JPH0423589A - Television conference system with priority - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the disturbance in the progress of a television conference by interrupting a voice signal from its own and opposite microphone with the utterance from a priority microphone. CONSTITUTION:Plural switches 16-1-16-n applying on/off control to an output of plural microphones 1-1-1-n and sending the result to a next stage, a priority microphone 17 taking precedence over the microphones 1-1-1-n, a voiced sound discrimination circuit 18 sending a voiced sound discrimination signal in the presence of a voice signal from the priority microphone 17 and an OR circuit 19 ORing the voiced sound discrimination signal from the voiced sound discrimination circuit 18 and the voiced sound discrimination signal from an opposite party and applying switching control to the output of the switches 16-1-16-n according to the result of the OR are provided. Then the voice from its own and opposite party microphone is interrupted by the utterance of the priority microphone 17. Thus, the disturbance in the progress of the television conference is prevented.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a video conference system that can prevent interference with the progress of the video conference, with respect to a video conference system that uses audio, images, and other data. The audio information from the n-th microphone and the image information from the camera, handwritten information input unit, etc. are multiplexed by a multiplexing circuit and transmitted to the other party, and the information from the other party is transmitted to the own side's separation circuit. In a video conferencing system that transmits and receives information such as audio and images, the output of the first microphone is on/off controlled and sent to the next stage. a first switch - an n-th switch; a priority microphone having priority over the n-th microphone; and a device that sends out a voice determination signal when there is an audio signal from the priority microphone. The sound judgment circuit calculates the logical sum of the sound presence judgment signal from the sound judgment circuit and the sound presence judgment signal of the other party from the separation circuit, and uses the result of the logical sum to select the first switch from the first switch. A logical sum circuit is provided to control the opening and closing of the output of the switch n, and the configuration is such that the voices from the microphones on the own side and the other side are cut off when the priority microphone is uttered.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a video conference system that uses audio, images, and other data.

[Prior Art] Single-point video conference systems and multipoint video conference systems that use audio, images, and other data are becoming popular. These video conference systems allow users to conduct meetings or exchange information by voice while viewing images of the other party. The biggest operational problem with these video conferencing systems is that they hinder the progress of meetings.

As examples of currently specific forms of video conference systems, there are FIG. 4, which shows a one-point video conference system, and FIG. 5, which shows a multipoint video conference system.

For example, in the case of FIG. 4, the first video conference terminal 31 has a microphone 311. The camera 3121 has an input source such as a handwritten information input unit 313, and the input information is converted from analog to digital signals in the first multiplexing/separation circuit 314, multiplexed, and sent to the second TV via the digital line 32. It is sent to the conference terminal 33. and second video conference terminal 33
The second multiplexing/demultiplexing circuit 334 converts the received information from digital to analog, displays it on the monitor 335, plays audio through the speaker 336, and transmits the information from the first video conference terminal 31. The information is transmitted to the second video conference terminal 33. Similarly, the second video conference terminal 3
3, microphone 331. The camera 93325 has an input source such as a handwritten information input section 333, and the second multiplexing/separating circuit 334 converts the input information from analog to digital, multiplexes it, and sends it to the first television via the digital line 32. It is sent to the conference terminal 31. Then, in the first multiplexing/separating circuit 314 of the first video conference terminal 31, the received information is converted from digital to analog signal, and then displayed on the screen on the monitor 315, and audio is played on the speaker 316. , transmits information from the second video conference terminal 33 to the first video conference terminal 31.

Note that the center equipment W41 is placed at an intermediate point, and a video conference terminal 43-1 having the same configuration as the video conference terminal 3L33 described above is installed.
43-n and a plurality of teleconference terminals 44-1 to 44-n connected oppositely to each other constitutes the multipoint teleconference system shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of a conventional video conference terminal. In the figure, -1 to 1-n are the n-th microphones of the first microphone, 2 is a camera, and 3 is a handwritten information input section.

Further, 4 is an adder circuit, 5-1 is a first filter circuit, 5-2 is a second filter circuit, and 6-1 is a first analog/digital conversion circuit I! (hereinafter referred to as a second A/D conversion circuit), 6-2 is a second A/D conversion circuit, and 7 is a multiplexing circuit. Note that 8 is a digital line for transmitting output information. Furthermore, 11 is a separation circuit, 12-1 is a first digital/analog conversion circuit (hereinafter referred to as the -th D/A conversion circuit), 12-2 is a second D/A conversion circuit, 13 is a speaker, and 14 1 is an image monitor, and 15 is a handwriting information monitor.

As shown in FIG. 6, the audio outputs from a plurality of first microphones I-1 to n-th microphone 1-n are superimposed by an adder circuit 4, and band-limited by a first filter circuit 5-1. Tanochi No.-A/D
An audio signal digitized by the conversion circuit 6-1, an image signal which is band-limited by the second filtering circuit 52 and then digitized by the second A/D conversion circuit 62, and handwritten information. The handwritten information from the cutting section 3 is added to a multiplexing circuit 7, multiplexed, and sent onto a digital line 8. Also, on the receiving side, using the reverse procedure of the transmitting side, the separation circuit 11 separates each piece of information sent from the digital line 8, audio information is sent to the speaker 13, and image information is sent to the image monitor 14. Information is handwritten information monitor 15
Output to.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Therefore, when audio signals from a plurality of microphones are output simultaneously, there is a problem that the progress of the conference is hindered.

An object of the present invention is to provide a video conference system that can prevent interference with the progress of a video conference.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention multiplexes audio information from a plurality of first microphones 1-1 to n-th microphones L-n on the own side and image information from the camera 2, handwritten information input unit 3, etc. in a multiplexing circuit 7. A video conference is conducted by sending and receiving information such as audio and images, in which information from the other party is separated by a separation circuit 11 on the other party's side and received by a speaker 13, an image monitor 14, etc. In the system, a first switch 16-1 to an n-th switch 16-n that control on/off the outputs of the first microphone 1-1 to the n-th microphone 1-n and send the output to the next stage; a priority microphone 17 that has priority over the first microphone 1-1 to the n-th microphone 1-n; and a sound presence determination circuit 18 that sends out a sound presence determination signal when there is an audio signal from the priority microphone 17. The sound presence judgment signal from the sound presence judgment circuit 18 and the sound presence judgment signal of the other party from the separation circuit 11 are logically summed, and the first switch 16-1 is determined based on the result of the logical sum. A logical sum circuit 19 is provided to control the opening and closing of the output of the n-th switch 16-n, and the configuration is such that when the priority microphone 17 speaks, the voices from the microphones of the own side and the other party are cut off.

[For production]

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, in a video conference system in which a video conference terminal on the home side and a video conference terminal on the other side are connected facing each other, a first microphone 1-1 on the home side
~The first switch 16-1 that controls the opening/closing of the output of the n-th microphone 1-n to the n-th switch 16-n receives the self-side signal sent by the voice determination circuit 18 based on the audio from the priority microphone 17. An OR circuit 19 calculates the logical sum of the sound presence determination signal and the sound presence determination signal sent from the other party, and adds the result.

Therefore, the above-mentioned first switch 16-
The opening and closing of the first to nth switches 16-n can be controlled, thereby making it possible to disconnect the voices from the microphones of the user's side and the other party's side when the priority microphone 17 is uttered.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the present invention. In the figure, ■−
1 to 1-n to 15 have the same function as the circuit of the conventional example shown in FIG. A second filter circuit 5-2 applies a band limit to the audio signal, which is band-limited by the first A/D conversion circuit 6-1, and then digitized by the second A/D conversion circuit 6-1. The image signal digitized by the conversion circuit 6-2 and the handwritten information from the handwritten information input section 3 are respectively added to the multiplexing circuit 7 to be multiplexed and sent onto the digital line 8. Also, on the receiving side, using the reverse procedure as on the transmitting side, the separation circuit 11 separates each information sent from the digital line 8, audio information is sent to the speaker 13, and image information is sent to the image monitor 14. The information is output to the handwriting information monitor 15. Furthermore, 16-1 to 16-
n, 17 to 19 are circuits of the present invention, and 16-1 to 1
6-n is a first switch to an n-th switch, 17 is a priority microphone, 18 is a voice determination circuit, and 19 is an OR circuit.

In the present invention, one microphone called a priority microphone 17 is provided in addition to one plurality of microphones 1-1 to 1-n. A sound determination circuit 18 is provided at the output of the priority microphone 17, and determines whether one of the plurality of microphones 1-1 to 1-n is in the active state or not, and determines whether or not the plurality of microphones 1-1 to 1-n are active. Sends a judgment signal. In addition, first switches 16-1 to n-th switches 16-n are provided at the output stages of the n plurality of first microphones 1-1 to n-th microphones 1-n, respectively. And the sound presence determination circuit 18
The 1' or "0" signal from is sent to the multiplexing circuit 7,
The data is multiplexed with other data and sent to the digital line 8, and is also input to the OR circuit 19. The separation circuit 11 on the receiving side separates and outputs audio 1 image information, handwritten information, and sound presence determination signal from the received information, and the sound presence determination signal among these is input to the OR circuit 19 . That is, when the sound presence determination circuit 18 is turned on by this self-side sound determination signal, the self-powered first microphone 1-1 to the n-th
A first switch 16 connected to the output of the microphone 1-n of
-1 to n-th switches 16-n are turned off and operate to cut the audio signal. In other words, priority microphone 1
7 is turned on, only the sound picked up by this priority microphone 17 is transmitted.

On the other hand, on the receiving side, the priority microphone 1 sent from the sending side
The circuit is formed so that the sound presence determination signal indicating microphone on/off of No. 7 is also detected, and the first switch 16-1 to the n-th switch 16-n are operated by this sound presence determination signal coming from the other party. By doing this, only the voice from the priority microphone 17 can be transmitted and received.

In addition, when using the multipoint video conference system shown in FIG. 5, the reception side of the center device 41 is Each video conference terminal 43-1 to 43
-n and priority microphones 17 coming from 44-1 to 44-n
Sound detection circuit 21-1 detects the microphone on/off signal of
~21-n and 22-1 to 22-n and a distribution circuit 23 that distributes microphone on/off signals from the sound detection circuits 21-1 to 21-n and 22-1 to 22-n in a predetermined direction.
will be established. As a result, the microphone on/off signal from the priority microphone 17 is sent to each video conference terminal 43-1 to 43-n and 44-1 to 44-n via the digital line 42, and the microphone 1-1 to nth microphone 1-n
output can be controlled.

Note that FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the sound presence determination circuit of the present invention. In the figure, 18 is a sound determination circuit of the present invention, which includes an amplifier 181, a rectifier circuit 182, a reference voltage Er, and a comparator 18.
3 and a logic circuit 184.

In FIG. 3, the input microphone signal is transmitted to the amplifier 181.
It is amplified to a predetermined level by the rectifier circuit 182, rectified into direct current by the rectifier circuit 182, and compared with the reference voltage Er by the comparator 183 to determine whether there is a sound.
At step 3, it is converted into a TTL output sound determination signal of "1" or 0' and sent out.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily interrupt a conversation using the priority microphone during a conference, thereby making the progress of a multipoint conference effective. Furthermore, in a multipoint system, the audio from the priority microphone is distributed to various locations, so only the voice of the person speaking at the video conference terminal where the priority microphone is present is amplified to each video conference terminal, and the conference This has the effect of smoothing the progress of the process.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the distribution method of the sound presence determination signal of the multipoint video conference system, and Fig. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the sound presence determination circuit of the present invention. 4 shows a one-way video conference system, FIG. 5 shows a multipoint video conference system, and FIG. 6 shows a circuit configuration of a conventional video conference terminal. In the figure, 1-1 to 1-n are the first microphone's n-th microphone, 2 is the camera, 3 is the handwritten information input unit, 7 is the multiplexing circuit, 8 is the digital line, 11 is the separation circuit, and 13 is the 14 is an image monitor; 16-1 to 16-n are first switches to n-th switches; 17 is a priority microphone; 18 is a sound determination circuit; 19 is an OR circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Audio information from a plurality of first microphones (1-1) to n-th microphones (1-n) on the own side and information from a camera (2), handwritten information input unit (3), etc. Image information is multiplexed by a multiplexing circuit (7) and transmitted to the other party, and information from the other party is separated by a separation circuit (11) on the own side and transmitted to a speaker (13).
In a video conference system that transmits and receives information such as audio and images, the first microphone (1-1) to the nth microphone (1-n
) for controlling the output on/off and sending it to the next stage, the first switch (16-1) to the n-th switch (16-n), and the first microphone (1-1) to the n-th microphone (1-n)
A priority microphone (17) having higher priority, a sound presence determination circuit (18) that sends out a sound presence determination signal when there is an audio signal from the priority microphone (17), and the sound presence determination circuit (18). The sound presence determination signal and the separation circuit (
11) Take the logical sum with the sound presence determination signal of the other party,
Based on the logical sum result, the first switch (16-1) ~
A logical sum circuit (19) is provided to control opening/closing of the output of the n-th switch (16-n), and audio from the microphones of the own side and the other party is cut off when the priority microphone (17) speaks. A video conference system with a priority microphone.