is the amount of media mixing power consumed to mix the media packets, and P _encoding is Media compression power consumed for compressing the media packet, and n _i is the number of neighboring terminals.

Each term in Equation 3 may correspond to an amount of power for processing media in each component of the media processor 510.

The amount of media processing power per unit time may be represented by Equation 4 below.

&Quot; (4) "

That is, the amount of media processing power per unit time may be calculated by dividing the amount of media processing power consumed to process the packet by the generation period of the media packet.

Using Equation 4, the media processing power for meeting the holding time (T _i) (P _i) may be represented by the following equation (5) of.

[Equation 5]

Here, substituting the equation (3) to equation (5), the media processing power for meeting the holding time (T _i) (P _i) can be expressed by the following equation 6 in.

&Quot; (6) "

Here, assuming that the amount of media processing power of the current terminal is P _i and the minimum conference holding time is T, the maximum number of neighbor terminals n _imax2 may be expressed by Equation 7 below.

[Equation 7]

Thus, according to Equation 7, the connection margin calculator 520 may calculate the number n _imax2 of the second maximum neighbor terminals using the media processing power of the media processor. Here, any of the media processing power of the media processing power of the current terminals (P _i), transmission power (P _prp), media restore power (P _decoding), the media mixing amount of power (P _mixing), the media compression power (P _encoding) one It may contain the above.

The connection margin calculator 520 selects the smaller number of the first and second maximum neighbor terminals as the number n _{imax of the} terminal. This can be represented by the following equation (8).

[Equation 8]

The connection margin calculator 520 may calculate the connection margin by subtracting the current number of neighbor terminals n _i from the maximum number of neighbor terminals n _imax . This can be represented by the following equation (9).

[Equation 9]

The terminal may allow the connection of a new terminal if the number of neighboring terminals is less than or equal to the maximum number of neighboring terminals (n _imax ), otherwise the connection should be rejected.

The storage unit 530 stores an algorithm, connection graph information, and the like necessary for operating the terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, the connection graph information is logical configuration information for hierarchical multi-party communication, and is updated and stored whenever any terminal releases communication or participates in new communication.

The controller 540 controls the internal components of the terminal (eg, the media processor 510, the connection margin calculator 520, the storage 530, etc.) according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Perform.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating a connection margin value of a terminal performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the terminal calculates the number of first maximum neighbor terminals using the media processing time (S610). The terminal may calculate the number n _imax1 of the first maximum neighbor terminal using the media processing time of the media processor. Here, the media processing time may be any one or more of media generation time (T _packet ), transmission delay time (t _prp ), media decompression time (t _decoding ), media mixing time (t _mixing ), and media compression time (t _encoding ). It may include. Since the method of calculating the number of first maximum neighbor terminals is the same as described above, a duplicate description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the terminal calculates the number of second maximum neighboring terminals by using the amount of media processing power during the predetermined minimum conference holding time (S620). The terminal may calculate the number n _imax2 of the second maximum neighbor terminals by using the amount of media processing power of the media processor. Here, the media processing power amount is any one of the media processing power (P _i ), the transmission power (P _prp ), the media recovery power (P _decoding ), the media mixing power (P _mixing ), and the media compression power (P _encoding ) of the current terminal. It may contain the above. Since the method of calculating the number of second maximum neighbor terminals is the same as described above, a duplicate description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the terminal selects any one of the number of first and second maximum neighbor terminals (S630). That is, the terminal may select the smaller of the first and second maximum neighbor terminals as the maximum number of neighbor terminals of the terminal.

Next, the terminal calculates a connection margin value by subtracting the current neighbor terminal number from the selected maximum neighbor terminal number (S640).

The method of calculating a connection margin value according to an embodiment of the present invention may be implemented in the form of program instructions that may be executed by various computer means and may be recorded in a computer readable medium. Computer-readable media may include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like.

The program instructions recorded on the computer readable medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the present invention, or may be known and available to those skilled 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. Hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions such as magneto-optical media and ROM, RAM, flash memory and the like. In addition, the above-described 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, and 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.

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

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be understood that the invention may be varied and varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 and 2 are views for explaining a multi-party communication method according to the prior art.

3 is a diagram illustrating a communication connection of a hierarchical multi-party communication system composed of terminals for performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a media processing unit of a terminal for performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a configuration diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a terminal for performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating a connection margin value of a terminal performing hierarchical multi-party communication according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (12)

In the communication terminal for reconfiguring the communication connection, when a new participant's terminal requests a connection for hierarchical multi-party communication, A media processing unit for receiving media from a neighboring terminal of the communication terminal, receiving media from a user, and mixing media of the remaining terminals other than the media of the terminal to transmit the media to the corresponding terminal; And And a connection margin value calculating unit configured to calculate a connection margin value using a media processing time or media processing power amount according to media processing of the media processing unit. The method of claim 1, And the media processing time includes any one or more of media generation time, transmission delay time, media restoration time, media mixing time, and media compression time. The method of claim 1, The media processing power amount includes any one or more of a media processing power amount, a transmission power amount, a media recovery power amount, a media mixed power amount, and a media compression power amount of the current terminal. The method of claim 1, The connection margin calculator calculates the number of first maximum neighbor terminals using the media processing time, calculates the number of second maximum neighbor terminals using the media processing power amount, and the first and second maximum neighbors. And selecting a smaller number of terminals as the maximum number of neighbor terminals of the communication terminal, and calculating a connection margin value by subtracting the current number of neighbor terminals from the selected maximum number of neighbor terminals. 5. The method of claim 4, The connection margin calculator calculates the number of first maximum neighboring terminals by using Equation 2 below. [Equation 2]

Where n _imax1 is the number (integer) of the first maximum neighbor terminal of terminal i, t _prp is the transmission delay time of the packet, t _decoding is the media recovery time for recovering the compressed media packet, and t _mixing is a plurality of Media mixing time to mix media packets, t _encoding is the media compression time to compress the media packets, and T _packet is the generation period of the media packets 5. The method of claim 4, The connection margin calculator calculates the number of second maximum neighbor terminals using Equation 7 below. [Equation 7]

Where n _imax2 is the number (integer) of the second largest neighbor terminal of terminal _i , P _i is the amount of media processing power of the current terminal, T _packet is the generation period of the media packet, T is the minimum conference holding time, P _prp is the amount of transmit power consumed to send or receive a packet, P _decoding is the amount of media decompression power consumed to restore a media packet, P _mixing is the amount of media mixed power consumed to mix media packets, and P _encoding is the amount of media packet The amount of media compression power consumed by compression In the method of calculating a connection margin value performed by a communication terminal for reconfiguring a communication connection when a new participant terminal requests a connection for hierarchical multi-party communication, Calculating a number of first maximum neighboring terminals by using media processing time of the communication terminal; Calculating a number of second maximum neighboring terminals by using the amount of media processing power during a predetermined minimum conference holding time of the communication terminal; Selecting the smaller number of the first and second maximum neighbor terminals as the maximum number of neighbor terminals of the communication terminal; And And calculating a connection margin value by subtracting the current neighbor terminal number from the selected maximum number of neighbor terminals. The method of claim 7, wherein And the media processing time includes any one or more of media creation time, transmission delay time, media restoration time, media mixing time, and media compression time. The method of claim 7, wherein The media processing power amount includes any one or more of the current media processing power amount, transmission power amount, media recovery power amount, media mixed power amount, media compression power amount of the terminal. The method of claim 7, wherein The number of the first maximum neighbor terminal is calculated using Equation 2 below. [Equation 2]

Where n _imax1 is the number (integer) of the first maximum neighbor terminal of terminal i, t _prp is the transmission delay time of the packet, t _decoding is the media recovery time for recovering the compressed media packet, and t _mixing is a plurality of Media mixing time to mix media packets, t _encoding is the media compression time to compress the media packets, and T _packet is the generation period of the media packets The method of claim 7, wherein The number of the second maximum neighbor terminal is calculated using Equation 7 below. [Equation 7]

Where n _imax2 is the number (integer) of the second largest neighbor terminal of terminal _i , P _i is the amount of media processing power of the current terminal, T _packet is the generation period of the media packet, T is the minimum conference holding time, P _prp is the amount of transmit power consumed to send or receive a packet, P _decoding is the amount of media decompression power consumed to restore a media packet, P _mixing is the amount of media mixed power consumed to mix media packets, and P _encoding is the amount of media packet The amount of media compression power consumed by compression A program of instructions that can be executed in an electronic device is tangibly embodied to perform the method of calculating the connection margin value according to any one of claims 7 to 11, and a program that can be read by the electronic device is recorded. Record carrier.

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