JP3311328B2 - Multimedia communication device and method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multimedia communication apparatus and method for performing communication by combining a plurality of media such as images (moving images, still images), voices, and data between remote points via a communication line. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, practical use of a communication service using an ISDN line has started, and AV (Audio Visual) services such as a videophone / video conference system using such a digital line have attracted attention. The provisions, protocol specifications, and multimedia multiplexing frame structure specification are in accordance with the CCITT Recommendation or Draft Recommendation H.264. 320,
H. 242, H .; 221 etc. H.
In H.221, A on a 64 kbps to 1920 kbps channel
Exchange of frame structure and terminal capabilities in V service,
BAS (Bit-rate All) used to specify the communication mode
Ocation Signal) is defined.
H. H.242 defines a protocol for exchanging capabilities and switching communication modes between AV terminals using BAS. 3
20 defines system aspects of the entire AV service.

[0003] In the above recommendation or draft recommendation, after setting up an end-to-end physical connection of an initial channel and an additional channel, and establishing synchronization in an in-channel, a terminal capability exchange sequence using a BAS in an in-channel, communication A method for performing multimedia communication of images, voices, data, and the like between terminals by a procedure such as a mode switching sequence by specifying a mode is defined. However, each terminal changes its own terminal capability according to the situation, and which communication mode is used within the range of the exchanged capability is out of the specified range.

[0004] In multimedia communication, the information transfer rate (communication rate) of each medium is determined by designating a voice coding method for voice information, and the presence / absence of use of data information and the transfer rate when used are determined for data information. The transfer rate of the image information is determined by subtracting the transfer rate of the audio information and the transfer rate of the data information from the set information transfer rate of the entire communication path. Therefore, the information about the transfer speed specified when notifying the other party of its own communication mode by the BAS is the voice encoding method and the data transfer speed, and for images, the transfer speed is automatically set in the system. .

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, in order for the operator to know the transfer speed of the image information, the operator must know the information transfer speed of the communication path and the information transfer speed for each of the various audio coding systems. In addition, it is necessary to calculate the image transfer speed in consideration of the specified data transfer speed.

Therefore, if an ordinary operator freely sets the image communication speed, the operator tries to set the image communication speed that cannot be actually set due to the use state of the line or the like, or the communication capability of the line is reduced. Even if there is enough room, the user may try to set an image communication speed with excessively poor image quality. In such a case, not only cannot the line be used effectively, but in the worst case, the There was a fear that I could not do.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a multimedia communication apparatus and method capable of designating a communication speed of an image desired by an operator and effectively using a communication line. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a multimedia communication apparatus according to claim 1 comprises: an image information communication means for communicating image information to a destination terminal at a predetermined image communication speed; Voice information communication means for communicating voice information to the destination terminal at a communication speed, and to select and set the predetermined image communication speed from a plurality of image communication speeds,
An input unit for receiving an input of an operator, a capability exchange unit for exchanging communication capabilities with the destination terminal, and a case where the image communication speed selected by the input unit cannot be set by the capability exchange unit. And setting means for newly setting a settable image communication speed.

[0009] The multimedia communication device according to claim 2 is a contractor.
The multimedia communication device according to claim 1, further comprising:
Wherein the input means has an image quality selecting means,
When the image quality selected by the image quality selecting means is used.
If you cannot set the voice communication in
The image quality selected by the means is made lower .

[0010] The multimedia communication method according to claim 3 is characterized in that
An image that communicates image information to the
Image information communication step, and the other end at a predetermined voice communication speed
Finally, a voice information communication process for communicating voice information and multiple
Select and set the predetermined image communication speed from the image communication speed
Input process for receiving operator input,
Capability exchange process for exchanging communication capabilities with hand-held terminals
Selected in the input step by the capacity exchange step.
If the image transmission speed cannot be set,
Setting a new image communication speed .

[0011] The multimedia communication method according to claim 4 is characterized in that
The multimedia communication method according to claim 3, further comprising:
The input step includes an image quality selection step, and the setting step
When the image quality selected in the image quality selecting step is used.
If you cannot set the voice communication in
To reduce the image quality selected in the process to a lower quality.
Features.

[0012]

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multimedia communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a handset, 2 is a microphone, 3 is a speaker, 4 is a switching process for switching between the handset 1, the microphone 2 and the speaker 3 as an audio input / output means in accordance with an instruction of a system control unit 14 described later. On / off hook detection processing for detecting whether the terminal is in an on-hook state or an off-hook state, a microphone 2 and a speaker 3
A voice interface unit for performing an echo canceling process for canceling an echo when generating a tone, a generation process of a tone such as a dial tone, a ring tone, a busy tone, a ring tone, and the like.
CM A-law, 64kbps PCM μ-law, 64kbps / 56k
bps / 48kbps SB-ADPCM, 32kbps ADPC
M, 16 kbps (for example, APC-AB), 8 kbps, etc. A voice coding / decoding unit for coding a transmission voice signal and decoding a received voice signal according to a voice signal coding / decoding algorithm. Camera to do, 7 is a picture,
A document camera 8 for inputting drawings and the like, an input image 8 from the camera 6 or the document camera 7, an image received from the other party,
A display unit for displaying an operation screen and the like;
A video interface unit that performs a switching process of the camera 6 and the document camera 7, a display switching process of the input image, the received image, and the operation screen, and an image signal synthesizing process for dividing and displaying them on the display unit 8. 10 is CCI
Draft TT Recommendation H. A video encoding / decoding unit that encodes a transmission image signal and decodes a reception image signal according to H.261, 11 is a data terminal for performing data communication, and 12 is transmission data from the data terminal 11 and the system control unit 14. A data interface unit for notifying a multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 15 described below and receiving data to the data terminal 11 or the system control unit 14. A keyboard and a touch panel 13 are used for inputting control information for performing overall control of the apparatus. And the like, and 14 is a CPU, ROM, RA
M, an auxiliary storage device, etc., and monitors the status of each unit, controls the entire device, creates an operation / display screen according to the status, and executes an application program. 221, the audio signal from the audio encoding / decoding unit 5 and the video encoding / decoding unit 1
A multiplexing / demultiplexing unit that multiplexes an image signal from 0, data from the data interface unit 12, and a BAS from the system control unit 14 in transmission frame units, separates a reception frame into each medium of a configuration unit, and notifies each unit. , 1
Reference numeral 6 denotes a line interface unit for controlling a line according to the ISDN user / network interface.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the speech encoding / decoding section 5. As shown in FIG.
Is an A / D converter 5 for A / D converting an input voice from the voice interface unit 4 in accordance with an instruction from the system control unit 14.
1 and the A / D-converted audio data to the system control unit 1
4, an encoding program storage unit 53 storing a program describing an encoding algorithm, and an encoded program received from the demultiplexing unit 15. A decoding unit 54 for decoding audio data by a decoding program instructed by the system control unit 14, a D / A conversion unit 55 for D / A converting the decoded audio data, and an encoding algorithm are described. A decryption program storage unit 56 for storing the program.

The encoding program storage unit 53 stores 7 kHz
z audio (64kbps / 56kbps / 48kbps SB-A
DPCM) coding program 53a, 64kbps PCM
(A-law / μ-law) encoding program 53b, 32kbps
SB-ADPCM encoding program 53c, 16kbpsA
PC-AB encoding program 53d, 8kbps APC-A
A B encoding program 53e is stored.

The decryption program storage unit 56 has
7kHz audio (64kbps / 56kbps / 48kbpsS
B-ADPCM) decryption program 56a, 64kbpsP
CM (A-law / μ-law) decoding program 56b, 32kb
psSB-ADPCM decoding program 56c, 16kbps
APC-AB decryption program 56d, 8kbps APC-
An AB decryption program 56e is stored.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, 64 kbps, 3 kbps,
It is possible to set the voice coding method of four kinds of transfer rates of 2 kbps, 16 kbps and 8 kbps.
When connected to the SDN basic interface, a communication channel of up to two channels (128 kbps) can be set. Eight types of transfer speeds, including no image, can be specified as image transfer speeds when no data is transferred. is there.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a lamp switch provided in a part of the operation unit 13 for designating an image transfer speed by an operator and displaying the current image transfer speed by lighting a lamp. In the figure, the selection and display of the image transfer speed is shown to the operator as an image quality changeover switch 131. Reference numerals 131a to 131d denote individual lamp switches constituting the image quality changeover switch 131.
Means that there is no image by the lighting thereof, and means that the image is not transferred when selected by the operator. The lamp switch 131b lights up to indicate that low-speed image transfer is being performed, and when selected by the operator, means that low-speed image transfer is to be performed. The lamp switch 131c means that medium-speed image transfer is performed by turning on the lamp switch 131c. The lighting of the lamp switch 131d means that high-speed image transfer is being performed, and means that when selected by the operator, high-speed image transfer is performed.

The table is a table showing the number of selected channels, the audio transfer speed, and the image transfer speed when the image quality changeover switches 131a to 131d are selected, and is stored in the system control unit 14. In the figure, the image quality level 1 is when the image quality switch 131b is selected, the image quality level 0 is when the image quality switch 131a is selected, the image quality level 3 is when the image quality switch 131d is selected, and the image quality level 2 is the image quality. When the changeover switch 131c is selected, the number of channels, information transfer speed, voice transfer speed,
This is the image quality level of the image transfer speed.

[0024]

[Table 1]

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a procedure sequence performed at the start of AV communication. In the figure, A and B are multimedia communication devices. ISDN first to start communication
The call setup procedure P500 is performed on the D channel according to the user interface. Next, on the set B channel, the recommended H.264 22, a frame synchronization procedure P501 is performed. When frame synchronization is established, Recommendation H.264 is used. B according to 242
A capability exchange procedure P502 is performed using the AS code. The range in which the exchanged own capability and the partner capability match is the communicable capability in the communication. After the capability exchange, the H.264 standard specifies a communication mode in which communication is actually performed within the range of communicable capabilities. By performing the mode switching procedure P503 using the BAS code according to H.242, actual communication becomes possible. However, when the mode switching procedure is not performed, the communication mode is only 64 kbps PCM audio.

FIGS. 5 to 8 are flowcharts showing the operation of the multimedia communication apparatus shown in FIG. The operation will be described below with reference to a flowchart.

In step S600 of FIG. 5, it is checked whether the image quality switch 131 has been operated. If the operation has been performed, the process proceeds to step S601. In step S601, it is determined which switch to operate, and the switch 131a
If so, the process proceeds to step S602. If the switch 131b, the process proceeds to step S612 in FIG.
If the switch 131d, the process jumps to step S652 in FIG.

In step S602, the current switch 13
It is checked whether or not 1a is being lit, and if it is lit, the process is terminated. If not, the process proceeds to step S603. In step S603, the BAS code of the 64k PCM voice is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started.

Next, in step S604, the 64 kbps PCM coding selection is notified to the voice coding / decoding section 5, and the subsequent voice coding is performed at 64 kbps PCM. In step S605, the number of currently used channels is checked. If the number of used channels is 1, the process proceeds to step S608. If not, the process proceeds to step S606. In step S606,
The line interface unit 1 disconnects the additional channel being used.
4 and activates the call disconnection procedure. Step S607
Let the number of channels in use be one.

Finally, in step S608, the switch that is currently turned on is turned off, the switch 131a is turned on, and the process ends.

Next, in step S612 in FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the switch 131b is currently lit. If the switch 131b is lit, the process ends. If not, step S6
Proceed to 13.

In step S613, it is checked whether or not 8 kbps voice can be communicated with the capability exchanged by the capability exchange procedure. If communication is not possible, the process proceeds to step S620. If communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S614. Step S6
14, the BAS code of 8 kbps audio is demultiplexed by the demultiplexing unit 1
5 and activate the mode switching procedure. Next, in step S615, the audio encoding / decoding unit 5 sends the 8 kbps APC
Notifies AB coding selection, and subsequent audio coding is 8 kbps A
It is performed in PCAB.

In step S616, the number of channels currently in use is checked.
If it is not 1, proceed to S617. Step S6
At 17, the disconnection of the additional channel in use is notified to the line interface unit 14, and a call disconnection procedure is started. In step S618, the number of used channels is set to one.

Finally, in step S619, the switch that is currently turned on is turned off, the switch 131b is turned on, and the process ends.

In step S620, it is checked whether or not 16 kbps voice communication is possible with the capability exchanged by the capability exchange procedure. If communication is not possible, the flow advances to step S623.
If communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S621. Step S
At 621, the BAS code of the 16 kbps audio is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started. Next, in step S622, the audio encoding / decoding unit 5 sends
APCAB encoding selection is notified, and subsequent audio encoding is 1
The process is performed at 6 kbps APCAB, and the process proceeds to step S616.

In step S623, it is checked whether 32 kbps voice can be communicated with the capability exchanged by the capability exchange procedure, and if not, the process is terminated. If communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S624. In step S624, the BAS code of the 32 kbps audio is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started. Next, step S
In 625, the 32 kbps ADPC is sent to the audio encoding / decoding unit 5.
Notify M-encoding selection, 32 kbps A for subsequent audio encoding
The process is performed by DPCM, and the process proceeds to step S616.

In step S632 of FIG. 7, it is checked whether or not the switch 131c is currently lit, and if it is lit, the process ends. If not, the process proceeds to step S633. In step S633, it is checked whether the transfer rate capability is 2B in the capability exchanged by the capability exchange procedure. 2
If it is B, the process proceeds to step S634, and if it is not 2B, the process ends.

In step S634, the number of currently used channels is checked, and if the number of used channels is 2, step S6
If not 2, go to step S635. In step S635, the setting of the new additional channel is notified to the line interface unit 14, and the call setting procedure is started.

In step S636, it is checked whether or not the call setting has been normally completed based on the notification from the line interface unit 14. If the call setup has been normally completed, step S637 is performed.
If the call setup fails, the process ends. In step S637, the number of used channels is set to two. In step S638, the BAS code of the transfer rate mode 2B is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started.

In step S639, it is checked whether or not 32 kbps voice can be communicated with the capability exchanged by the capability exchange procedure. If communication is not possible, the process proceeds to step S644. If communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S640. Step S6
At 40, the BAS code of the 32 kbps audio is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started. Next, in step S641, 32 kbps A is supplied to the voice encoding / decoding unit 5.
The DPCM encoding selection is notified, and the subsequent audio encoding is 32
kbps ADPCM.

Finally, in step S642, the switch that is currently turned on is turned off, the switch 131c is turned on, and the process ends.

In step S643, it is checked whether or not the current transfer rate mode is 2B.
If it is not 2B, the process proceeds to step S638.

In step S644, the BAS code of the 64 kbps PCM audio is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started. Next, in step S645, the 64 kbps PCM coding selection is notified to the voice coding / decoding unit 5, and the subsequent voice coding is performed at 64 kbps PCM, and the process proceeds to step S642.

In step S652 in FIG. 8, it is checked whether or not the switch 131d is currently lit. If the switch 131d is lit, the process ends. If not, the process proceeds to step S653.

In step S653, it is checked whether the transfer rate capability is 2B in the capability exchanged by the capability exchange procedure. If it is 2B, the process proceeds to step S654, and if it is not 2B, the process ends.

In step S654, the number of currently used channels is checked, and if the number of used channels is 2, step S6.
If not 2, go to step S655. In step S655, the setting of the new additional channel is notified to the line interface unit 14, and the call setting procedure is started.

In step S656, it is determined whether or not the call setting has been normally completed based on the notification from the line interface unit 14. If the call setup has been normally completed, step S657 is performed.
If the call setup fails, the process ends. In step S657, the number of used channels is set to two. In step S658, the BAS code of the transfer rate mode 2B is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started.

In step S659, it is checked whether 8 kbps voice can be communicated with the capability exchanged by the capability exchange procedure. If communication is not possible, the process proceeds to step S664, and if communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S660. Step S660
Then, the BAS code of the 8 kbps audio is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started. Next, step S
In 661, 8 kbps APCAB is sent to the voice encoding / decoding unit 5.
Notifies the encoding selection, and the subsequent audio encoding is 8 kbps APC
It is done in AB.

Finally, in step S662, the switch that is currently turned on is turned off, the switch 131d is turned on, and the process ends.

In step S663, it is determined whether the current transfer rate mode is 2B.
If not, go to step S658.

In step S664, it is checked whether 16 kbps voice can be communicated with the capability exchanged by the capability exchange procedure. If communication is not possible, the process proceeds to step S667. If communication is possible, the process proceeds to step S665. Step S6
At 65, the BAS code of the 16 kbps audio is notified to the demultiplexing unit 15, and the mode switching procedure is started. Next, in step S666, 16 kbps A
PCAB encoding selection is notified, and subsequent audio encoding is 16
kbps APCAB, and the process proceeds to step S662.

In step S667, the switch 131c
It is checked whether is turned on. If it is turned on, the process ends. If not turned on, the process proceeds to step S639 in FIG.

In the present embodiment, only the ISDN basic interface is targeted, but the present invention can be applied to a primary interface.

Further, in this embodiment, only four types of image transfer speeds can be selected. However, more than four types can be selected.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where data transfer is performed simultaneously with voice / image has not been taken up. However, even when data transfer is performed simultaneously, the relationship between the number of channels, the voice transfer speed, and the image transfer speed. Is the same as in the present embodiment.

[0056]

As described above in detail, according to the multimedia communication apparatus of the first aspect and the multimedia communication method of the fifth aspect, a predetermined image communication speed is selected and set from a plurality of image communication speeds. If the selected image communication speed cannot be set as a result of the exchange of the communication capability with the destination terminal, the image communication speed can be set. The new setting allows the operator to freely set the image communication speed, and if the user attempts to set an image communication speed that cannot be set in practice, reset the settable image communication speed. Can be. That is, the operator can specify the desired communication speed of the image and can effectively use the communication line.

According to the multimedia communication apparatus of the second aspect and the multimedia communication method of the fourth aspect , a voice communication
If settings cannot be made, lower the selected image quality
Allows the operator to specify the desired image communication speed.
And the communication line can be used effectively.

[0058]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multimedia communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a speech encoding / decoding unit 5;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a lamp switch provided in a part of an operation unit 13 for designating an image transfer speed by an operator and displaying a current image transfer speed by turning on a lamp. .

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a procedure sequence performed at the start of AV communication.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the multimedia communication device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the multimedia communication device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the multimedia communication device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of the multimedia communication device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Handset 2 Microphone 3 Speaker 4 Audio interface unit 5 Audio encoding and decoding unit 6 Camera 7 Document camera 8 Display unit 9 Video interface unit 10 Video encoding and decoding unit 11 Operation unit 12 Data interface unit 13 Operation unit 14 System control unit 15 Demultiplexing unit 16 Line interface unit

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-178634 (JP, A) JP-A-63-102529 (JP, A) JP-A-63-72294 (JP, A) JP-A-62-265831 (JP, A) JP-A-62-260443 (JP, A) JP-A-61-280145 (JP, A) JP-A-61-224776 (JP, A) JP-A-61-194927 (JP, A) JP-A-3-33428 (JP, A) JP-A-3-226159 (JP, A) JP-A-3-4654 (JP, A) JP-A-2-237242 (JP, A) JP-A-2-216942 (JP, A) A) JP-A-2-145097 (JP, A) JP-A-2-86282 (JP, A) JP-A-2-60363 (JP, A) JP-A-2-26170 (JP, A) JP-A-2 -1670 (JP, A) JP-A-1-241948 (JP, A) JP-A-1-149556 (JP, A) JP-A-1-77264 (JP, A) JP-A-1-55965 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 7/10 H04N ^7/ 14-7/173 H04N ^7/ 20-7/22

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] An image information communication means for communicating image information to a destination terminal at a predetermined image communication speed, a voice information communication means for communicating voice information to the destination terminal at a predetermined voice communication speed, An input unit for receiving an input from an operator to select and set the predetermined image communication speed from the image communication speed, a capability exchange unit for exchanging communication capability with the destination terminal, and the capability exchange Setting means for setting a new settable image communication speed when the image communication speed selected by the input means cannot be set by the means. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said input means includes an image quality selecting means.
Wherein the setting means is selected by the image quality selecting means.
If you cannot set voice communication when using image quality
In this case, the image quality selected by the image quality
2. The multi-function device according to claim 1, wherein the image quality is reduced.
Media communication device. 3. An image is transmitted to a destination terminal at a predetermined image communication speed.
An image information communication step of communicating information, and a predetermined voice communication speed;
Voice information communication to communicate voice information to the destination terminal in degrees
And a predetermined image communication speed from a plurality of image communication speeds.
Input to accept operator input to select and set the degree.
Communication process and exchange of communication capability with the destination terminal.
Through the capacity exchange step and the capacity exchange step.
When the image communication speed selected in the input process cannot be set
Is a setting step for newly setting a configurable image communication speed
And a multimedia communication method. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said input step includes an image quality selecting step.
Having the setting step selected in the image quality selecting step.
If you cannot set voice communication when using image quality
In this case, the image quality selected in the image quality selecting step
4. The multi-function device according to claim 3, wherein the image quality is reduced.
Media communication method.