JP2009303069A - Multimedia conference control device, method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change a media type in accordance with the capability of a transmitting terminal or a receiving terminal and group a plurality of terminals and handle them for one user in a conference in which a plurality of media are combined. .
According to the present invention, a connection destination control unit of a conference control apparatus acquires a connection request including a connection destination user ID and a media type from a terminal, and based on the connection destination user ID, Refer to the terminal management table of the storage means that manages at least one media type available terminal for each user ID, select the connection destination terminal, secure the resources of the selected terminal, When the connection between the terminal and the selected terminal is established, the status of the terminal management table is updated.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a multimedia conference control apparatus, method, and program, and more particularly, to a multimedia conference control apparatus, method, and program in a conference system via a network.

In the conventional conference system using video or audio, as shown in FIG. 9, when a person who wants to use a conference makes a video conference use request from the terminal 131 to the main device 101, the main device or other connection is made. The terminal 132 recognizes a terminal to which audio or video is to be transmitted, forms a communication path, and distributes video or audio (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2006-5526 A.

  However, in the above conventional technique, it is difficult to add or change the media type to be transmitted or received individually or by all the conference participants, instead of adding a connection destination during the conference. Further, in a meeting where a plurality of types of terminals having different media display capabilities and the like are combined, a plurality of terminals are grouped and combined for one user, and a desired media type cannot be realized.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and in a conference in which a plurality of media are combined, the media type is changed according to the capability of the transmitting terminal or the receiving terminal, and a plurality of terminals are grouped to provide one user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multimedia conference control apparatus, method, and program that can be handled as a program for a computer.

  FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

The present invention (Claim 1) is a multimedia conference control apparatus in a system in which one or more media type terminals and a conference control apparatus are connected,
Storage means 140 having a terminal management table 141 for managing at least one media type available terminal for each user ID of the terminal;
A communication unit 110 for acquiring a connection request including a user ID of a connection destination from a terminal;
Connection destination control means 120 for selecting a connection destination terminal with reference to the terminal management table based on the user ID.

The present invention (Claim 2) stores available terminals and their statuses for each user ID in the terminal management table 141 of the storage means 140.
The connection destination control means 120 includes means for updating the terminal management table in accordance with addition of media during the meeting and change of status.

The present invention (Claim 3) further stores a connection destination address for each user ID in the terminal management table of the storage means,
The connection destination control means 120 includes means for selecting a connection destination terminal by referring to the terminal management table based on the connection destination address when the connection destination address is received as a connection request.

The present invention (Claim 4) is a multimedia conference control method in a system in which one or more media type terminals and a conference control device are connected,
A connection request receiving step in which the connection destination control means of the conference control device acquires a connection request including the user ID of the connection destination from the terminal;
A connection destination selection step of selecting a connection destination terminal with reference to a terminal management table of a storage unit that manages at least one media type available terminal for each user ID of the terminal, based on the user ID; I do.

  Further, according to the present invention (Claim 5), in the connection destination control means, a terminal management in which an available terminal and its status are stored for each user ID in accordance with addition of media during a meeting and change of status. A further step of updating the table is performed.

Further, according to the present invention (Claim 6), when the connection destination address is received as the connection request in the connection request reception step,
In the connection destination selection step, a connection destination terminal is selected for each user ID by referring to the terminal management table storing the connection destination address based on the connection destination address.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention.

The present invention (Claim 7) is a multimedia conference control method in a system in which one or more media type terminals and a conference control device are connected,
A connection request receiving step (step 1) in which the connection destination control means of the conference control device acquires a connection request including the user ID and media type of the connection destination from the terminal;
Connection destination selection for selecting a connection destination terminal with reference to a terminal management table of a storage unit that manages at least one media type available terminal for each user ID of the terminal based on the connection destination user ID Step (step 2);
A resource securing step (step 3) for securing resources of the terminal selected in the selection destination selecting step;
When the connection between the connection request source terminal and the selected terminal is established, a status update step (step 4) of updating the status of the terminal management table is performed.

  The present invention (Claim 8) is a multimedia conference control program for causing a computer to function as each means constituting the multimedia conference control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

  As described above, according to the present invention, instead of selecting the connection destination terminal, the media input / output capability of the terminal and the available users are managed in the terminal management table, and the user transmits or uses When a user receives a call, the user can easily perform a multimedia conference by combining a plurality of terminals by selecting a terminal to be used from the terminals that can be used by the connection destination control function. .

  Further, by holding the terminal group that can be used by each user and the status of each terminal in the terminal management table, it is possible to add or change media during the conference.

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

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the conference system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The system shown in the figure has a configuration in which a plurality of terminals 200 are connected to the conference control apparatus 100. Here, the terminal is assumed to be various media such as a television, a telephone, a PC (personal computer), a camera, and the like.

  The conference control device 100 returns the communication unit 110 that communicates with the terminal 200 in accordance with the communication method of each terminal 200, and the address information of the connection destination terminal that satisfies the requirements in response to the connection request from the terminal 200. A communication control unit 120 that manages the communication status of the terminal, a user management table 130, and a terminal management table 140 are also included. Among these, the user management table 130 and the terminal management table 140 are storage media such as a memory and a disk device.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a user management table in one embodiment of the present invention. The user management table 130 stores a user ID, a user name, and a default terminal.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a terminal management table in an embodiment of the present invention. The terminal management table 140 stores address information of the terminal 200, corresponding media information, usable user information, and status. In this embodiment, the status is set to “in use” or “standby”.

  The operation in the above configuration will be described below.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the operation in one embodiment of the present invention.

  To start the conference, the user transmits the connection destination user ID and the used media type from the terminal 200 to the conference control apparatus 100 as a connection request.

  Step 101) When the communication unit 110 receives a connection request from the user of the connection source terminal A, the connection destination control unit 120 extracts the connection destination user ID.

  Step 102) The connection destination control unit 120 extracts the media type from the received connection request.

  Step 103) Search the terminal management table 140 based on the extracted media type, refer to the status of the terminal management table 140, and determine whether there is a terminal B to which a callee corresponding to the media type can be connected. . If the status of the terminal management table 140 is “standby”, it is determined that connection is possible.

  Here, when there are a plurality of connectable terminals, the terminal transmits the terminal selection information to the terminal registered in the user table 130 as a default, and the user selects the terminal. To do.

  Step 104) When the connection destination terminal B is determined, the connection destination control unit 120 notifies the connection source terminal A of the address of the connection destination terminal B.

  Step 105) A decision is made as to whether or not an incoming call can be made. If the incoming call is possible, the process proceeds to Step 106.

  Step 106) The connection destination control unit 120 secures resources of the connection destination terminal B, establishes communication between the connection source terminal A and the connection destination terminal B, establishes connection in each of the terminals A and B, and then performs conference control. The device 100 is notified of the connection completion. Here, when there are a plurality of connection destination terminals, the connection destination control unit 120 notifies the connection source terminal A of the connection destination address of the next terminal.

  Step 107) After all necessary connections are completed, the connection destination control unit 120 changes the status of the terminal management table 140 from “standby” to “in use”.

  In step 101, when a connection destination address is received as a connection request from the user instead of the connection destination user ID, the user corresponding to the connection destination address is referred to the terminal management table 140. ID (available user) is acquired.

  If the media type is not specified in step 102, the connection source address is detected, and the media type of the connection target person is determined with reference to the terminal management table 140 using the connection destination address as a key.

  This will be specifically described below.

  FIG. 7 shows a specific sequence of operations (at the start of a conference) in one embodiment of the present invention.

  In the example shown in the figure, a user A can use an audio input / output telephone, a video output TV, and a video input camera, and a user B can use audio. It is assumed that a PC capable of video input / output and video input / output is available.

  A connection request is made to the conference control apparatus 100 from the terminal 100A of the user A who uses the telephone (step 201). In the case where the other party is specified by a telephone number, such as a key telephone, the telephone number of the connection destination is input as the connection destination address following the telephone number of the conference control apparatus 100. In that case, the connection destination control unit 120 of the conference control apparatus 100 searches the terminal management table 140 using the telephone number as a key, and specifies the connection destination user ID (step 202).

  The connection destination control unit 120 of the conference control apparatus 100 extracts information about the user ID of the called party and the designated media type from the connection request message (step 203). The connection destination control unit 120 of the conference control apparatus 100 confirms the media type by designation in the connection request message from the telephone set used by the user A. In this example, audio is specified. In implementation, a voice encoding method such as G.711 and a use band may be specified. The connection destination control unit 120 of the conference control apparatus 100 searches the terminal management table 140 for a terminal that can be used by the user B using the connection destination user ID as a key (step 204). In this case, the connected user B confirms that he has a PC capable of audio input / output, and transmits a call message to the user B's PC (step 205).

  The connected user B determines a terminal to be used on the PC (step 206), and returns a response to the conference control apparatus 100 (step 207). The connection control unit 120 of the conference control apparatus 100 returns the address information of the connection destination PC to the user A's telephone (step 208). If all the corresponding terminals described in the terminal management table 140 are not connectable (status of the terminal management table 140 = “in use”), a message indicating that there is no communicable terminal is sent to the user A. Return to In connection between user A's telephone and user B, a connection request may be made directly from user A's telephone to user B's PC, or as in the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-5526. In addition, the conference control apparatus 100 may have a multipoint connection function and mediate connection of the terminal.

  When the connection between the telephone of user A and the PC of user B is established (step 209), the connection control unit 120 of the conference control apparatus 100 returns the terminal address of user B to the telephone of user A. Then, the status of the terminal management table 140 is changed (step 210). In this case, the audio of the telephone of user A and the audio of the PC of user B are changed to “in use”.

  Next, the operation when adding media will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a specific sequence of operations (when adding media) in one embodiment of the present invention.

  In this example, user A can use a telephone capable of audio input / output, a TV capable of video output, and a camera capable of video input, and user B can input audio. A PC capable of output and video input / output can be used. An example in which a request for media type expansion is issued from the user B's PC after the connection between the telephone set and the PC in the sequence diagram of FIG. 7 is completed.

  The user B's PC requests the conference control apparatus 100 to add video media to the conference in communication with the user A (step 301). For the media addition request, a connection signal may be sent using an application on the PC, or the connection destination user ID and the media type by a signal special to the audio being connected, for example, a voice signal such as a PB signal. And the communication unit 110 of the conference control apparatus 100 may recognize the PB signal. The conference control apparatus 100 extracts information about the recipient's user ID and the designated media type from the connection request message from the addition request message (steps 302 and 303).

  The connection destination control unit 120 of the conference control apparatus 100 searches the terminal management table 140 for a terminal that can be used by the user B using the connection destination user ID as a key (step 304). In this case, since the media type is video input / output, the TV and the camera connected to the network that user A can use are selected for video output and video input, respectively, and a call message is sent ( Step 305). In this example, the network connection portion of the television and camera has an interface that responds to connection requests. User A determines a terminal to be used (step 306), and returns a response to the conference control apparatus 100 (step 307).

  The conference control apparatus 100 returns the connection destination television and camera address information to the user B's PC (step 308). User B's PC and user A's television and camera are connected (step 309). When the user B's PC and the user A's television and camera are connected, a connection request may be made directly from the user B's PC to the user A's television and video. As in the technology described in the publication, the conference control apparatus 100 may have a multipoint connection function and mediate connection of terminals.

  The conference control apparatus 100 changes the status of the terminal management table 140 after returning the terminal address of the user A to the user B's PC. In this case, the video output of the user B's television, the video input of the camera, and the video input / output of the user A are changed to “busy” (step 310).

  Further, the operations of the components of the conference control device shown in FIG. 3 can be constructed as a program, installed and executed on a computer used as the conference control device, and distributed via a network. .

  Further, the constructed program can be stored in a portable storage medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, or a CD-ROM, and can be installed or distributed in a computer.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications and applications can be made within the scope of the claims.

  The present invention can be applied to a conference system between various media terminals via a network.

It is a principle block diagram of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the principle of this invention. It is a block diagram of the conference system in one embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the user management table in one embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the terminal management table in one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement in one embodiment of this invention. 4 is a specific operation sequence (at the start of a conference) according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a specific operation sequence (at the time of adding a medium) in an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the conventional conference system.

Explanation of symbols

100 Conference Control Device 110 Communication Unit, Communication Unit 120 Connection Destination Control Unit, Connection Destination Control Unit 130 User Management Table 140 Storage Unit, Terminal Management Table 141 Terminal Management Table 200 Terminal

Claims (8)

A multimedia conference control device in a system in which one or more media type terminals and a conference control device are connected,
Storage means having a terminal management table for managing available terminals of at least one media type for each user ID of the terminal;
Communication means for acquiring a connection request including a user ID of a connection destination from the terminal;
A connection destination control means for selecting a connection destination terminal by referring to the terminal management table based on the user ID of the connection destination;
A multimedia conference control apparatus comprising: The terminal management table of the storage means is
For each user ID, an available terminal and its status are stored,
The connection destination control means includes
2. The multimedia conference control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for updating the terminal management table in accordance with addition of media during a conference and status change. The terminal management table of the storage means is
Further storing a connection destination address for each user ID,
The connection destination control means includes
3. The multimedia conference control according to claim 1, further comprising means for selecting a connection destination terminal by referring to the terminal management table based on the connection destination address when a connection destination address is received as the connection request. apparatus. A multimedia conference control method in a system in which one or more media type terminals and a conference control device are connected,
A connection request receiving step in which the connection destination control means of the conference control device acquires a connection request including a user ID of the connection destination from the terminal;
A connection for selecting a connection destination terminal by referring to a terminal management table of a storage unit that manages at least one media type available terminal for each user ID of the terminal based on the connection destination user ID. A pre-selection step;
A multimedia conference control method. The connection destination control means further performs a step of updating the available terminal and the terminal management table storing the status for each user ID in accordance with addition of media during the meeting and change of status. The multimedia conference control method according to claim 4. In the connection request receiving step, when a connection destination address is received as the connection request,
6. In the connection destination selection step, a connection destination terminal is selected with reference to the terminal management table storing a connection destination address for each user ID based on the connection destination address. The multimedia conference control method described. A multimedia conference control method in a system in which one or more media type terminals and a conference control device are connected,
A connection request receiving step in which the connection destination control means of the conference control device acquires a connection request including the user ID and media type of the connection destination from the terminal;
A connection for selecting a connection destination terminal by referring to a terminal management table of a storage unit that manages at least one media type available terminal for each user ID of the terminal based on the connection destination user ID. A pre-selection step;
A resource securing step for securing resources of the terminal selected in the selection destination selecting step;
When a connection between the connection request source terminal and the selected terminal is established, a status update step of updating a status of the terminal management table;
A multimedia conference control method.   The multimedia conference control program for functioning a computer as each means which comprises the multimedia conference control apparatus of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3.

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