JP2575496B2 - Multipoint conference method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Overview] Regarding a multipoint conference system in which a video conference is simultaneously performed between three or more conference rooms, the purpose is to unify the progress of the conference, and to interconnect the conference rooms. A center device is provided, and the center device initializes the main station, the sub-station, and the participating station in the order of the conference state among these conference rooms, and sets the latest as the partner conference room by the sub-station or the participating station. The selected conference room is allocated to the main station, the conference room that was the main station until immediately before is allocated to the sub-station, and the conference rooms other than the main station and the sub-station are allocated to the participating stations. The sub-station and the participating stations are configured to switch and select the image transmitted from each conference room so as to display the image of the main station on one monitor, and transmit the image to the corresponding conference room.

[Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a multipoint conference system, and more particularly, to a multipoint conference system in which video conferences are simultaneously held between three or more conference rooms.

Video conferencing is used between remote locations for the purpose of promptly transmitting information and saving time and money when people and things move (business trips). Currently, video conferences are mainly used as shown in FIG.
One-to-one communication (conference) is generally performed, and each conference room has a panoramic camera 11, a person camera 12, a document camera 13, a reception monitor 14, a transmission monitor 15, a microphone 16, a speaker 17, and a console. Reference numeral 18 is connected to a conference control device 20 as a conference room terminal (hereinafter, simply referred to as a conference room).
15 control of output image input / output, image encoding / decoding, audio encoding / decoding, multiplexing / demultiplexing of these image / audio data, and dialogue with the conference room However, there is an increasing demand for a video conference between three or more conference rooms at the same time.

[Conventional technology]

If you want to conduct a simultaneous multipoint conference between three or more conference rooms,
As shown in FIG. 6, there is a system in which lines are connected to all of the conference rooms 10. In this system, as the number of conference rooms increases, the number of lines also becomes Σi (i = 1 to n-1 and n is the number of conference rooms). In addition, encoding / conversion in the conference control device 20 (see FIG. 5) of each conference room 10
A composite unit is required for the facing conference room.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, a method of selectively distributing images using a center device 30 in which lines from the conference rooms 10 are arranged in a star shape has been considered.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the image switching by the center device 30 in the conventional multipoint conference system shown in FIG. 7 simply forms a video conference state between the conference rooms in a situation at that time by a control signal from each conference room 10. Therefore, there has been a problem that there is no uniformity in the progress of the conference, and thus the conference is not held smoothly and efficiently.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a system in which multi-point conferences are simultaneously performed among three or more conference rooms, and to unify the progress of the conference.

[Means and actions for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, in the multi-point conference system according to the present invention, as shown conceptually in FIG. The main station, the sub-station, or the participating station are positioned, and in each conference room, the image of the other conference room is switched and displayed on one monitor.

Here, the switching transition of the image displayed on the monitor according to the method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when starting a multipoint conference, the conference room A, which is in the conference state (starting up of conference room components, line connection, etc.) first, is the main station, and the conference room B, which is in the conference state, is the sub-station. Then, the conference rooms C and D, which are in a conference state thereafter, are initialized as the participating stations, and the main station sets the sub-stations,
The sub-station and the participating stations each display the main station on one monitor (FIG. 1 example: FIG. 2). That is, only the images of the two conference rooms are always displayed as the entire conference.

After the start of the conference, the conference room C most recently selected by the sub-station or the participating station (B or D) as the other party's conference room is considered to have newly replaced the center of the conference at that time, and becomes the master station. At this time, the conference room displayed on the reception monitor of the main station C, that is, the conference room A which was the main station before the selection operation was performed, is changed to the sub-station, and further, the conference rooms B and D other than the main station and the sub-station. Is the participating station. At this time, similarly, the substation A and the participating stations B, D
Then, the image of the main station C is viewed, and the image of the sub-station A is viewed at the main station C (FIG. 2). However, if an operation is performed to switch the other party's conference room (a conference room with a reception monitor output) in a certain conference room, if the operated conference room, for example, C is the main station, the selected conference room B becomes the sub-station ( The meeting room A, which was the sub-station until immediately before the reception monitor of the main station was switched, becomes only a participating station, and there is no other change (FIG. 2).

Regarding withdrawal during a meeting, if the withdrawn conference room is a participating station, there is no change in the progress of the conference (Fig. 2), and the number of participating conference rooms newly increased as participant stations for midway participation. There is no change in the progress of the meeting (Fig. 2).

If the sub-station leaves, any conference room among the remaining participating stations is forcibly set as the sub-station, and the image of the main station is switched accordingly (FIG. 2). When the conference room serving as the main station leaves the middle, the conference room serving as the sub-station is forcibly changed to the main station, and any participating station is changed to the sub-station (FIG. 2).

Next, the camera control (movement of the camera,
Camera switching: person, whole view, material, etc.) will be described with reference to FIG.

The camera control includes the local conference room control and the remote conference room control. When the camera control of the remote conference room is performed, the conference room viewed on the reception monitor of each conference room is targeted. That is, the main station controls the camera of the sub station, and the sub station and the participating stations control the camera of the main station. At this time, regarding the camera control of the main station, the conference room that has been controlled first has priority (FIG. 3 to FIG. 3).

In the case of own station control, when the main station performs camera control, the received monitor images of the sub-station and the participating station are switched (FIG. 3), and when the sub-station performs the camera control, the received image of the main station is switched (FIG. 3). Become
Even if camera control is performed in the participating stations, it does not change in other conference rooms (FIG. 3).

By the way, in the camera control, for the material image by the material camera, the work of preparing and setting the manuscript is performed in each conference room, so that the control of the material image selection is controlled by the own conference room. Then, when selecting a material, the meeting is proceeding around the material (while watching the material). Therefore, when a material image is selected, control is performed so that the selected conference room is set as the master station (FIG. 3).

As described above, by controlling the image switching in the multipoint conference by the center device, a unified conference can be smoothly performed.

〔Example〕

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the center apparatus 2 used in the multipoint conference system according to the present invention. Reference numeral 41 denotes a line controller connected to each conference room 1 and a line interface 41a.
And a multiplexing unit (MUX) 41b and a demultiplexing unit (DMUX) 41c. Reference numeral 42 denotes an image selector, a separation unit of the line controller 41.
The image signal from 41c is multiplexed by another multiplexer 41b of the line controller 41.
And 43, a separation unit 41c of the line controller 41.
A voice / encoding / decoding unit for decoding the voice data from the line control unit 41 and coding the voice data to the multiplexing unit 41b of the line control unit 41; 44, a low-speed control from the separation unit 41c of the line control unit 41; An interface section of data or control data to the multiplexing section 41b, an audio mixer 45 synthesizes the output audio of each conference room from each audio / decoding section 43 and sends it to each audio / encoding section 43 in common, and Reference numeral 46 denotes a controller which performs selection switching control of the image selector 42 and control of the audio mixer 45 based on control data from the interface unit 44 and sends the control data to each conference room via the interface unit 44. The control algorithm of FIG. 3 is stored in advance as software. The configuration of each conference room can use the conference control device 20 in the case of the one-to-one connection shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, input / output image control data provided by the console 18 from the conference control device 20 of each conference room is received by the line control device 41, separated by the separation unit 41c, and transmitted through the interface unit 44. To the controller 46.
In the controller 46, according to the above control algorithm,
By determining which other conference room image should be displayed on one monitor of each conference room, and which camera to output the image should be selected, the image selector 42 is switched and controlled. The image of each conference room is sent to and displayed on a monitor of another predetermined conference room. Further, the controller 46 transmits control data for selecting a camera and a monitor of each conference room via the interface unit 44. Under the control of the controller 46, the audio mixer 45 performs a mixing process on the output audio signal from the microphone 16 in each conference room, sends it out to each conference room, and outputs it from the speaker 17; Sounds other than the room will be heard together.

In this way, since the control signals from each conference room are switched at the same time, even a simultaneous conference between multiple points can be realized without much difference in operation from the one-on-one conference. Becomes

By the way, in a video conference, a camera control method by automatic speaker detection has been devised (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 63-204154, 63-204155 by the present applicant). That is, in each conference room, the sound from the microphone is monitored, and if there is a sound input for a certain period of time or more, it is determined that the speaker is the speaker, and automatic camera control (camera movement in the seat direction corresponding to the sound input microphone) is performed. .

Therefore, the speaker detection signal is transmitted to the center device 2 and the image switching process is performed together with the control signal of the previous conference room selection. That is, when the speaker detection signal rises, the transmission source conference room is transmitted. In the system in which the means for automatically detecting the speaker is adopted by changing
By handling the signal in the same manner as the manual control signal from the console from each conference room, the image / camera can be automatically switched by the speaker detection, and the simultaneous video conference between multiple points can be performed more smoothly.

In addition, when a video conference using a composite image is performed, as shown in FIG. 3, when the conference room A selects a material camera by its own station, it receives an image from the person camera of the sub-station C and Can be displayed in combination with the material image of the above.

In the case of FIG. 3, the image of the main station C is a person image of the conference room A, but the reception monitor is switched so that the material image of the main station C is displayed locally in the main station C. You can also.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the multipoint conference system according to the present invention, a plurality of conference rooms are allocated to the master station, the substations, and the participating stations. Since the image transmitted from each conference room is switched and selected so as to output the image of the station and transmitted to the corresponding conference room, and the camera control is also performed in response to the switching, the camera is controlled at three or more locations. Even in simultaneous video conferences, each conference room terminal is unified because it does not change the one-to-one conference without being aware of the main station, sub-stations, and participating stations, and also determines the video transmission source uniquely. A fair meeting can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle configuration of the multipoint conference system according to the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining a control algorithm of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing a general one-to-one video conference system, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are blocks for explaining a conventional example. FIG. In FIG. 1, 1 ... a conference room, 2 ... a center device. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hitoshi Sato 1015 Uedanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Hiroaki Natori 1015 Kamedanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Fujitsu Limited

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] In a multipoint conference system for simultaneously performing a video conference between three or more conference room terminals, a center device interconnected between these conference room terminals is provided. (2) has a controller and a pixel selector, and based on the control data received from each conference room terminal, the controller sequentially orders the main station, the substation, and the participation in the conference room terminal connected to the center device (2). Recognize the station as the initial setting, and when there is a display conference switching request from the sub-station or participating station, the conference room terminal related to the latest switching request is the main station, and the conference room terminal that was the main station until immediately before A sub-station and a conference room terminal other than the main station and the sub-station are assigned to the participating stations, and the main station monitors the image of the sub-station, and the sub-station and the participating station monitors the image of the main station. Sent from each conference room terminal to be displayed on A multipoint conference system, wherein the controller switches the selector to transfer the image to each corresponding conference room terminal. 2. When the controller recognizes that the master station has switched the display of its own monitor to select another conference room terminal based on the control data, only the monitor of the master station becomes: The control data is transmitted so as to be switched to the image of the selected conference room terminal, and the selector is set so that the selected conference room terminal becomes a sub-station and the conference room terminal which was the sub-station immediately before becomes a participating station. 2. The multipoint conference system according to claim 1, wherein switching control is performed. 3. The controller, based on the control data, designates the conference room terminal that has joined in the middle as a participating station, and when the controller recognizes that the conference room terminal that was the master station has left the middle, the controller is a substation. The conference room terminal is set as the main station, and any participating station is forcibly changed to the sub station, and when it is recognized that the sub station has left, any conference room terminal among the remaining participating stations is forcibly changed. 3. The multipoint conference system according to claim 1, wherein the selector is switched and controlled to be a substation. 4. The controller, when controlling the terminal of the other party's conference room based on the control data, controls the main station to use one of the cameras in the sub-station and the sub-station and the participating station to use any one of the cameras in the main station. When the control data is transmitted so as to be selected and the own conference room terminal control is performed, when the camera control is performed by the main station, the reception image of the sub-station and the participating station is switched, and when the sub-station performs the control image, the reception image of the main station is changed. 4. The multipoint conference according to claim 1, wherein the selector switches and controls the selector so that the image does not change in the other conference room terminals even if the camera control is performed in the participating stations. method. 5. The controller transmits the control data based on the control data such that when the material image is selectively controlled by the material camera, the control is performed to control the conference room terminal of the own station.
When recognizing that the material image has been selected, the selected conference room terminal is set as a main station, and the selector is switched to give the material image to a sub-station and a participating station. The multipoint conference system according to claim 1.