JPH0715534A - Multi-point video lecture system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the installation of the multi-point video lecture system small and to connect each station of the system and an MCU 3 with one communication line. CONSTITUTION:In the multi-point video lecture system, a lecture station 7 having a terminal equipment 1 and a CODEC 2, a lecture receiving station 8 and an MCU 3 are connected by one communications line 4. Picture and voice data inputted to the terminal equipment 1 are coded and multiplexed by the CODEC 2 and sent to other stations via the MCU 3. Only the voice signal from the lecture station 7 is sent to each lecture receiving station 8 normally and when a request from the lecture station 7 is received or an utterance request is made from the lecture receiving station 8 to the lecture station 7 and the lecture station 7 permits utterance, the voice signal from the lecture taking station 8 is mixed and the result is sent to all participant stations. Since the system is operated by one communications line, when the system is built up, the installation is made small.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television lecture system, and more particularly to a multipoint lecture system in which a plurality of video conference terminals are connected and a remote lecture is conducted between a lecturer terminal and a student terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A television lecture system is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-73758. As shown in FIG. 2, each television lecture room has two video and audio systems (instructor). Line for students and students) 100
And a dedicated line 120 for control,
By using the communication satellite 200, the video and audio data can be distributed to each lecture room.

The operation of the conventional system will be described with reference to FIG. The video / audio of the instructor and the student (speaker) is input by the camera 312 and the microphone 314, selected by the video / audio switching device 310, and then multiplexed by the CODEC 330 that performs data encoding and multiplexing processing. , And is transmitted from the antenna 360 via the modulator / demodulator 340.

On the other hand, on the receiving side, the transmitted data is received by the antenna 360. The received data passes through the modulator / demodulator 340 and is separated into video data and audio data by the CODEC 330, and each data is video / audio switching device 310.
And is output from the monitor 316 and the speaker 318.

When each student requests the lecturer to speak, the operation panel 32 connected to the sub-controller 350
Operate 0. The utterance request command issued by the sub-controller 350 is sent to the master controller 400 via the control dedicated line 120, and is notified from the instructor sub-controller 350 via the operation panel 320. The instructor selects one trainee who is allowed to speak and operates the control panel 320.
Input to the sub-controller 320, then the master controller 400 and the sub-controller 350 on the student side
, The satellite carrier is assigned by the modulator / demodulator 340, and the speech is permitted.

As described above, in the conventional television lecture system, remote classrooms are connected to each other by a high-speed communication line such as a communication satellite line or a dedicated line, and the video and audio of the lecturer are given to the students through the high-speed communication line. I was communicating. In addition, question information such as voices and data from the trainees, and control information such as a speech request are transmitted to the instructor side via another line.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional TV lecture system, since a satellite communication device and the like are required, a dedicated TV lecture room is required, and the system becomes large-scale and the installation place and the number of installation points are increased. There was a problem that was limited.

Further, since a plurality of expensive communication circuits such as satellite lines are used, communication costs are high.

The present invention solves the above problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a television lecture system in which each lecture room of the television lecture system can be connected with one communication circuit.

[0010]

According to the present invention, in a multipoint television lecture system composed of a plurality of stations set at multiple points, the plurality of stations are provided with image data, audio data, and various control commands. It has a terminal for inputting / outputting data, and data multiplex processing means for encoding and decoding for transmitting the image, voice, and various control command data input from the terminal to one communication line. Control means for processing various data sent from any of the multiple processing means of one of the stations according to a control command and transferring it to another station. The plurality of stations and the control means are connected by one communication line. The various control command data input by the terminal are preset speech data or speech cancellation data from one station to one station, and permission or permission to speak from one station to another station. Wherein the consumption data, broadcast image and the reception station selection data, a lecture operation status display instruction data.

[0011]

In the television lecture system configured as described above, the lecture rooms, which are stations, are connected by a single communication line, and each image, voice, and control data is encoded and multiplexed, and each lecture is performed. Transferred to the room.

[0012]

Embodiments of the multipoint television lecture system according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, an embodiment of a multipoint television lecture system according to the present invention is partially omitted. As shown in the figure, the multipoint television lecture system includes a lecturer station 7, a plurality of lecture stations 8, a multipoint video conference control unit (MCU) 3 as a control means, a lecturer station 7, and a lecture station. 8 and M
The communication line 4 connects the CU 3. The instructor station 7 and the lecture station 8 mainly have a video conference terminal 1 as a terminal connected to various input functions 5 and a CODEC 2 as a multiple processing means for encoding and decoding data.

The terminal 1 includes a lecturer station 7 and a plurality of lecture stations 8
Camera 5 for shooting, which is provided in each station
1, a monitor 52 including a display device such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT display, a controller 53 having an operation unit such as a keyboard or a sensor panel, a microphone 54, and a speaker 55 are connected. Terminal 1
Image data, audio data, and various control command data are input and output to and from. In addition, the terminal 1 is connected to a CODEC 2 arranged in the station, and the above various input data are C
The data is sent to the ODEC2 and various data input from the CODEC2 is sent to the monitor 52 and the speaker 55.

The control data can be displayed on the monitor 52 by superimposing.

The terminal 1 inputs / outputs image data and voice data from the camera 51, the monitor 52, the microphone 54, and the speaker 55, and when the terminal 1 is the lecture station 8, requests a statement to the lecturer station 7. Cancellation data is sent, and if the terminal 1 is the lecturer station 7, the lecture station 8
Speaking permission / cancellation data is sent to the device, and the broadcast source image and the receiving terminal are selected, and the conference operating state of the broadcast source or the speaker is displayed.

The CODEC 2 is connected to the terminal 1 and the MCU 3, and encodes and multiplexes image data, audio data, and control data input from the terminal 1, and transfers the encoded data to the MCU 3. In addition, the signal data input from the MCU 3 is combined, separated, and sent to the CODEC 2.

The MCU 3 is a control device that is installed at a preset place and holds a conference at multiple points simultaneously. Further, the MCU 3 is connected to the instructor station 7 and a plurality of lecture stations 8 via a communication line 4 which is an ISDN or a dedicated line, and multiplexed image data, voice data, and control input from the CODEC 2 of each station. After separating the data and processing it according to the control instruction, it is multiplexed again and sent to the designated station.

Specifically, the MCU 3 transfers speech request data from the lecture station 8 to the lecturer station 7, transfers a speech permission notice from the lecturer station 7 to the lecture station 8, and uses the lecturer or speaker as the broadcast source. Image switching processing, audio control processing that mixes audio only with the lecturer and the speaker, or transfer of notification of each processing to all stations.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
When performing a multipoint TV lecture, the preset 1
One terminal becomes the lecturer station 7, and all other participating terminals become the lecture station 8. Normally, the image of the instructor station 7 is broadcast to all the lecture stations 8, but if requested by the instructor station 7, the image of any lecture station 8 is broadcast to the terminal 1 of each station.

In addition, normally, only the voice of the lecturer station 7 is sent to each lecture station 8. However, when there is a request from the lecturer station 7, or when the lecture station 8 requests the lecturer station 7 to speak. If the lecturer station 7 permits the speech, the MCU 3 also mixes the audio of the lecture station 8 and sends it to all participating stations. In this case, the MCU 3 transfers the statement request notification from the lecture station 8 and the statement permission notification from the lecturer station 7 to all participating stations including the lecturer station 7.

When the lecture station 7 receives a speech cancellation request from the lecturer station 7, the sound of the lecture station 8 is turned off. Further, in response to a request from the instructor station 7, the broadcast source image is switched to the instructor / speaker in synchronization with the voice control at the time of permitting / canceling.

In the present embodiment, the case of conducting a multipoint video lecture has been described. However, when conducting a multipoint video conference, the stations are equal to each other, and video switching is performed by detection of voice, or chairperson. It is done according to the instructions of the station.
In addition, the voices of all the participating stations are mixed and sent to all the participating stations.

[0023]

According to the present invention, a multipoint video lecture system includes a plurality of stations each having a videoconference terminal 1 as a terminal connected to various input functions 5 and a CODEC 2, and a multipoint videoconference control device ( Since the MCU) 3 is connected by the communication line 4, the equipment can be downsized and inexpensive when constructing the system. Further, since each station and the MCU 3 are connected by one communication line, the operating cost (communication cost) can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a multipoint television lecture system according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional television lecture system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 terminal 2 CODEC 3 multipoint video conference control device 4 communication line 7 lecturer station 8 lecture station 51 camera 52 monitor 53 operation panel 54 microphone 55 speaker

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 24, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Claims]

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein one of the plurality of stations is a preset master station, and a speech request output from the terminal of another station to the master station, In response to the utterance cancellation data, utterance request permission and permission cancellation data are transmitted, and the control means selects and switches the utterance station based on the control data processed as multi-process data, and outputs the utterance station. A multipoint television lecture system characterized by controlling transfer of audio data and image data to all stations. ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 13, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] Brief description of the drawing

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a multipoint television lecture system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional television lecture system.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 terminal 2 CODEC 3 multipoint video conference control device 4 communication line 7 lecturer station 8 lecture station 51 camera 52 monitor 53 operation panel 54 microphone 55 speaker

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A multipoint television lecture system comprising a plurality of stations set at multipoints, wherein the plurality of stations are terminals for inputting and outputting image data, audio data, and various control command data, Data multiplexing processing means for encoding and decoding the data of the image, voice, and various control commands input from the terminal so as to be transmitted to one communication line, and any one of the plurality of stations. And a control unit that processes various data sent from the multiplex processing unit according to a control command and transfers the data to another station. The plurality of stations and the control unit are connected by the one communication line. , The various control command data input by the terminal,
Pre-set speech request or cancellation data from one station to another station, permission to speak from another station to the other station or permission cancellation data, broadcast image and receiving station selection data, lecture operation status display A multipoint television lecture system characterized by instruction data.