KR102671157B1 - Method for performing small communication in group conference and a plurality of terminal thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

One embodiment is a method of performing small-scale communication in a group conference, comprising: forming a group by a plurality of participant terminals to implement the group conference; A request transmitting terminal, which is one of the plurality of participant terminals, selects at least one request receiving terminal from the plurality of participant terminals and requests the at least one request receiving terminal to participate in the subgroup; The at least one request receiving terminal responding to a request for participation in the subgroup; When the at least one request receiving terminal accepts the request for participation in the subgroup, the request transmitting terminal establishes a first communication connection with at least one request receiving terminal that accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, thereby subgrouping the subgroup. forming a group; Initiating a subgroup conference by the request transmitting terminal and at least one request receiving terminal that has accepted the request to participate in the subgroup; Comprising the step of blocking video or audio for the subgroup conference from being broadcast through the group conference by the request transmitting terminal and at least one request receiving terminal that has accepted the request for participation in the subgroup. It can provide a way to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences.

Description

Method for performing small-scale communication in a group conference and multiple participant terminals {METHOD FOR PERFORMING SMALL COMMUNICATION IN GROUP CONFERENCE AND A PLURALITY OF TERMINAL THEREOF}

This embodiment relates to a method for implementing small-scale communication during a group conference and a terminal for performing small-scale communication.

The video conference will be seen in scenes of disaster information sharing from the national disaster situation room, such as floods, typhoons, earthquakes, and forest fires, which are often shown on TV. The conference room-only video conference system is mainly used by administrative agencies, public institutions, large corporations, and global companies for remote video conferencing at headquarters and each region. Recently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, border closures and social distancing have become a daily practice in each country, leading to a non-face-to-face era, and the popularity of video conference (or video conferencing) solutions is soaring due to major changes such as the shift to working from home. .

A video conference can be viewed as a real-time visual connection between two or more people living in different locations for communication. Video conferencing is communally focused, different from video telephony, which focuses on individuals. The simplest videoconferencing is the transmission of static images and text between two locations, while more expanded videoconferencing involves sophisticated technology to transmit full-motion video images and high-quality audio between multiple locations, enabling remote bilateral and multi-party communication. It has developed into a video conference system for communication.

When multiple participants participate in a video conference and hold a group meeting, a group conference may be formed. Group conferences can be implemented primarily on the Internet, where each of a number of participants can transmit packets of data - in the form of text, sound and video - to one or more parties via the Internet.

Recently, as working from home through video conferences has become more common, the demand for video conferences is increasing. As demand increases, the demand for functional improvements is also gradually increasing. The direction is to improve the functionality of video conferences so that online video conferences function the same as offline conferences. Typically, functions such as secret conversations between specific participants may be needed.

Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention completed the present invention after a long period of research on technology that allows video conference participants to use video conferences as close to a real conference as possible.

Against this background, one purpose of the present embodiment is to provide a technology in which a plurality of participants participating in a group conference form a subgroup and initiate a separate subgroup conference.

Another purpose of this embodiment is to provide a technology that allows participants participating in a subgroup conference to secretly communicate with each other regardless of the group conference.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, one embodiment provides a method of performing small-scale communication in a group conference, comprising: forming a group by a plurality of participant terminals to implement the group conference; A request transmitting terminal, which is one of the plurality of participant terminals, selects at least one request receiving terminal from the plurality of participant terminals and requests the at least one request receiving terminal to participate in the subgroup; The at least one request receiving terminal responding to a request for participation in the subgroup; When the at least one request receiving terminal accepts the request for participation in the subgroup, the request transmitting terminal establishes a first communication connection with at least one request receiving terminal that accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, thereby subgrouping the subgroup. forming a group; Initiating a subgroup conference by the request transmitting terminal and at least one request receiving terminal that has accepted the request to participate in the subgroup; Comprising the step of blocking video or audio for the subgroup conference from being broadcast through the group conference by the request transmitting terminal and at least one request receiving terminal that has accepted the request for participation in the subgroup. Provides a way to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences.

In the method, the step of blocking the broadcasting includes the request transmitting terminal and the request receiving terminal accepting the request for participation of the subgroup turning off the video or audio of the group conference, and You can turn on the video or audio of the subgroup conference.

In the method, the step of requesting participation in the subgroup includes the request transmitting terminal requesting participation in the subgroup from a plurality of request receiving terminals, and the step of configuring the subgroup includes: If accepts the request for participation of the subgroup, the plurality of request receiving terminals may establish a second communication connection with each other.

In the above method, the step of configuring the subgroup includes, if any one of the first and second request receiving terminals that accepted the request for participation in the subgroup first requests the second communication connection, the first and second requests. Another one of the receiving terminals may automatically accept the request for the second communication connection.

In the method, the step of configuring the subgroup includes, when the first and second request receiving terminals that have accepted the request for participation in the subgroup simultaneously request the second communication connection, the first request receiving terminal receives the identification information. Through comparison, you can maintain the request for the second communication connection and reject the request from the other party of the second communication connection, or you can stop the request for the second communication connection and accept the request from the other party of the second communication connection. there is.

In the method, the step of requesting participation in the subgroup includes the request transmitting terminal requesting participation in the subgroup from a plurality of request receiving terminals, and the step of configuring the subgroup includes receiving the plurality of requests. When at least one of the terminals rejects the request for participation in the subgroup, the plurality of request receiving terminals establish a second communication connection with each other, but the request receiving terminal that rejected the request for participation in the subgroup is It can be excluded from the second communication connection.

In the method, the step of configuring the subgroup includes: the first request receiving terminal, which accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, establishes the second communication connection with the second request receiving terminal that rejected the request for participation in the subgroup. If requested, the second request receiving terminal may automatically reject the request for the second communication connection.

In the method, the step of requesting participation of the subgroup includes the request transmitting terminal requesting participation of the subgroup from a plurality of request receiving terminals, and the step of configuring the subgroup includes receiving the selected plurality of request requests. If at least one of the terminals responds with a rejection or delay to the request for participation of the subgroup, the request receiving terminal that accepted the request for participation of the subgroup rejects the request for participation of the subgroup. A request for a second communication connection can also be transmitted to the request receiving terminal that has responded with a response or delay.

In the method, the step of requesting participation of the subgroup includes: a first request transmitting terminal requests participation of the first subgroup from the at least one request receiving terminal, and the second request transmitting terminal requests the at least one request. Requesting the receiving terminal to participate in the second subgroup, and responding to the request for participation in the subgroup, includes the step of the at least one request receiving terminal responding to the request for participation in the first and second subgroups. ; In the step of configuring the subgroup, the at least one request receiving terminal first accepts a request for participation in the first subgroup to form the first request transmitting terminal and the first subgroup, and the second subgroup The request for group participation can later be accepted to leave the first subgroup and form the second request transmitting terminal and the second subgroup.

In the above method, the plurality of participant terminals may include an intermediary function.

In the above method, the request receiving terminal that rejected the request for participation of the subgroup cannot determine broadcasting blocking of the request transmitting terminal and the request receiving terminal that accepted the request for participation of the subgroup.

Another embodiment includes: a request transmitting terminal requesting participation of a subgroup to form a subgroup that performs small-scale communication in a group conference; and at least one request receiving terminal that responds to a request for participation in the subgroup and, when accepting the request for participation in the subgroup, constitutes the subgroup by establishing a first communication connection with the request transmitting terminal. , the request transmitting terminal initiates a subgroup conference with at least one request receiving terminal that has accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, and video or audio for the subgroup conference is broadcast through the group conference. At least one request receiving terminal that blocks and accepts the request to participate in the subgroup initiates the subgroup conference with the request transmitting terminal, and video or audio for the subgroup conference is broadcast through the group conference. Provides multiple participant terminals for small-scale communication in group conferences that block casting.

As described above, according to this embodiment, during a group conference, some participants can communicate secretly unrelated to the group conference.

1 is an exemplary diagram of a system that performs small-scale communication in a group conference according to an embodiment.
Figure 2 is a flowchart of requests and responses in a system for performing small-scale communication in a group conference according to one embodiment.
Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of a system for performing small-scale communication in a group conference according to one embodiment.
Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of a plurality of participant terminals establishing a second communication connection of a subgroup according to an embodiment.
Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of a plurality of participant terminals that have received a request to participate in two or more subgroups according to an embodiment.
Figure 6 is an example diagram illustrating a mediation function in a system that performs small-scale communication in a group conference according to an embodiment.
Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a participant terminal according to an embodiment.
The attached drawings are intended as reference for understanding the technical idea of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

In describing the present invention, if it is determined that related known functions may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention as they are obvious to those skilled in the art, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The terms used in this application are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but are not intended to indicate the presence of one or more other features. It should be understood that this does not exclude in advance the possibility of the existence or addition of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, identical or corresponding components will be assigned the same drawing numbers and overlapping descriptions thereof will be omitted. Do this.

1 is an exemplary diagram of a system that performs small-scale communication in a group conference according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 (hereinafter referred to as 'system') that performs small-scale communication in a group conference may include a plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 and a server 150. . Hereinafter, the system 100 includes a plurality of participant terminals (110, 120, 130, and 140) including four terminals - the first participant terminal (110), the second participant terminal (120), the third participant terminal (130), and the third participant terminal (130). It is described as including 4 participant terminals 140, but is not limited to this and may include at least 2 or more terminals to implement a group conference. Here, the function implemented by the system 100 is the so-called 'whisper'. In a group conference, each party may consist of multiple participants. The parties may need to communicate confidentially with their own participants so that the other participants cannot hear. Then, specific participants should be able to form separate small groups to form another conference. The system 100 can form another conference by separately forming small groups during a group conference.

A plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, 140 and the server 150 may be connected through a wired or wireless network. A wired or wireless network refers to a connection structure that allows information to be exchanged between nodes such as a plurality of participant terminals (110, 120, 130, 140) and a server (150). An example of such a network is the Internet. , LAN (local area network), wireless LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network), PAN (personal area network), 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, RFID, home network, etc. Included but not limited to this.

In a wired or wireless network, the server 150 is located in the center and can connect a plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 to each other, and each of the plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 is connected to the server 150. ) can be connected through. The method in which a plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 are connected through a wired or wireless network centered on the server 150 may be called a centralized method or a client-server method. A client, that is, a plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140, may request a specific service from the server 150 or receive a response thereto.

Meanwhile, the system 100 may implement small-scale communication while initiating a group conference. Hereinafter, the small-scale communication implemented by the system 100 may be referred to as a sub-group conference. Therefore, the system 100 according to one embodiment can establish two or more communications and implement two or more conferences accordingly. For example, the system 100 can implement a group conference in which a plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 participate, centered around the server 150 (see I, dotted line). At the same time, the system 100 can implement a subgroup conference in which some of the plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 participate, excluding the server 150 (see II, solid line).

Here, the group conference is the first conference implemented - a video conference in which video is broadcast or an audio conference in which only audio is broadcast - and may be a conference that must be implemented in advance in order to implement a subgroup conference. The group conference may be a client-server network. Therefore, in a group conference, all participant terminals (110, 120, 130, 140) (N participants (N is a natural number greater than 1)) connect to the server 150 and receive their data packets from one participant terminal (one participant). can be transmitted to the remaining participant terminals (N-1 participants). Alternatively, the group conference may be a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. Therefore, among all participant terminals (110, 120, 130, 140) (N participants), one participant terminal (1 participant) can directly transmit its data packet to the remaining participant terminals (N-1 participants). That is, transmission of data packets can be performed directly between participant terminals without going through the server 150.

In order to implement a group conference in a client-server manner in the system 100 according to one embodiment, the server 150 configures one channel for each of the plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 - example. For example, channel A- can be constructed (see dotted line). And in order to implement a subgroup conference in a P2P manner in the system 100 according to one embodiment, the second participant terminal 120 is connected to the third participant terminal 130 and the fourth participant terminal 140, and each channel - For example, channel B is established, and the third participant terminal 130 can establish one channel - for example, channel B - with the fourth participant terminal 140 (see solid line). Then, in a situation where the first to fourth participant terminals (110, 120, 130, and 140) are participating in a group conference, the second to fourth participant terminals (120, 130, and 140) may participate in a separate subgroup conference. .

A subgroup conference can be implemented independently as a separate conference from the group conference. Because both conferences here are independent, the data - text, sound, and/or video - of the subgroup conference may be transmitted or broadcast differently than that of the group conference. That is, separate channels - Channel A and Channel B -, separate parties - all participants and some participants - and separate networking methods - client-server method and P2P method - may be required for each conference.

Figure 2 is a flowchart of requests and responses in a system for performing small-scale communication in a group conference according to one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, a method in which the system 100 performs small-scale communication by implementing a subgroup conference during a group conference is shown. In this drawing, in order to implement and initiate a subgroup conference, the second to fourth participant terminals (120, 130, 140) among the plurality of participant terminals (110, 120, 130, and 140) may implement the subgroup conference.

For example, first, all participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 may be forming a group and implementing a group conference. All participants are in a group conference, and each participant can transmit data, including audio and/or video, to the remaining participants through the server 150.

A second participant may wish to secretly communicate with the third and fourth participants to the exclusion of the first participant. Then, the second participant terminal 120 may request participation in the subgroup from the third participant terminal 130 and the fourth participant terminal 140 (step S201). Here, excluding certain participants and communicating with only some participants can be called 'whispering', and the formation of subgroups and implementation of subgroup conferences can be considered to implement the 'whispering' function.

Then, the third participant terminal 130 and the fourth participant terminal 140 can each respond to the request for participation of the subgroup of the second participant terminal 120 (step S203). Responses to requests for subgroup participation may include acceptance, rejection, and delay. Acceptance means forming a subgroup and participating in the subgroup conference, rejection means not participating in the subgroup conference, and delay does not correspond to acceptance or rejection, but is a state in which the position has not yet been expressed and ultimately It can mean that it results in acceptance or rejection. The third participant terminal 130 and the fourth participant terminal 140 may reply to the second participant terminal 120 with one of acceptance, rejection, and delay responses.

If the third participant terminal 130 and the fourth participant terminal 140 accept the request for participation in the subgroup, a first communication connection for forming the subgroup can be established. The second participant terminal 120 may establish a first communication connection with the third participant terminal 130 and a first communication connection with the fourth participant terminal 140. Hereinafter, a participant terminal requesting participation in a subgroup may be referred to as a request sending terminal, and a participant terminal receiving and responding to a request for participation in a subgroup may be referred to as a request receiving terminal. Accordingly, the second participant terminal 120 can become a request transmitting terminal, and the third participant terminal 130 and the fourth participant terminal 140 can become request receiving terminals.

When the third participant terminal 130 and the fourth participant terminal 140 establish a first communication connection, a second communication connection for forming a subgroup may be established. One of the third participant terminal 130 and the fourth participant terminal 140 may request a second communication connection from the other party (step S205). According to this drawing, the third participant terminal 130 can transmit a request for a second communication connection to the fourth participant terminal 140.

The request receiving terminal that has received the request for the second communication connection may respond by accepting, rejecting, or delaying the request for the second communication connection (step S207). According to this drawing, the fourth participant terminal 140 can respond by accepting, rejecting, or delaying a request for a second communication connection from the third participant terminal 130. If the fourth participant terminal 140 accepts the request for the second communication connection, the second communication connection can be established.

Here, in order to form a subgroup, first and second communication connections need to be established. A first communication connection may be required between the request sending terminal and the request receiving terminal, and a second communication connection may be required between the request receiving terminal. The second communication connection can be attempted only if the first communication connection is established first - only if the request receiving terminal accepts the request to participate in the subgroup. This is because the second communication connection must be made only between participant terminals that wish to form a subgroup. Of course, the request receiving terminal may reject the second communication connection even though the first communication connection has been established. In this case, according to this drawing, data transmission may be possible between the first participant terminal 110, the second participant terminal 120, and the third participant terminal 130, but the second participant terminal 120 and the third participant terminal Data transmission may not be possible between participant terminals 130.

Additionally, since the first communication connection and the second communication connection are connections for a subgroup conference, they may have different characteristics from the connection for a group conference. For example, if a group conference is networked in a client-server manner, subgroup conferences can be networked in a P2P manner. Accordingly, both the first communication connection and the second communication connection can be made in the P2P method.

Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of a system for performing small-scale communication in a group conference according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, an operation in which a system according to one embodiment performs small-scale communication in a group conference is shown. Hereinafter, while N (N is a natural number of 1 or more) participant terminals participating in a group conference, the first to fourth participant terminals (110, 120, 130, 140) form a subgroup to implement a subgroup conference. Let me explain with an example. The first participant terminal 110 operates as a request transmitting terminal, and the second to fourth participant terminals 120, 130, and 140 operate as request receiving terminals, but the fourth participant terminal 140 rejects the request to participate in the subgroup. and can be assumed to be excluded from the subgroup conference. Accordingly, in this drawing, the first participant terminal 110 may become the request transmitting terminal, and the second to fourth participant terminals 120, 130, and 140 may sequentially become the first to third request receiving terminals.

N participant terminals, including the first to fourth participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140, have started and are participating in a group conference (step S301). In a group conference, the first to fourth participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 may be connected to a server in a client-server manner.

The first participant terminal 110 may transmit a request for participation in a subgroup to the second to fourth participant terminals 120, 130, and 140 (step S303).

First, the second participant terminal 120 may accept the subgroup's request for participation (step S305). Then, the second participant terminal 120 can establish a first communication connection with the first participant terminal 110 (step S307). That is, a communication connection between the request sending terminal and the request receiving terminal can be established. The first communication connection may be a P2P method.

If the second participant terminal 120 accepts the request for participation in the subgroup and establishes the first communication connection, a communication connection may be attempted between the request receiving terminals. The second participant terminal 120 may request a second communication connection from the third and fourth participant terminals 130 and 140 (step S309).

Meanwhile, the third participant terminal 130 may also accept the request for participation of the subgroup of the first participant terminal 110 (step S311). The third participant terminal 130, which has accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, may establish a first communication connection with the first participant terminal 110 (step S313). At the same time, since the third participant terminal 130 has accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, it also accepts the request for the second communication connection sent by the second participant terminal 120, which is another request receiving terminal, and establishes the second communication connection. (step S315). A second communication connection may be established between request receiving terminals that have accepted the request for participation in the subgroup. The second communication connection may also be a P2P method like the first communication connection.

The fourth participant terminal 140 may reject the request for participation of the subgroup of the first participant terminal 110 (step S317). Since the fourth participant terminal 140 rejected the request to participate in the subgroup, it may also reject the request for the second communication connection sent by another request receiving terminal - the second participant terminal 120 (step S319). .

Finally, the request transmitting terminal and at least one request receiving terminal that has accepted the request to participate in the subgroup form a subgroup and initiate a subgroup conference (step S321). Here, the request receiving terminal that rejected the request to participate in the subgroup may be excluded from forming the subgroup. According to this drawing, excluding the fourth participant terminal 140, the first to third participant terminals 110, 120, and 130 can form a subgroup and participate in a subgroup conference.

A plurality of participant terminals participating in a subgroup conference - a request sending terminal and a request receiving terminal - can control the video or audio function to block video and/or audio for the subgroup conference from being broadcast through the group conference. (Step S323).

Specifically, a plurality of participant terminals participating in a subgroup conference may stop video and/or audio from being transmitted through the group conference channel. For example, the request sending terminal and the request receiving terminal that accepted the request to participate in the subgroup turn off the video and/or audio broadcast in the group conference, and the video and/or audio broadcast in the subgroup conference. Video and/or audio can be turned on. Then, participants who do not participate in the subgroup conference - participants who have rejected the subgroup's request to participate - cannot recognize the video and/or audio transmitted through the subgroup conference channel at all. Participants not participating in the subgroup conference may be seen as having turned off the video or muted the audio.

Furthermore, the request receiving terminal that rejected the request to participate in the subgroup cannot determine whether to block broadcasting of the request transmitting terminal and the request receiving terminal that accepted the request to participate in the subgroup. In other words, the request receiving terminal that rejects the subgroup's request for participation cannot determine whether the video and/or audio is turned off due to participation in the subgroup conference or voluntarily turned off for another reason.

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of a plurality of participant terminals establishing a second communication connection of a subgroup according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, an operation of a plurality of participant terminals in the system 100 to establish a second communication connection for forming a subgroup can be shown. In this drawing, the description will be made on the premise that the request transmitting terminal and at least two request receiving terminals participate in the subgroup conference, and at least two or more request receiving terminals accept the request for participation in the subgroup. The request transmitting terminal may correspond to the first participant terminal in FIG. 3, and at least two request receiving terminals may correspond to the second and third participant terminals in FIG. 3.

The first participant terminal - the request sending terminal - may transmit a request for participation in the subgroup to the second and third participant terminals - a plurality of request receiving terminals. If the second and third participant terminals accept the request to participate in the subgroup, the first to third participant terminals can start the subgroup conference. However, in this step, the first participant terminal only establishes the first communication connection with the second and third participant terminals, and the second communication connection may not yet be established between the second and third participant terminals.

Here, if one of the plurality of request receiving terminals first requests the second communication connection - a single request - the other one of the plurality of request receiving terminals can automatically accept the request for the second communication connection. Additionally, when a plurality of request receiving terminals request a second communication connection - multiple requests - one of the plurality of request receiving terminals may select a request for a second communication connection through comparison of identification information. For example, one of a plurality of request receiving terminals maintains its second communication connection request and rejects the other party's second communication connection request, or stops its own second communication connection request and sends the other party's second communication connection request. The request for a communication connection can be accepted. Below, this operation will be described in detail.

One of the second and third participant terminals that have accepted the request to participate in the subgroup may request a second communication connection from the other participant terminal (step S401). That is, the second participant terminal may request a second communication connection from the third participant terminal, or the third participant terminal may request a second communication connection from the second participant terminal.

The second and third participant terminals can each determine whether the second communication connection is being requested multiple times (step S403). In the case where the second communication connection is repeatedly requested, the second participant terminal and the third participant terminal may request a second communication connection from each other. Therefore, when the second participant terminal transmits a request for a second communication connection to the third participant terminal and receives a request for a second communication connection from the third participant terminal, the second participant terminal receives a duplicate request for the second communication connection. It can be determined that The third participant terminal can also make the same decision. Alternatively, in the case where the second communication connection is singlely requested, only one of the second participant terminal and the third participant terminal may request the second communication connection. Therefore, if the second participant terminal does not transmit a request for a second communication connection to the third participant terminal, but receives a request for a second communication connection from the third participant terminal, the second participant terminal receives a single request for the second communication connection. It can be determined that The third participant terminal can also make the same decision.

Here, when one of the plurality of request receiving terminals - the participant terminal that accepted the request to participate in the subgroup - receives a request for a second communication connection from another request receiving terminal, the participant terminal that sent the request for the second communication connection receives the second communication connection. Do not request a communication connection. For example, when the second participant terminal receives a request for a second communication connection from the third participant terminal, the second participant terminal may not request a second communication connection from the third participant terminal or may stop the request even if it requests it. .

If the second participant terminal determines that multiple requests for the second communication connection have been made, the second participant terminal may select one of the plurality of requests for the second communication connection (YES and S405 in steps S403) -Level 1). And the second and third participant terminals may maintain the request for the selected second communication connection and stop the request for the unselected second communication connection (step S407-1). The second and third participant terminals may establish a second communication connection based on the request for the selected second communication connection (step S409-1).

The second participant terminal may select one of the second communication connections by comparing identification information included in the request for a plurality of second communication connections. Specifically, the request for the second communication connection from the second participant terminal may include identification information A, and the request for the second communication connection from the third participant terminal may include identification information B. The second participant terminal can compare the contents of identification information A and identification information B. If the number of identification information A is greater than the number of identification information B, the second participant terminal may reject the request for the second communication connection of the third participant terminal and maintain its own request for the second communication connection. The rejection response to the request for the second communication connection of the third participant terminal may include information on the reason for rejection. In this case, 'existence of another channel' may be the reason for rejection. Alternatively, if the number of identification information A is smaller than the number of identification information B, the second participant terminal may accept the request for the second communication connection of the third participant terminal and stop its request for the second communication connection.

Conversely, if the second participant terminal determines that a single request for the second communication connection has been made - there is only one request for the second communication connection - the second participant terminal may accept the single request for the second communication connection. (NO of step S403 and step S405-2). In this case, it can be seen that only the third participant terminal transmitted the request for the second communication connection. And the second and third participant terminals can establish a second communication connection based on the accepted request for the second communication connection (step S407-2).

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of a plurality of participant terminals that have received a request to participate in two or more subgroups according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, an operation can be shown when a plurality of participant terminals that have already participated in a subgroup conference receive a request for participation from another subgroup.

At least one request receiving terminal may receive a request for participation in the second subgroup from the second request transmitting terminal (step S501). The second request transmitting terminal may transmit a request for participation in the second subgroup regardless of whether at least one request receiving terminal is already participating in the subgroup.

At least one request receiving terminal may determine whether there is a subgroup in which it is already participating (step S503).

If at least one request receiving terminal has already participated in the first request transmitting terminal and the first subgroup, it can leave the first subgroup (YES in step S503 and step S505-1). And at least one request receiving terminal may form a second subgroup together with the second request transmitting terminal (step S507-1). At least one request receiving terminal and a second request transmitting terminal may open a separate channel and initiate a second subgroup conference (step S509-1).

If at least one request receiving terminal does not participate in any subgroup, a new subgroup (second subgroup) can be formed (NO in step S503 and step S505-2). At least one request receiving terminal and the second request transmitting terminal may open a separate channel and start a new subgroup conference (step S507-2).

Figure 6 is an example diagram illustrating a relay function in a system that performs small-scale communication in a group conference according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, one participant terminal participating in a subgroup conference may mediate another participant terminal to another participant terminal. The channel for the subgroup conference may be mainly P2P, in which case there may be technical limitations such as the presence of NAT (network address translation) and firewalls. In this case, the system 100 may include a relay server, and a participant terminal participating in the subgroup conference may be used as a relay. In the latter case, one participant terminal functioning as an intermediary can mediate data between another participant terminal and another participant terminal.

For example, while the second to fourth participant terminals 120, 130, and 140 are implementing a subgroup conference, the second participant terminal 120 establishes a P2P channel for the subgroup conference directly with the fourth participant terminal 140. It cannot be opened. However, the third participant terminal 130 can open a P2P channel with the second participant terminal 120 and the fourth participant terminal 140. In this case, the system 100 may designate the third participant terminal 130 as an intermediary. The third participant terminal 130, designated as an intermediary, can transmit audio and/or video-related data between the second participant terminal 120 and the fourth participant terminal 140.

The system 100 can designate a plurality of participant terminals as intermediaries. For example, first to fourth participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 participate in a subgroup conference, and the first participant terminal 110, the second participant terminal 120, the second participant terminal 120, and A P2P channel may be established between the third participant terminal 130, the third participant terminal 130, and the fourth participant terminal 140. In this case, the second participant terminal 120 and the third participant terminal 130 can be designated as intermediaries, and the first participant terminal 110 can be used through the second participant terminal 120 and the third participant terminal 130. It is possible to communicate with the fourth participant terminal 140.

Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a participant terminal according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7, a configuration diagram of a plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 constituting the system 100 may be shown. Each of the plurality of participant terminals 110, 120, 130, and 140 includes a processor 710 that executes commands, a memory 720, and a storage device 730 that stores a program for executing a method of performing small-scale communication in a group conference. ) and a communication module 740 for transmitting and receiving data with other participant terminals and the server 150.

In the storage device 730, a plurality of participant terminals (110, 120, 130, and 140) form a group to implement a group conference, and a request transmitting terminal is one of the plurality of participant terminals (110, 120, 130, and 140). Selecting at least one request receiving terminal from among a plurality of participant terminals (110, 120, 130, 140) and requesting participation in the subgroup from the at least one request receiving terminal, wherein the at least one request receiving terminal is a member of the subgroup. Responding to the request for participation, when at least one request receiving terminal accepts the request for participation in the subgroup, the request transmitting terminal establishes a first communication connection with at least one request receiving terminal that accepted the request for participation in the subgroup. configuring a subgroup by establishing a subgroup, initiating a subgroup conference by a request transmitting terminal and at least one request receiving terminal that has accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, the request transmitting terminal and a request for participation in the subgroup A program may be stored that allows at least one request receiving terminal that has accepted to perform a step of blocking video or audio for the subgroup conference from being broadcast through the group conference. The program may be loaded into the memory 720 and then executed through the processor 710.

Meanwhile, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in the form of a recording medium that stores programs and/or instructions executable by a computer. Instructions may be stored in the form of program code, and when executed by a processor, may create program modules to perform operations of the disclosed embodiments. The recording medium may be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium. Computer-readable recording media include all types of recording media storing instructions that can be decoded by a computer. For example, there may be read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic tape, magnetic disk, flash memory, optical data storage, etc.

The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the description and expression of the embodiments explicitly described above. In addition, it is added once again that the scope of protection of the present invention may not be limited due to changes or substitutions that are obvious in the technical field to which the present invention pertains.

Claims (12)

In a method of conducting small-scale communication in a group conference,
Implementing the group conference by forming a group of a plurality of participant terminals;
A request transmitting terminal, which is one of the plurality of participant terminals, selects a plurality of request receiving terminals from among the plurality of participant terminals and requests participation of the subgroup from the plurality of request receiving terminals, wherein the subgroup participates in the group conference. requesting participation of the subgroup, which is configured by the same or different networking method;
The plurality of request receiving terminals responding to a request for participation of the subgroup;
When at least one of the plurality of request receiving terminals accepts the request for participation in the subgroup, the request transmitting terminal establishes a first communication connection with at least one request receiving terminal that accepted the request for participation in the subgroup. forming a subgroup by doing so;
Initiating a subgroup conference by the request transmitting terminal and the at least one request receiving terminal; and
A step of blocking, by the request transmitting terminal and the at least one request receiving terminal, video or audio for the subgroup conference from being broadcast through the group conference,
The step of configuring the subgroup includes, when two or more of the plurality of request receiving terminals accept a request to participate in the subgroup, the two or more request receiving terminals establish a second communication connection with each other,
The first communication connection is established between the request transmitting terminal and the request receiving terminal, and is established according to a networking method constituting the subgroup,
The second communication connection is established between the two or more request receiving terminals that have accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, and is established or rejected when the first communication connection is established first, and the subgroup constituting the subgroup Established according to networking method
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. According to paragraph 1,
In the step of blocking the broadcasting, the request transmitting terminal and the request receiving terminal that have accepted the request for participation of the subgroup turn off the video or audio of the group conference and the subgroup conference. Turning on video or audio
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. delete According to paragraph 1,
In the step of configuring the subgroup, if one of the first and second request receiving terminals that accepted the request for participation in the subgroup first requests the second communication connection, the other of the first and second request receiving terminals One automatically accepts the request for the second communication connection
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. According to paragraph 1,
In the step of configuring the subgroup, when the first and second request receiving terminals that have accepted the request for participation in the subgroup simultaneously request the second communication connection, the first request receiving terminal connects the subgroup through comparison of identification information. Maintaining the request for the second communication connection and rejecting the request of the other party of the second communication connection, or stopping the request for the second communication connection and accepting the request of the other party of the second communication connection
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. According to paragraph 1,
The step of configuring the subgroup includes, when at least one of the plurality of request receiving terminals rejects a request to participate in the subgroup, the plurality of request receiving terminals establish a second communication connection with each other, Excluding the request receiving terminal that rejected the request for participation in the subgroup from the second communication connection
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. According to clause 6,
The step of configuring the subgroup is when the first request receiving terminal, which accepted the request for participation in the subgroup, requests the second communication connection to the second request receiving terminal, which rejected the request for participation in the subgroup, The second request receiving terminal automatically rejects the request for the second communication connection.
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. According to paragraph 1,
The step of configuring the subgroup includes accepting the request for participation in the subgroup when at least one of the selected plurality of request receiving terminals responds with a rejection or delay to the request for participation in the subgroup. The request receiving terminal transmits a request for a second communication connection to the request receiving terminal that responded with a rejection or delay to the request for participation in the subgroup.
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. According to paragraph 1,
In the step of requesting participation of the subgroup, the first request transmitting terminal requests the at least one request receiving terminal to participate in the first subgroup, and the second request transmitting terminal sends the request to the at least one request receiving terminal. 2 Request participation from subgroups,
In the step of responding to the request for participation of the subgroup, the at least one request receiving terminal responds to the request for participation of the first and second subgroups,
In the step of configuring the subgroup, the at least one request receiving terminal first accepts a request for participation in the first subgroup to form the first request transmitting terminal and the first subgroup, and the second subgroup Later accepting the request to participate in the group, leaving the first subgroup and forming the second subgroup with the second request transmitting terminal
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. According to paragraph 1,
The plurality of participant terminals include a mediation function.
How to conduct small-scale communication in group conferences. delete a request transmitting terminal requesting participation of a subgroup to form a subgroup that performs small-scale communication in a group conference; and
In response to a request for participation of the subgroup, the subgroup is configured with the same or different networking method as the group conference, and if the request for participation of the subgroup is accepted, a first communication connection is established with the request transmitting terminal. thereby comprising a plurality of request receiving terminals constituting the subgroup,
The request transmitting terminal initiates a subgroup conference with two or more request receiving terminals that have accepted the request to participate in the subgroup among the plurality of request receiving terminals, and video or audio for the subgroup conference is included in the group conference. Block broadcasting through
The two or more request receiving terminals initiate a subgroup conference with the request transmitting terminal, block video or audio for the subgroup conference from being broadcast through the group conference, and communicate between the two or more request receiving terminals. Establishing a second communication connection,
The first communication connection is established between the request transmitting terminal and the two or more request receiving terminals, and is established according to a networking method constituting the subgroup,
The second communication connection is established between the two or more request receiving terminals when the two or more request receiving terminals accept the request for participation in the subgroup, and is established when the first communication connection is established first, or rejected, and established according to the networking method constituting the subgroup
Multiple participant terminals that perform small-scale communication in a group conference.

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