JPH01265767A - Conference communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an economical conference communication system in system constitution without limit in number of conference participants by using a multi- address communication channel function of a ring network and an individual communication channel function. CONSTITUTION:The system is so constituted that a conference equipment 1 and plural conference terminal equipments 3 are connected to a ring type network communication line 4, the network communication line 4 is a time division multiplex communication channel and consists of a multi-address communication channel sending one and same information from one terminal equipment 3 to plural terminal equipments 3 and an individual communication channel sending information from one terminal equipment 3 to other terminal equipment 3. Then the conference information from the terminal equipments 3 is collected by the conference equipment 1 through the individual channel of the network communication line 4 to distribute one and same conference information to all the equipments participated in the conference through the multi-address communication channel of the line 4. Thus, the conference communication system is realized by an inexpensive line installation independently of number of conference participants.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a ring-type network that allows a conference device and a plurality of conference terminals to be connected to a ring-type network configured in a business office or the like to conduct a conference. Concerning network-based conference communication/Sdem. The present invention can be used particularly when holding a conference using a ring network built within a company or business office.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional conference communication system, there is one in which a conference is held by connecting a conference device 1 and a plurality of conference terminals 3 via a switching device 2, as shown in FIG.

In this case, when holding a conference, lines for the maximum number of terminals participating in the conference are set up in advance between conference device 1 and exchange device 2, and each time a conference is held, The conference terminal 3 activates the exchange device 2, and the conference device 1
Set up a line between the conference terminal 3 and the conference terminal 3. The conference terminal 3 is
A one-to-one connection is made with switching device 2 and device 1,
Conference information sent from each conference terminal 3 is superimposed by an adding means in the conference device 1, and distributed to each conference terminal by a distribution means.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Conference communication methods using such conventional switching equipment include:
First, a switching device and multiple lines are required between the conference device and the conference terminals, and the number of terminals that can participate in the conference depends on the number of input lines of the conference device and the lines set between the conference device and the switching device. There are problems that are defined by numbers. If you set up many lines to compensate for the problem that the number of terminals that can participate in a conference is limited by the number of lines, this will result in excessive equipment for a meeting with a small number of people, so the disadvantage is that the equipment will not be used effectively. was occurring.

The present invention solves the drawbacks of the conventional conference call system by using the broadcast communication channel function and the individual communication channel function of the ring network, thereby eliminating any limit on the number of conference participants and making the system configuration economical. The purpose is to provide a conference communication method.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a channel for transmitting images from a conference terminal, and to transmit image information as conference information from a selected conference terminal to each device participating in the conference. The purpose of this conference is to provide a conference communication method that is possible.

[Failure to solve the problem]

The present invention provides a conference communication system in which one conference device and a plurality of conference terminals are connected to a ring network communication path, wherein the ring network communication path is a time division multiplex communication path, and the time division multiplex communication The communication channel includes a first communication channel that transmits the same audio information with a plurality of conference terminals as destination addresses, and a second communication channel that collects audio information assigned to one conference terminal. The device includes
means for inputting conference information; a receiving means for receiving conference information from a conference terminal on the second communication channel; and combining the input conference information and the conference information from the conference terminal received by the receiving means. a conference information adding means for outputting the conference information synthesized by the conference information addition means; and a transmission for transmitting the conference information synthesized by the conference information addition means onto the first communication channel. and each conference terminal includes a means for inputting conference information, a receiving means for receiving the conference information on the first communication channel, and a conference information output for outputting the conference information received by the receiving means. and transmitting means for transmitting input conference information onto the second communication channel.

In addition, when transmitting image information, a ring-type network 7) An image communication channel for transmitting image information from the conference terminal is provided in the work communication channel separately from a communication channel for transmitting audio information. , the conference equipment includes an image output means,
means for selecting one conference terminal and granting permission to use the image communication channel; each conference terminal includes an image input means; a means for requesting the conference device to use the image communication channel; and means for transmitting image information to the image communication channel based on usage permission from the conference device.

[Effect]

In the present invention, first, prior to a conference, synchronization of frames of a ring network communication channel is established to enable broadcasting of a time division multiplexed communication channel and use of individual communication channels.

A conference terminal with a transmission request acquires the right to use an individual communication channel, and transmits the conference information input through the conference information input means provided in the conference terminal via the transmission means (ring type network).
It is sent to the conference device via the individual communication channel 2 of the work communication path.

The conference device receives the conference information on the individual communication channel by the receiving means, and superimposes the own conference information input by the conference information input means and the conference information transmitted from the individual conference terminal by the conference information adding means. , and outputs the conference information to the conference information output means, and transmits the combined conference information to all conference terminals via the transmitting means on the broadcast communication channel.

Each conference terminal receives the conference information on the broadcast communication channel by the receiving means and outputs it to the conference information output means.

In this way, by using the broadcast communication channel function and the individual communication channel function of the link-type network communication path, it is possible to transmit conference information consisting of the same voice to all terminals participating in the conference. A conference communication system can be realized using inexpensive line equipment that does not depend on the number of conference participants.

Further, in the case of a conference involving image transmission, a channel for transmitting images is provided separately from the above-mentioned channel. When using a channel for transmitting image information from each conference terminal, the conference device first circulates among the conference terminals with a control bit attached to each conference terminal to listen to transmission requests for that channel. A conference terminal with a transmission request makes a transmission request through a dedicated communication channel assigned to itself. The conference device receives the transmission request from the conference terminal, and grants one of the conference terminals that has made the transmission request permission to use a channel for transmitting image information from the conference terminal.

The conference terminal that has been granted permission to use the conference terminal transmits the image information to all the devices participating in the conference by putting the image information on the channel for transmitting the image information.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

The embodiment described below is a conference that has a function of distributing audio information from a conference device and all conference terminals to each conference terminal, and distributing image information from the conference device and any one conference terminal to all conference terminals. This explains the communication method.

, FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the conference communication system of the present invention. The conference communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention has a configuration in which a conference device 1 and a plurality of conference terminals 3 are connected to a ring network communication path 4. This link type network communication channel is a time division multiplex communication channel, and includes a broadcast communication channel that transmits the same information from one terminal to multiple terminals, and an individual broadcast communication channel that transmits information from one terminal to another terminal. communication channels.

First, before explaining the configuration of the conference device 1 and the conference terminal 3 in the conference communication system of this embodiment, the frame configuration of the ring network communication path used in this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

In a ring network, as shown in FIG. 3, fixed-length signal frames (hereinafter referred to as frames) divided by frame identifiers F are repeatedly circulated on the communication path. This frame is further divided into a plurality of N channels. As shown in Figure 3, each channel has a DΔ field indicating the address of the destination receiving device, an SΔ field indicating the address of the source transmitting device, and the state of the channel such as whether the channel is in use or free. The field consists of a C field that carries control information for controlling the transmission, and an I field that carries transmission information.

The device that has acquired the right to use the channel sets the destination device address in the DΔ field and the own device address in the SA field of the channel for which it has acquired the right to use, puts the transmission information in the (2) field, and sends it out on the communication path.

If the device receiving the frame has a channel whose DA field matches its own device address, it takes in the information about that channel, and if not, it relays the frame as is to the lower communication channel.

The individual communication channel function of the ring network is DA
It is a function to set a specific device address in the field and perform communication between devices on a one-to-one basis, and the broadcast communication channel function uses a common global address defined in the system as DA
This is a function that can be set in a field and send the same information from one device to multiple devices at the same time.

In this embodiment, audio information from the conference terminal 3 is collected by the conference device via an individual communication channel, and conference information added and synthesized in the conference device is distributed to each conference terminal via a broadcast communication channel. realize conference communication.

Next, the conference device 1 and the conference terminal 3 will be explained by showing a configuration diagram of the conference device 1 and the conference terminal 3 that implement the conference communication system of this embodiment in FIG.

The conference device 1 includes a conference information input means 11 that inputs conference information in the form of an analog signal, and a conference information output means 12 that outputs the conference information converted into analog information. The conference information input means 11 can input audio information using a microphone or the like, and the conference information output means 12 can output audio information from a speaker or the like. The conference device 1 also includes an image input means 19 and an image output means 20,
The image input means 19 is a device capable of inputting image information such as a television camera, and the image output means 20 is a device capable of outputting audio information and image information such as a television receiver.

This image output means 20 has a multi-window display function that displays two receivers or two or more screens when outputting image information.

Further, the conference device 1 includes a receiving means 13 having a function of receiving frames on a ring network communication channel and temporarily storing and storing the information, and the output of this receiving means 13 is as follows.
The signal is input to the DA conversion means 14 and the transmission right control means 17. The DA conversion means 14 converts the conference information in the freight input from the reception means 13 into an outputtable analog signal, and outputs it to the conference information addition means 18. The conference information adding means 18 receives the conference information from each conference terminal 3 received by the receiving means 13 via the audio information collection channel, which is an individual communication channel of the ring network communication path, and the conference information input of the own device described above. It has a function of synthesizing conference audio by superimposing the conference information input from the means 11, and the audio output is input to the conference information output means 12, and the AD
It is input to the conversion means 15. The AD conversion means 15 converts the input analog signal into a digital signal string that can be loaded into the information field of the frame of the ring network communication path, and its output is input to the transmission means 16.

The transmitting means 16 is added by the conference information adding means 18, and the A
A channel in which address information and control information are added to the conference information converted into a digital signal by the D conversion means 15/+ is mounted at a predetermined position of the frame and sent to the ring network communication path.

Further, the image information input by the image input means 19 is
The image information is transmitted to the ring network communication path by the transmitting means 16 via the converting means 15 and received by the receiving means 13, and is converted into an analog signal by the DA converting means 14 and output to the image output means 20.

This conference device 1 is equipped with a transmission right control means 17 that controls the transmission right of each conference terminal, and requests transmission by rewriting the bits of the address field and control information field except for the information field in the frame. A certain conference terminal is selected, and the transmitting means 16 gives each conference terminal 3 permission to use the transmission right control channel.

Next, the configuration of each conference terminal 3 will be explained.

The conference terminal 3 includes a conference information input means 31 capable of inputting both audio information and image information, and a conference information output means 32 capable of outputting audio information and image information, and the conference information input means 31 includes a microphone, The conference information output means 32 is a television camera, etc., and the conference information output means 32 is a speaker, a television receiver, etc. When outputting image information, this conference information output means 32 has two receivers or a multi-window display function, like the aforementioned conference device 1. Further, the conference terminal 3 includes a receiving means 33 having a function of receiving frames on a ring network communication channel and temporarily storing and storing the information, and the output of this receiving means 33 is
The information is input to the conversion means 34 and the transmission right acquisition means 37.

The DΔ conversion means 34 converts the conference information in the frame inputted from the reception means 33 into an outputtable analog signal,
The conference information is output to the conference information output means 32. Conference information input means 3
1 converts the input analog signal into a digital signal string that can be loaded into the information field of the frame of the link type network communication path, and the output is transmitted. It is input to means 36. The transmitting means 36 adds address information and control information to the conference information converted into a digital signal by the AD converting means, mounts the conference information in a predetermined position of the frame, and transmits the conference information to the link type non-work communication channel.

Further, the output signal of the transmission right acquisition means 37 is input to the transmission means 36 .

The transmission right acquisition means 37 has the function of setting the transmission right focus of the voice information collection channel of the ring network communication channel described later to 1'', requesting permission to use the transmission right control channel, and the function of requesting permission to use the transmission right control channel, and the function of requesting permission to use the transmission right control channel, and A function that looks at the contents of the DA field, SA field, and C field of the transmission right control channel of Freno, and determines whether permission to use that channel is granted, and It has a function to acquire the in-use bit and release the right to use the channel.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the frame structure of the link type network in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the frame includes, following the frame synchronization signal F, an audio information distribution channel for distributing audio information to all conference terminals, and an audio information distribution channel for collecting audio information from the conference terminals to the conference device 1. M audio information collection channels #1 to #M, an image information distribution channel that distributes image information such as facsimile code strings and television images to all conference terminals, and a conference terminal 3 that has image information to be transmitted.
It consists of a transmission right control channel in which one conference terminal 3 is selected, the right to use the channel is temporarily granted to the selected conference terminal 3, and image information is distributed from that terminal to all conference participating devices.

Among these, the audio information collection channel has a one-to-one correspondence between the conference device 1 and the conference terminal 3, and the same number of channels as the number of conference terminals are prepared. Channel #1 collects the audio information of the conference terminal 3 #1. , channel #2 carries the audio information of the conference terminal 3#2, and channel #M is fixedly assigned to carry the audio information of the conference terminal 3#M.

As shown in Figure 3, each channel is divided into a DA field indicating the address of the destination device, an SA field indicating the address of the source device, a C field carrying a control signal, and a ■ field carrying conference information. .

FIG. 5 shows the contents of each field in this channel. The DΔ field of the audio information distribution channel is set with a global address that targets all conference terminals 3, and the SA field is set with the source address. The address of the conference device 1 is set, and the conference information (audio information) synthesized by the conference information adding means j8 of the conference device 1 is placed in the (2) field. In addition, the DΔ field of the audio information collection channel contains the address of the conference device 1, the SA field contains the address of the sending party FA terminal 3, and the I
Conference information (audio information) input from the conference information input means 31 of the conference terminal 2 is placed in the field. Furthermore, the image information distribution channel is used by the conference device 1, and like the audio information, the DA field contains the global address destined for the plenary gfl terminal, the SΔ field contains the address of the conference device 1 as the transmission source, and Conference information, which is image information, is placed in the field.

Furthermore, since there are four states for the transmission right control channel, the contents are shown in a separate table.

The C field of this embodiment is provided with an area in which control bits for pointing and transmission rights are entered during use, and channel control is performed using these control bits.

First, the in-use bit indicates that conference information is stored in the I field.

The polling pinpoint is meaningful only in the transmission right control channel, and when the conference device 1 inquires whether there is image information to be transmitted to the conference terminal 3, the via) becomes 1''.The transmission right bit is Image information distribution that controls whether the right to use the transmission right control channel belongs to the conference terminal 3 or the conference device 3, and when it is "1", the conference terminal 3 distributes the image information of the transmission control channel to all conference participating devices It can be used as a channel.

The contents of the transmission right control channel are shown below as a table.

(Hereinafter referred to as the margin of this page) Next, the operation of the conference communication system of this embodiment will be explained.

First, we will explain the operation of broadcasting audio information in the plenary conference communication system.

The frame of the ring-type network starts from the conference device 1,
It is circulated in order to #1, #2, ... #M of conference terminal 3,
Return to conference device 1. The conference terminal 3 sends the audio information input through the conference information input means 31 to the audio information collection channel assigned to each conference terminal 3 on the ring network communication path via the transmitting means 36.

The conference device 1 receives the audio conference information from each conference terminal 3 by the receiving means 13, converts it into analog information by the DA converter 14, and then converts the audio conference information input from the conference information input means 11 into conference information. The adding means 18 superimposes them. The audio information superimposed and synthesized by the conference information addition means is outputted to the conference information output means 12, and is converted into a digital signal by the AD conversion means 15.
It is transmitted to the conference terminal 3 via the transmitting means 16 on the voice information distribution channel whose destination in the frame of the ring network communication path is the global address.

When the frame of the ring network communication channel is circulated to the conference terminals 3, each conference terminal 3 receives the frame by the receiving means 33, and converts the audio information on the ■ field of the circulated audio information distribution channel from DA to DA. The means 34 converts it into an analog signal, outputs it to the conference information output means 32, and inputs the next audio input from the conference information input means 31 into the ■ field of the voice information collection channel corresponding to the address of the own device in the received frame. information, and the transmitting means 36 relays the frame to the lower-level conference terminal 3.

By repeating this operation by the conference device 1 and each conference terminal 3, all audio content input from the conference device 1 and conference terminal 3 is equally distributed to all conference participating devices, and conference communication is performed. be able to.

Next, the operation when transmitting conference information accompanied by audio information and image information will be explained.

The conference device 1 sends conference information consisting of image information input by the conference information input means 11 to all conference terminals through the image information distribution channel shown in FIG. Each conference terminal 3 displays the image information received from the conference device 1 by the receiving means 33 on one of the receivers of the conference output means 32 or on one screen divided by a multi-window.

Next, the operation of distributing image information from the conference terminal 3 to the conference participating devices will be explained. This distribution of image information uses the aforementioned transmission control channel, and the conference device 1 selects one of the conference terminals 3 that has a transmission request, and transmits the image information from the conference terminal 3 to all conference participating devices. be.

When the conference device 1 becomes able to distribute the image information, it sets the state of the transmission right control channel to the polling state shown in the table.

That is, the DA field is the global address, and the SA field is the global address.
The frame is circulated on the ring network communication path with the conference device address field set as the conference device address and the boring bit of the C field set as ``'1''.

In the conference terminal 3, the frame received by the receiving means 33 is decoded by the transmission right acquisition means 37. The conference terminal 3 detects a frame in which the boring bit is 1'', and when the conference terminal 3 has a transmission request, transmits the transmission right bit in the C field of the voice collection channel corresponding to the own conference terminal 3 of the received frame. is set to "1" and the frame is relayed to the lower-level conference terminal 3 by the transmitting means 36. When the frame sent from the conference device 1 goes around all the conference terminals 3 and returns to the conference device 1, The transmission right bit of the audio information collection channel corresponding to all the conference terminals 3 that have a transmission request is set to "1".

In the conference device 1, the transmission right control means 17 selects one of the conference terminals 3 and sets the transmission right control channel to the transmission right granted state shown in the table. That is, the address of the conference terminal 3 that has selected the transmission right control channel is set in the DA field, the transmission right control channel with the transmission right bit set to "i" is configured to match other channels, and the frame is is transmitted to the ring network communication path by the transmitting means 16. In this case, the transmission right control means 17
has a function of uniquely selecting a specific conference terminal from among a plurality of conference terminals 3.

When the conference terminal 3 that issued the transmission request matches the address of the DA field of the transmission right control channel of the received frame with the address of the own device by the transmission right acquisition means 37, the conference terminal 3 transmits the transmission right control channel in the table. Set to image information transmission state. That is, the DA field is the global address, the SA field is the own device address, the in-use bit and transmission right bit of the C field are 1'', and the conference information (image information) to be transmitted is placed in the ■ field. It is transmitted onto the link network communication path via the transmitting means 36. This allows image information to be distributed from the conference terminal 3 to all devices participating in the conference via the transmission right control channel.

Conference information (image information) from this selected conference terminal 3
is displayed on the receiver or one screen as a plurality of divided images together with the image information distributed from the conference device 1 to all conference terminals by the conference information output means 32 of the conference terminal, and the conference device 1 displays the image as a plurality of divided images. It is output to the output means 20.

- Once the conference terminal 3 acquires the right to use the transmission right control channel, the in-use bit of the transmission right control channel is set to "o".
”, the conference terminal 3 can continue to use the transmission right control channel as a channel for distributing image information.

When the conference terminal 3 completes the transmission of information, it sets the in-use bit of the C field of the transmission right control channel to "o", and
Release the right to use the transmit right control channel. The released transmission control channel is placed under the control of the conference device 1 again,
It is used to select the conference terminal 3 that has the next transmission request.

FIG. 6 shows a communication procedure for transmitting image information from a conference terminal to conference participating devices using this transmission control channel.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, conference information from conference terminals is collected in a conference device using individual channels of a ring-type network communication path, and participants can participate in the conference using a circular communication channel of the network communication path. The same conference information can be distributed to all the devices in the conference, and a conference communication system can be realized using inexpensive line equipment using a ring network, regardless of the number of conference participants.

In addition, when using an image channel, it is possible to transmit image information from each conference terminal during conference communication by selecting the destination conference terminal, making effective use of time-division channels in a ring network.

It is possible to carry out conference communication accompanied by image information.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a more specific configuration of the conference communication system of this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a frame configuration diagram of a ring network. FIG. 4 is a frame configuration diagram of the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the contents of each field of the channel in the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a procedure for transmitting image information. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional conference communication system. 1... Conference device, 2... Switching device, 3... Conference terminal, 4. Ring type network communication path, 11.31.
...Meeting information input means, 12.32...Meeting information output means, 13.33...Receiving means, 14.34...DΔ conversion means, 15.35...A'I) conversion means, 16. 3
6... Transmission means, 17... Transmission right control means, 18...
Conference information addition means, 19... Image input means, 20...
Image output means, 37... transmission right acquisition means. Patent applicant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a conference communication system in which one conference device and a plurality of conference terminals are connected to a ring network communication path, the ring network communication path is a time division multiplex communication path; The time-division multiplex communication channel has a first communication channel that transmits the same audio information with multiple conference terminals as destination addresses, and a second communication channel that collects audio information assigned to one conference terminal. and the conference device includes: means for inputting conference information; receiving means for receiving conference information from the conference terminal on the second communication channel; a conference information addition means for synthesizing the conference information from the terminal; a conference information output means for outputting the conference information synthesized by the conference information addition means; and a conference information output means for outputting the conference information synthesized by the conference information addition means; a transmitting means for transmitting the conference information on the first communication channel, and each conference terminal includes a means for inputting conference information, a receiving means for receiving the conference information on the first communication channel, and a transmitting means for transmitting the conference information on the first communication channel, and a transmitting means for transmitting the conference information on the first communication channel, and A conference communication method comprising: a conference information output means for outputting conference information; and a transmission means for transmitting input conference information onto the second communication channel. 2. In the conference communication system according to claim 1, the ring network communication path is provided with an image communication channel for transmitting image information from the conference terminals separately from a communication channel for transmitting audio information, and the conference The device includes an image output means and a means for selecting one conference terminal and granting permission to use the image communication channel, and each conference terminal includes an image input means and a means for transmitting the image communication to the conference device. A conference communication system comprising: means for requesting use of a channel; and means for transmitting image information to the image communication channel upon permission from a conference device.