JP6364723B2 - Transmission management system, transmission management method, and transmission management program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transmission management system, a transmission management method, and a transmission management program.

  An example of a transmission system that transmits and receives content data between a plurality of transmission terminals via a relay device is a video conference system that performs a video conference or the like via a communication network such as the Internet. The necessity of such a video conference system has been improved with the recent reduction in business trip expenses and business trip time. In such a video conference system, a plurality of video conference terminals, which are examples of transmission terminals, are used. A video conference can be realized by transmitting and receiving image data or audio data between these video conference terminals.

  In addition, recent enhancement of broadband environment has made it possible to send and receive high-quality image data and high-quality sound data. As a result, it became easier to grasp the situation of the other party of the video conference, and the fulfillment level of communication through conversation can be improved.

  Such a video conference system may be used for communication in which a speaker and an audience have a one-to-many configuration, such as a seminar, a lecture, or a presentation. In such a case, there are many viewers for one terminal, and the speaker cannot obtain feedback from the viewers.

  On the other hand, video sharing services that share videos uploaded on the Internet with a large number of viewers are widespread. In the video sharing service, the user can provide feedback to the video provider by logging in to a site managing the video and attaching a comment to the specific video.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for displaying information that is meaningful to the user while limiting the amount of text messages such as chats and comments transmitted and displayed to the user's information communication terminal to a certain number or less. ing.

  However, as described above, when one-to-many communication is performed using a video conference system, there is no method for performing feedback by text message or the like from the video data or audio data receiver side to the sender side. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to enable feedback from a receiver of video data or audio data to a sender in a video conference system.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a transmission management system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:
A transmission management system for managing video or audio communication executed using a session established between a plurality of transmission terminals,
About communication constituted by each of a plurality of series of images or sounds transmitted from the plurality of transmission terminals, communication identification information constituted by the series of images or sounds, and the series of images or sounds in the communication A first management unit that associates and manages the identification information of the first transmission terminal that transmits
A comment sentence representing a comment on the series of images or sounds received from a user terminal of a user of the second transmission terminal that receives the series of images or sounds participating in the communication is identified with the corresponding communication. A second management unit that manages the information and the identification information of the comment in association with each other;
When the comment is registered or updated, the communication identification information associated with the registered or updated identification information of the comment is identified with reference to the second management unit, and the identified communication is identified. A identifying unit that identifies the identification information of the first transmission terminal associated with the information with reference to the first management unit;
The comment representing the comments registered or updated, a first output unit that outputs for the first transmission terminal corresponding to the identification information specified by the specifying unit,
Have

  According to the present invention, in a video conference system, feedback from a receiver of video data or audio data to a transmitter can be performed.

1 is a schematic diagram of a transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure explaining the utilization scene of the transmission system which concerns on this embodiment. The external view of the terminal which concerns on this embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the comment displayed in the transmission terminal of the sender | caller which concerns on this embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the seminar selection screen in the viewer's user terminal which concerns on this embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the comment registration screen in the viewer's user terminal which concerns on this embodiment. The hardware block diagram of the transmission terminal which concerns on this embodiment. The hardware block diagram of the transmission management system which concerns on this embodiment. The functional block diagram of the transmission terminal which comprises the transmission system which concerns on this embodiment, a relay apparatus, and a transmission management system. The conceptual diagram which shows a seminar management table. The conceptual diagram which shows a comment management table. The flowchart which shows a seminar registration process. The flowchart which shows comment registration processing. The flowchart which shows comment notification processing. The sequence diagram which shows the flow of the whole process of a transmission management system. The conceptual diagram which shows a change quality management table. The conceptual diagram which shows a relay apparatus management table. The conceptual diagram which shows the transmission terminal authentication management table. The conceptual diagram which shows the transmission terminal management table. The conceptual diagram which shows a destination list management table. The conceptual diagram which shows a session management table. The conceptual diagram which shows an address priority management table. The conceptual diagram which shows the transmission rate priority management table. The conceptual diagram which shows a quality control table.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<< Overall Configuration of Embodiment >>
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a transmission system 1 according to this embodiment of the present invention.

  In addition, the transmission system includes a data providing system that transmits content data in one direction from one transmission terminal to the other transmission terminal via the transmission management system, and information between a plurality of transmission terminals via the transmission management system. Includes a communication system that communicates emotions and the like. This communication system is a system for mutually transmitting information, emotions, etc. between a plurality of communication terminals (corresponding to “transmission terminals”) via a communication management system (corresponding to “transmission management system”). Another example is a video conference system or a video phone system using voice communication.

  In the present embodiment, assuming a video conference system as an example of a communication system, a video conference management system as an example of a communication management system, and a video conference terminal as an example of a communication terminal, a transmission system, a transmission management system, The transmission terminal will be described. That is, the transmission terminal and the transmission management system of the present invention are not only applied to a video conference system, but also applied to a communication system or a transmission system.

  First, the transmission system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of transmission terminals (10aa, 10ab,...), A display (120aa, 120ab,...) For each transmission terminal (10aa, 10ab,. The apparatus (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d), the transmission management system 50, the program providing system 90, and the maintenance system 100 are constructed.

  The plurality of transmission terminals 10 perform transmission by transmitting and receiving image data and / or audio data as an example of content data.

  In the following, “transmission management system” is simply represented as “management system”. Further, an arbitrary transmission terminal among the plurality of transmission terminals (10aa, 10ab,...) Is represented as “transmission terminal 10”, and an arbitrary display among the plurality of displays (120aa, 120ab,...) Is “display 120”. An arbitrary relay device among the plurality of relay devices (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d) is represented as “relay device 30”. Further, a terminal as a request source that requests the start of a video conference is represented as a “request source terminal”, and a terminal as a request destination (relay destination) is represented as a “destination terminal”.

  In the transmission system 1, a management information session for transmitting and receiving various types of management information is established between the request source terminal and the destination terminal via the management system 50. Further, between the request source terminal and the destination terminal, four pieces of data of high resolution image data, medium resolution image data, low resolution image data, and audio data are transmitted and received via the relay device 30. Four sessions are established.

  The relay device 30 shown in FIG. 1 relays content data among a plurality of transmission terminals 10. The management system 50 centrally manages login authentication from the transmission terminal 10, management of the call status of the transmission terminal 10, management of the destination list, communication status of the relay device 30, and the like. The image of the image data may be a moving image or a still image, or both a moving image and a still image.

  A plurality of routers (70a, 70b, 70c, 70d, 70ab, 70cd) select an optimum route for image data and audio data. In the following, an arbitrary router among the routers (70a, 70b, 70c, 70d, 70ab, 70cd) is represented as “router 70”.

  The program providing system 90 includes an HD (Hard Disk) 204, which will be described later, and stores a transmission terminal program for causing the transmission terminal 10 to realize various functions (or to cause the transmission terminal 10 to function as various means). The transmission terminal program can be transmitted to the transmission terminal 10. The HD 204 of the program providing system 90 also stores a relay device program for causing the relay device 30 to realize various functions (or to cause the relay device 30 to function as various means). The relay device program can be transmitted. Further, the HD 204 of the program providing system 90 also stores a transmission management program for realizing various functions in the management system 50 (or causing the management system 50 to function as various means). A transmission management program can be transmitted.

  The maintenance system 100 is a computer for performing maintenance, management, or maintenance of at least one of the transmission terminal 10, the relay device 30, the management system 50, and the program providing system 90. For example, when the maintenance system 100 is installed in the country and the transmission terminal 10, the relay device 30, the management system 50, or the program providing system 90 is installed outside the country, the maintenance system 100 is remotely connected via the communication network 2. In addition, maintenance such as maintenance, management, and maintenance of at least one of the transmission terminal 10, the relay device 30, the management system 50, and the program providing system 90 is performed. In addition, the maintenance system 100 does not go through the communication network 2, and the model number, the manufacturing number, the sales destination, the maintenance inspection in at least one of the transmission terminal 10, the relay device 30, the management system 50, and the program providing system 90. Or, maintenance such as failure history management is performed.

  Incidentally, the transmission terminals (10aa, 10ab, 10ac,...), The relay device 30a, and the router 70a are communicably connected via the LAN 2a. The transmission terminals (10ba, 10bb, 10bc,...), The relay device 30b, and the router 70b are communicably connected via a LAN 2b. The LAN 2a and the LAN 2b are communicably connected by a dedicated line 2ab including a router 70ab, and are constructed in a predetermined area A. For example, the region A is Japan, the LAN 2a is constructed in the Tokyo office, and the LAN 2b is constructed in the Osaka office.

  On the other hand, the transmission terminals (10ca, 10cb, 10cc,...), The relay device 30c, and the router 70c are communicably connected via a LAN 2c. The transmission terminal 10d (a, 10db, 10dc,...), The relay device 30d, and the router 70d are communicably connected via a LAN 2d. The LAN 2c and the LAN 2d are communicably connected via a dedicated line 2cd including the router 70cd, and are constructed in a predetermined area B. For example, region B is the United States of America, LAN 2c is built in a New York office, and LAN 2d is Washington D.C. C. Is built in the office. Area A and area B are connected to each other via routers (70ab, 70cd) via the Internet 2i.

  In addition, the management system 50 and the program providing system 90 are communicably connected to the transmission terminal 10 and the relay device 30 via the Internet 2i. The management system 50 and the program providing system 90 may be installed in the region A or the region B, or may be installed in a region other than these.

  In the present embodiment, the communication network 2 of the present embodiment is constructed by the LAN 2a, the LAN 2b, the dedicated line 2ab, the Internet 2i, the dedicated line 2cd, the LAN 2c, and the LAN 2d. The communication network 2 may include a place where wireless communication such as WiFi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark) is performed in addition to wired communication.

  In FIG. 1, four sets of numbers shown under each transmission terminal 10, each relay device 30, management system 50, each router 70, and program providing system 90 are IP addresses in general IPv4. It is shown simply. For example, the IP address of the transmission terminal 10aa is “1.2.1.3”. In addition, IPv6 may be used instead of IPv4, but IPv4 will be used for the sake of simplicity.

  In addition, each transmission terminal 10 is not only a call between a plurality of offices, a call between different rooms in the same office, a call within the same room, a telephone call outdoors and indoors or outdoors and outdoors. May be used in When each transmission terminal 10 is used outdoors, wireless communication such as a cellular phone communication network is performed.

  FIG. 2 shows a usage scene used in the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the transmission management system 50, the transmission terminals 10ab and 10ba, and the displays 120ab and 120ba shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows a user terminal 300ab of a user who uses the transmission terminal 10ab and a user terminal 300ba of one user who uses the transmission terminal 10ba. FIG. 2 shows a state in which a video conference using image or audio communication is performed between the transmission terminal 10ab and the transmission terminal 10ba using the transmission system 1 described above. Using such a video conference system, the user can conduct seminars, lectures, lectures, presentations, live broadcasts, classes, and the like. In the following example, explanation will be given on the assumption that a seminar for one listener by a speaker is held. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and can be applied to any form described above.

  The transmission terminal 10ab is a transmission terminal used by a speaker (or lecturer) (hereinafter referred to as a caller) of a seminar. The transmission terminal 10ba is a transmission terminal used by seminar attendees (hereinafter referred to as viewers). The caller presents the seminar from the remote location using the transmission terminal 10ab by video (image) or audio. The viewer attends the seminar by viewing the video or audio from the caller output using the transmission terminal 10ba installed in the conference room or seminar hall.

  Prior to the start of the seminar, the transmission management system 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention accepts registration of the seminar from the sender via the Web or the like. The transmission management system 50 specifies the terminal ID, which is the identification information assigned to the transmission terminal 10ab used by the caller, designated by the caller from the user terminal 300ab of the caller, and the name of the seminar ( Hereinafter, it is referred to as “title”). The transmission management system 50 can receive video data and received data related to the seminar from the caller in response to the start of the call application (in this case, the seminar application) in the caller's transmission terminal 10ab. It becomes a state.

  FIG. 4 is a display example of a screen that the seminar application outputs to the display 120ab connected to the transmission terminal 10ab of the sender based on the information received from the transmission management system 50. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the seminar application outputs the title of the seminar at the top of the screen, outputs the video of the camera of the transmission terminal 10ab to the left part of the screen, and displays the video of the seminar on the right part of the screen. A comment sentence representing a comment from the viewer described later can be displayed.

  Thereafter, the transmission management system 50 accepts comment registration from the viewer via the Web or the like. The transmission management system 50 can receive the viewer's user ID from the viewer's user terminal 300ba and authenticate the viewer. Next, the transmission management system 50 outputs a list of registered seminars to the viewer's user terminal 300ba. And the transmission management system 50 receives the comment (arbitrary length character string) with respect to the seminar designated by the viewer from the user 300ba terminal.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a screen on which the viewer's user terminal 300ba displays a seminar list received from the transmission management system 50. The user terminal 300ba identifies the seminar selected by the viewer, and transmits information indicating which seminar has been selected (for example, the title of the seminar) to the transmission management system 50.

  FIG. 6 is an example of a screen on which the viewer's user terminal 300ba accepts registration of a comment from the viewer. The user terminal 300ba transmits a comment (character string) input by the viewer to the transmission management system 50.

  In this way, the transmission management system 50 that has received the comment on the specific seminar from the viewer transmits the content of the comment to the transmission terminal 10ab of the sender as shown in FIG. The transmission terminal 10ab of the caller can display the received comment on the screen as shown in FIG.

  With the above operation, the transmission management system 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention can notify a comment from a viewer to a sender such as a seminar.

<< Hardware Configuration of Embodiment >>
Next, the hardware configuration of this embodiment will be described.

<< Appearance of transmission terminal >>
FIG. 3 is an external view of the transmission terminal according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, the longitudinal direction of the transmission terminal 10 will be described as the X-axis direction, the direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction in the horizontal plane as the Y-axis direction, and the direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction (vertical direction) as the Z-axis direction. .

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the transmission terminal 10 includes a housing 1100, an arm 1200, and a camera housing 1300. Among them, the front side wall surface 1110 of the housing 1100 is provided with an air intake surface (not shown) formed by a plurality of air intake holes, and the rear side wall surface 1120 of the housing 1100 is formed with a plurality of exhaust holes. An exhaust surface 1121 is provided. Thus, by driving a cooling fan built in the housing 1100, outside air behind the transmission terminal 10 can be taken in via an intake surface (not shown) and exhausted to the rear of the transmission terminal 10 via an exhaust surface 1121. it can. A sound collecting hole 1131 is formed in the right wall surface 1130 of the housing 1100, and sounds such as voice, sound, noise can be collected by a built-in microphone 114 described later.

  An operation panel 1150 is formed on the right wall surface 1130 side of the housing 1100. The operation panel 1150 is provided with a plurality of operation buttons (108a to 108e) to be described later, a power switch 109 to be described later, and an alarm lamp 119 to be described later, and outputs sound from a built-in speaker 115 to be described later. A sound output surface 1151 formed by a plurality of sound output holes for passing through is formed. In addition, a housing portion 1160 as a recess for housing the arm 1200 and the camera housing 1300 is formed on the left wall surface 1140 side of the housing 1100. The right side wall surface 1130 of the housing 1100 is provided with a plurality of connection ports (1132a to 1132c) for electrically connecting cables to an external device connection I / F 118 described later. On the other hand, the left wall surface 1140 of the housing 1100 is provided with a connection port (not shown) for electrically connecting the cable 120c for the display 120 to an external device connection I / F 118 described later.

  In the following description, “operation button 108” is used when an arbitrary operation button is indicated among the operation buttons (108a to 108e), and “an arbitrary connection port is indicated among the connection ports (1132a to 1132c)”. This will be described using the connection port 1132 ”.

  Next, the arm 1200 is attached to the housing 1100 via a torque hinge 1210, and the arm 1200 is configured to be able to rotate in the vertical direction with respect to the housing 1100 within a tilt angle θ1 of 135 degrees. ing. FIG. 3 shows a state where the tilt angle θ1 is 90 degrees.

  The camera housing 1300 is provided with a built-in camera 1021 that can capture images of users, documents, rooms, and the like. A torque hinge 1310 is formed in the camera housing 1300. The camera housing 1300 is attached to the arm 1200 via a torque hinge 1310. The camera housing 1300 is attached to the arm 1200 via the torque hinge 1310, and the pan angle θ2 of ± 180 degrees is assumed with respect to the arm 1200 with the state shown in FIG. And a tilt angle θ3 of ± 45 degrees can be rotated in the vertical and horizontal directions.

  Although not illustrated, the transmission terminal 10 according to the present embodiment may be a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, a wristwatch, or a wearable computer such as a glasses.

  The relay device 30, the transmission management system 50, and the program providing system 90 have the same external appearance as a general server computer.

  Although not shown, user terminals 300ab and 300ba (hereinafter collectively referred to as user terminal 300) used by the caller and viewer are wearable computers such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, watches, or glasses. May be.

<< Hardware configuration example of transmission terminal >>
FIG. 7 is a hardware configuration diagram of the transmission terminal 10 according to this embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the transmission terminal 10 of this embodiment is used to drive a CPU 101 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 and an IPL (Initial Program Loader) that control the operation of the transmission terminal 10 as a whole. ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 storing a program, RAM (Random Access Memory) 103 used as a work area of the CPU 101, a flash memory 104 storing various data such as a transmission terminal program, image data, and audio data, An SSD (Solid State Drive) 105 that controls reading or writing of various data to the flash memory 104 according to the control of the CPU 101, a media drive 107 that controls reading or writing (storage) of data to the recording medium 106 such as a flash memory, and transmission When selecting the destination of the terminal 10 An operation button 108 to be operated, a power switch 109 for switching on / off the power of the transmission terminal 10, and a network I / F (Interface) 111 for data transmission using the communication network 2. Yes.

  The transmission terminal 10 also includes a built-in camera 112 that captures an image of a subject under the control of the CPU 101 to obtain image data, an image sensor I / F 113 that controls driving of the camera 112, a built-in microphone 114 that inputs sound, The built-in speaker 115 that outputs audio, the audio input / output I / F 116 that processes input / output of audio signals between the microphone 114 and the speaker 115 according to the control of the CPU 101, and the image data on the external display 120 according to the control of the CPU 101 Display I / F 117, external device connection I / F 118 for connecting various external devices, and address buses and data for electrically connecting the above components as shown in FIG. A bus line 110 such as a bus is provided.

  The display 120 is a display unit configured by a liquid crystal or an organic EL that displays an image of a subject, an operation icon, and the like. The display 120 is connected to the display I / F 117 by a cable 120c. The cable 120c may be an analog RGB (VGA) signal cable, a component video cable, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) or DVI (Digital Video). Interactive) signal cable may be used.

  The camera 112 includes a lens and a solid-state image sensor that converts light into electric charges and digitizes a subject image (video). As the solid-state image sensor, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) or a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is used. Etc. are used.

  External devices such as an external camera, an external microphone, and an external speaker can be connected to the external device connection I / F 118 by a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or the like. When an external camera is connected, the external camera is driven in preference to the built-in camera 112 under the control of the CPU 101. Similarly, when an external microphone is connected or when an external speaker is connected, each of the external microphones and the built-in speaker 115 is given priority over the internal microphone 114 and the internal speaker 115 according to the control of the CPU 101. An external speaker is driven.

  Note that the recording medium 106 is detachable from the transmission terminal 10. Further, as long as it is a non-volatile memory that reads or writes data according to the control of the CPU 101, not only the flash memory 104 but also an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM) or the like may be used.

  Further, the transmission terminal program may be installed in an installable or executable format, recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording medium 106, and distributed. The transmission terminal program may be stored in the ROM 102 instead of the flash memory 104.

  Note that, as described above, when the transmission terminal 10 is a device such as a smartphone or a tablet, the display 120 may be provided in the transmission terminal 10. Furthermore, the microphone 114, the camera 112, and the speaker 115 are not necessarily built in, and may be externally attached.

<< Hardware configuration example of transmission management system >>
FIG. 8 is a hardware configuration diagram of the transmission management system 50 according to this embodiment of the present invention. The transmission management system 50 includes a CPU 201 that controls the overall operation of the transmission management system 50, a ROM 202 that stores a program used to drive the CPU 201 such as an IPL, a RAM 203 that is used as a work area for the CPU 201, and a transmission management program. HD 204 for storing data, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 205 for controlling reading or writing of various data to the HD 204 according to control of the CPU 201, media for controlling reading or writing (storage) of data to a recording medium 206 such as a flash memory Drive 207, display 208 for displaying various information such as a cursor, menu, window, character, or image, network I / F 209 for data transmission using communication network 2, character A keyboard 211 having a plurality of keys for inputting numerical values and various instructions, a mouse 212 for selecting and executing various instructions, selecting a processing target, moving a cursor, etc., and a CD as an example of a removable recording medium A CD-ROM drive 214 for controlling reading or writing of various data to / from a ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) 213, and an address for electrically connecting the above components as shown in FIG. A bus line 210 such as a bus or a data bus is provided.

  The transmission management program is a file in an installable or executable format, and may be recorded and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording medium 206 or CD-ROM 213. . The transmission management program may be stored in the ROM 202 instead of the HD 204.

  Further, since the relay device 30 has the same hardware configuration as the transmission management system 50 described above, the description thereof is omitted. However, a relay device program for controlling the relay device 30 is recorded in the HD 204. Also in this case, the relay device program is a file in an installable or executable format, and is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording medium 206 or CD-ROM 213 for distribution. Good. The relay device program may be stored in the ROM 202 instead of the HD 204.

  Further, since the program providing system 90 and the maintenance system 100 have the same hardware configuration as the transmission management system 50 described above, the description thereof is omitted. However, a program providing program for controlling the program providing system 90 is recorded in the HD 204. Also in this case, the program providing program is a file in an installable or executable format, and may be recorded and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium such as the recording medium 206 or the CD-ROM 213. Good. The program providing system program may be stored in the ROM 202 instead of the HD 204.

  Moreover, since the user terminal 300 has the same hardware configuration as the transmission management system 50 described above, the description thereof is omitted. However, the HD 204 stores an operating system for controlling the user terminal 300, a Web browser for outputting information received from the transmission management system 50 via the Web, and the like. Further, the operating system may be stored in the ROM 202 instead of the HD 204. Further, when the user terminal 300 is provided with an input device integrated with a display, such as a smartphone or a tablet, the keyboard 211 and the mouse 212 are not necessary. Further, the media drive 207 and the CD-ROM drive 214 may not be provided.

  As another example of the detachable recording medium, the recording medium is provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or a Blu-ray Disc. May be.

<< Functional Configuration of Embodiment >>
Next, the functional configuration of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of each terminal, device, and system constituting the transmission system 1 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 9, the transmission terminal 10, the relay device 30, and the transmission management system 50 are connected so that data communication can be performed via the communication network 2. Further, the program providing system 90 shown in FIG. 1 is not shown in FIG. 9 because it is not directly related to the video conference communication.

<Functional configuration of transmission terminal>
The transmission terminal 10 includes a transmission / reception unit 11, an operation input reception unit 12, a login request unit 13, an imaging unit 14, an audio input unit 15a, an audio output unit 15b, a final narrowing unit 16, a display control unit 17, a delay detection unit 18, A storage / reading processing unit 19 and an input unit 20 are provided. Each of these units is a function realized by any one of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 7 being operated by a command from the CPU 101 according to the transmission terminal program expanded from the flash memory 104 onto the RAM 103, Or a functioning means. Further, the transmission terminal 10 has a storage unit 1000 constructed by the RAM 103 shown in FIG. 7 and the flash memory 104 shown in FIG.

(Functional configuration of transmission terminal)
Next, each functional configuration of the transmission terminal 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 and 9. In the following, in describing each functional configuration of the transmission terminal 10, among the components illustrated in FIG. 7, the relationship with the main components for realizing each functional configuration of the transmission terminal 10 is also described. explain.

  The transmission / reception unit 11 of the transmission terminal 10 shown in FIG. 9 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 7 and the network I / F 111 shown in FIG. Various data (or information) is transmitted / received to / from other transmission terminals, devices or systems. The transmission / reception unit 11 starts receiving state information indicating the state of each terminal as a destination candidate from the transmission management system 50 before starting a call with a desired destination transmission terminal. This status information includes not only the operating status (online or offline status) of each transmission terminal 10 but also whether online communication is possible, whether the call is in progress, or is off The detailed state of is shown. In addition, the status information includes not only the operating state of each transmission terminal 10, but also the cable 120c is disconnected from the transmission terminal 10 at the transmission terminal 10, outputs audio but does not output an image, or outputs no audio. Various states such as “MUTE” are shown. Below, the case where status information shows an operation state is demonstrated as an example.

  The operation input accepting unit 12 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 7 and the operation buttons 108 and the power switch 109 shown in FIG. 7, and accepts various inputs by the user. For example, when the user turns on the power switch 109 shown in FIG. 7, the operation input accepting unit 12 shown in FIG. 7 accepts the power ON and turns on the power.

  The login request unit 13 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 illustrated in FIG. 7, and requests login from the transmission / reception unit 11 to the transmission management system 50 via the communication network 2 when the power-on is accepted. The login request information indicating the fact and the current IP address of the request source terminal are automatically transmitted. When the user turns the power switch 109 from the ON state to the OFF state, the operation input receiving unit 12 completely turns off the power after the transmission / reception unit 11 transmits the state information indicating that the power is turned off to the transmission management system 50. To. Thereby, on the transmission management system 50 side, it is possible to grasp that the transmission terminal 10 is switched from the power ON to the power OFF.

  The imaging unit 14 is realized by the instruction from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 7 and the camera 112 and the imaging device I / F 113 shown in FIG. Output data.

  The voice input unit 15a is realized by the instruction from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 7 and the voice input / output I / F 116 shown in FIG. 7, and the user's voice is converted into a voice signal by the microphone 114. Thereafter, audio data relating to the audio signal is input.

  The audio output unit 15b is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 7 and the audio input / output I / F 116 shown in FIG. 7, and outputs an audio signal related to the audio data to the speaker. To output sound.

  The final narrowing unit 16 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 illustrated in FIG. 7, and performs a final narrowing process for finally narrowing down from a plurality of relay devices 30 to one relay device 30. The final narrowing unit 16 measures the reception date and time when the pre-transmission information is received by the transmission / reception unit 11 for each pre-transmission information described later received by the transmission / reception unit 11. Further, the final narrowing unit 16 determines, for each pre-transmission information whose reception date / time is measured, the pre-transmission information based on the difference between the measured reception time and the transmission date / time included in the pre-transmission information. The required time (T) from transmission to reception is calculated. In addition, the final narrowing unit 16 finally selects one relay device by selecting the relay device 30 to which the pre-transmission information that required the shortest required time is relayed among the calculated required times.

  The display control unit 17 is realized by the instruction from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 7 and the display I / F 117 shown in FIG. 7, and combines received image data with different resolutions as described later. Control for transmitting the combined image data to the display 120 is performed. Further, the display control unit 17 can transmit the destination list information received from the transmission management system 50 to the display 120 and cause the display 120 to display the destination list. Further, the display control unit 17 outputs the seminar title, the image taken by the sender's camera, and the comment information notified from the transmission management system 50, which are output by the seminar application, as shown in FIG. It can be displayed on the display 120.

  The delay detection unit 18 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 7, and detects a delay time (ms) of image data or audio data sent from another terminal 10 via the relay device 30. .

  The storage / reading processing unit 19 is executed by the instruction from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 7 and the instruction from the SSD 105 shown in FIG. 7 or realized by the instruction from the CPU 101, and stores various data in the storage unit 1000. Processing for reading various data stored in the unit 1000 is performed. The storage unit 1000 stores a terminal ID (Identification) for identifying the transmission terminal 10, a password, and the like. The terminal ID may be stored in advance in the transmission terminal 10 or may be input to the transmission terminal 10 when the user of the transmission terminal 10 uses it. Furthermore, the storage unit 1000 overwrites and stores image data and audio data received when a call is made with the destination terminal. Among these, the image is displayed on the display 120 by the image data before being overwritten, and the sound is output from the speaker 150 by the sound data before being overwritten.

  Note that the terminal ID of this embodiment and a relay device ID described later indicate identification information such as a language, characters, symbols, or various signs used to uniquely identify the transmission terminal 10 and the relay device 30, respectively. Further, the terminal ID and the relay device ID may be identification information in which at least two of the language, characters, symbols, and various indicia are combined.

  The input unit 20 is realized by the operation button 108 shown in FIG. 7 and accepts a seminar application start input, a seminar screen output instruction, and the like from the user. When the input unit 20 receives the seminar screen output instruction, the transmission / reception unit 11 described above transmits a seminar screen output request to the transmission management system 50.

<Functional configuration of relay device>
The relay device 30 includes a transmission / reception unit 31, a state detection unit 32, a data quality confirmation unit 33, a change quality management unit 34, a data quality change unit 35, and a storage / read processing unit 39. Each of these units functions or functions realized by any one of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 8 operating according to a command from the CPU 201 according to the relay device program developed from the HD 204 onto the RAM 203. Means. The relay device 30 includes a storage unit 3000 configured by the RAM 203 illustrated in FIG. 8 and / or the HD 204 illustrated in FIG.

(Change quality control table)
In the storage unit 3000, a change quality management DB (Data Base) 3001 configured by a change quality management table as shown in FIG. In the change quality management table, the IP address of the terminal 10 as the relay destination (destination) of the image data and the image quality of the image data relayed by the relay device 30 are associated with the relay destination and managed.

(Each functional configuration of the relay device)
Next, each functional configuration of the relay device 30 will be described in detail. In the following description, in describing each functional configuration of the relay device 30, among the components illustrated in FIG. 8, the relationship with the main components for realizing each functional configuration of the relay device 30 is also described. explain.

  The transmission / reception unit 31 of the relay device 30 shown in FIG. 9 is realized by the command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8 and the network I / F 209 shown in FIG. Various data (or information) is transmitted / received to / from other terminals, devices or systems.

  The state detection unit 32 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 8, and detects the operating state of the relay device 30 having the state detection unit 32. The operating state includes “online”, “offline”, “busy”, or “temporarily interrupted”.

  The data quality confirmation unit 33 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, searches the change quality management DB 3001 using the IP address of the destination terminal as a search key, and determines the image quality of the corresponding relayed image data. By extracting, the image quality of the relayed image data is confirmed.

  The change quality management unit 34 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8 and changes the contents of the change quality management DB 3001 based on quality information to be described later sent from the management system 50. For example, by transmitting and receiving high-quality image data between a request source terminal (transmission terminal 10aa) whose terminal ID is “01aa” and a destination terminal (transmission terminal 10db) whose terminal ID is “01db”, While the conference is being performed, the request source terminal (transmission terminal 10bb) and the destination terminal (transmission terminal 10ca) that perform another video conference start the video conference via the communication network 2 or the like. When a delay in receiving image data occurs in the transmission terminal 10db), the relay device 30 lowers the image quality of the image data relayed up to now from high image quality to medium image quality. In such a case, the content of the change quality management DB 3001 is changed so as to lower the image quality of the image data relayed by the relay device 30 from the high image quality to the medium image quality based on the quality information indicating the medium image quality.

  The data quality changing unit 35 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and the image quality of the image data sent from the transmission source terminal is changed based on the contents of the changed change quality management DB 3001. change.

  The storage / reading processing unit 39 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8 and the HDD 205 shown in FIG. 8, and stores various data in the storage unit 3000 or stored in the storage unit 3000. To read various data.

<Functional configuration of transmission management system>
The transmission management system 50 includes a transmission / reception unit 51, a terminal authentication unit 52, a state management unit 53, a terminal extraction unit 54, a terminal state acquisition unit 55, a primary narrowing unit 56, a session management unit 57, a quality determination unit 58, a storage / readout Processing unit 59, delay time management unit 60, seminar information registration unit 61, seminar screen output unit 62, comment registration screen output unit 63, user authentication unit 64, seminar list output unit 65, seminar selection reception unit 66, comment registration unit 67 A comment registration detection unit 68 and a comment reception notification unit 69. Each of these units functions or functions realized by any one of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 8 operating according to a command from the CPU 201 according to the management system program developed from the HD 204 onto the RAM 203. Means. Further, the management system 50 includes a storage unit 5000 constructed by the HD 204 shown in FIG.

(Relay device management table)
In the storage unit 5000, a relay device management DB 5001 configured by a relay device management table as shown in FIG. 17 is constructed. In this relay device management table, for each relay device ID of each relay device 30, the operating status of each relay device 30, the date and time when the transmission management system 50 received the status information indicating the operating status, the IP of the relay device 30 The address and the maximum data transmission rate (Mbps) in the relay device 30 are managed in association with each other. For example, in the relay device management table shown in FIG. 17, the relay device 30 a with the relay device ID “111a” is “online” and the date and time when the management system 50 received the status information is “2009”. "November 10, 13:00" indicates that the IP address of this relay device 30a is "1.2.1.2" and that the maximum data transmission rate in this relay device 30a is 100 Mbps. Yes.

(Terminal authentication management table)
Further, in the storage unit 5000, a terminal authentication management DB 5002 configured by a terminal authentication management table as shown in FIG. In this terminal authentication management table, each password is associated with each terminal ID of all transmission terminals 10 managed by the transmission management system 50 and managed. For example, the terminal authentication management table shown in FIG. 18 indicates that the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10aa is “01aa” and the password is “aaaa”.

(Transmission terminal management table)
In the storage unit 5000, a transmission terminal management DB 5003 configured by a transmission terminal management table as shown in FIG. In this transmission terminal management table, for each terminal ID of each transmission terminal 10, the transmission management system 50 receives a destination name when each transmission terminal 10 is a destination, an operating state of each transmission terminal 10, and login request information described later. The received date and time and the IP address of the transmission terminal 10 are associated and managed. For example, in the transmission terminal management table shown in FIG. 19, the transmission terminal 10aa with the terminal ID “01aa” has the terminal name “Japan Tokyo Office AA terminal” and the operation state “online (call possible)”. The date and time when the login request information is received by the management system 50 is “13:40 on November 10, 2009”, and the IP address of this transmission terminal 10aa is “1.2.1.3”. It is shown.

(Destination list management table)
Furthermore, in the storage unit 5000, a destination list management DB 5004 configured by a destination list management table as shown in FIG. In this destination list management table, all terminal IDs of destination terminals registered as destination terminal candidates are managed in association with terminal IDs of request source terminals that request the start of a call in a video conference. For example, in the destination list management table shown in FIG. 20, a destination terminal (transmission terminal 10db) that can request the start of a call in a video conference from a request source terminal (transmission terminal 10aa) whose terminal ID is “01aa”. ) Indicates that the transmission terminal 10ab has a terminal ID “01ab”, the transmission terminal 10ba has a terminal ID “01ba”, the transmission terminal 10bb has a terminal ID “01bb”, and the like. This destination terminal candidate is updated by being added or deleted in response to a request for addition or deletion from an arbitrary request source terminal to the management system 50.

(Session management table)
In the storage unit 5000, a session management DB 5005 configured by a session management table as shown in FIG. 21 is constructed. In this session management table, for each selection session ID used to execute a session for selecting the relay device 30, the relay device ID of the relay device 30 used for relaying image data and audio data, the request source terminal Management system that receives a terminal ID, a terminal ID of the destination terminal, a reception delay time (ms) when image data is received at the destination terminal, and delay information indicating the delay time from the destination terminal The reception date and time received at 50 is managed in association with each other. For example, in the session management table shown in FIG. 21, the relay device 30a (relay device ID “111a”) selected in the session executed using the selection session ID “se1” has the terminal ID “01aa”. Between the request source terminal (transmission terminal 10aa) and the destination terminal (transmission terminal 10db) whose terminal ID is “01db”, and the destination terminal (transmission terminal 10db) It is indicated that the delay time of the image data is “200 (ms)” at “14:00 on November 10, 2009”. When a video conference is performed between the two transmission terminals 10, the reception date and time of the delay information may be managed based on the delay information transmitted from the request source terminal instead of the destination terminal. However, when a video conference is performed between three or more transmission terminals 10, the reception date and time of delay information is managed based on the delay information transmitted from the transmission terminal 10 on the receiving side of image data and audio data. To do.

(Address priority management table)
Furthermore, in the storage unit 5000, a priority management DB 5006 configured by an address priority management table as shown in FIG. 22 is constructed. In this address priority management table, in any transmission terminal 10 and any relay device 30, the more “same” in the four dot address (Dot Address) portions of the general IPv4 IP addresses, the more the address The difference between the dot addresses and the address priority are managed in association with each other so that the priority point becomes higher. This “same” means that the dot address portions are the same, and “different” means that the dot address portions are different. For example, in the address priority management table shown in FIG. 16, when three values are the same IP address from the top to the bottom of the dot address, the address priority point is “5”. When the two values are the same IP address from the top to the bottom of the dot address, the address priority point is “3”. In this case, whether the value of the lowest dot address is the same or not is not related to the priority. In the case of IP addresses having the same highest value of dot addresses and different second values from the top, the address priority point is “1”. In this case, whether or not the values of the third and lowest dot addresses from the top are the same has no relation to the priority. In the case of IP addresses having different uppermost values of dot addresses, the address priority point is “0”. In this case, whether or not the values of the second, third, and lowest dot addresses from the top are the same has no relation to the priority.

(Transmission speed priority management table)
The priority management DB 5006 built in the storage unit 5000 also includes a transmission rate priority management table as shown in FIG. In this transmission rate priority management table, the maximum data transmission rate and the transmission rate priority are set such that the higher the maximum data transmission rate (Mbps) value in the relay device 30, the higher the transmission rate priority point. Associated and managed. For example, in the transmission rate priority management table shown in FIG. 23, when the maximum data transmission rate in the relay device 30 is 1000 Mbps or more, the transmission rate priority point is “5”. When the maximum data transmission rate in the relay device 30 is 100 Mbps or more and less than 1000 Mbps, the transmission rate priority point is “3”. When the maximum data transmission rate in the relay device 30 is 10 Mbps or more and less than 100 Mbps, the transmission rate priority point is “1”. When the maximum data transmission rate in the relay device 30 is less than 10 Mbps, the transmission rate priority point is “0”.

(Quality control table)
Further, a quality management DB 5007 configured by a quality management table as shown in FIG. 24 is constructed in the storage unit 5000. In this quality management table, the longer the delay time (ms) of the image data at the requesting terminal or the destination terminal, the lower the image data delay time and the image data quality so that the image quality of the image data relayed by the relay device 30 is lowered. (Image quality) and are managed in association with each other.

(Seminar management table)
Further, in the storage unit 5000, a seminar management DB 5009 configured by a seminar management table as shown in FIG. 10 is constructed. In this seminar management table, the seminar ID for identifying the seminar, the terminal ID of the transmission terminal used by the seminar sender, the title of the seminar, the start date / time of the seminar, the end date / time of the seminar, and the seminar are held. An ongoing flag indicating whether the seminar is in progress and a completion flag indicating whether the seminar is completed are managed in association with each other.

(Comment management table)
In the storage unit 5000, a comment management DB 5008 configured by a comment management table as shown in FIG. 11 is constructed. In this comment management table, a comment ID assigned to identify a comment, a comment composed of a character string, a seminar ID of a seminar to be commented, a comment creation date, a comment update date, and a comment Is associated with the user ID of the viewer who has registered.

(Functional configuration of the management system)
Next, each functional configuration of the transmission management system 50 will be described in detail. In the following, in describing each functional configuration of the transmission management system 50, among the components shown in FIG. 8, the relationship with the main components for realizing each functional configuration of the management system 50 Also explained.

  The transmission / reception unit 51 is executed by the instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8 and the network I / F 209 shown in FIG. Or information).

  The terminal authentication unit 52 is realized by a command from the CPU 102 shown in FIG. 8 and uses the terminal ID and password included in the login request information received via the transmission / reception unit 51 as a search key, and the storage unit 5000. The terminal authentication management DB 5002 is searched, and terminal authentication is performed by determining whether or not the same terminal ID and password are managed in the terminal authentication management DB 5002.

  The state management unit 53 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and this request source is stored in the transmission terminal management DB 5003 (see FIG. 19) in order to manage the operating state of the request source terminal that has requested login. The terminal ID of the terminal, the operation state of the request source terminal, the reception date and time when the login request information is received by the management system 50, and the IP address of the request source terminal are stored and managed in association with each other. Further, the state management unit 53 sets the power switch 109 of the transmission terminal 10 from the ON state to the OFF state, so that the state management unit 53 transmits the power supply OFF state information sent from the transmission terminal 10 to The operating state indicating online in the transmission terminal management DB 5003 (see FIG. 19) is changed to offline.

  The terminal extraction unit 54 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 8, searches the destination list management DB 5004 (see FIG. 20) using the terminal ID of the request source terminal that requested the login as a key, and requests the request source terminal. The terminal ID is extracted by reading the terminal ID of the candidate destination terminal that can make a call. Further, the terminal extraction unit 54 searches the destination list management DB 5004 (see FIG. 20) using the terminal ID of the request source terminal that has requested the login as a key, and registers the terminal ID of the request source terminal as a destination terminal candidate. The terminal IDs of other request source terminals are also extracted.

  The terminal status acquisition unit 55 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and the terminal ID of the destination terminal candidate extracted by the terminal extraction unit 54 is used as a search key as a transmission terminal management DB 5003 (FIG. 19). Reference) is retrieved, and the operating state is read for each terminal ID extracted by the terminal extracting unit 54. Thereby, the terminal state acquisition unit 55 can acquire the operating state of the candidate destination terminal that can make a call with the request source terminal that has requested the login. Further, the terminal state acquisition unit 55 searches the transmission terminal management DB 5003 using the terminal ID extracted by the terminal extraction unit 54 as a search key, and also acquires the operating state of the request source terminal that has requested login.

  The primary narrowing-down unit 56 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and this final narrowing-down process is performed in order to support a final narrowing-down process finally narrowing down from a plurality of relay apparatuses 30 to one relay apparatus 30. Perform the previous primary narrowing process.

  The primary screening unit 56 generates a selection session ID used for executing a session for selecting the relay device 30. Further, the primary narrowing-down unit 56 transmits the transmission terminal management DB 5003 (see FIG. 19) based on the terminal ID of the request source terminal and the terminal ID of the destination terminal included in the start request information sent from the request source terminal. ) Is extracted, the corresponding IP address of each transmission terminal 10 is extracted. Further, the primary screening unit 56 selects the relay device ID of the relay device 30 whose operation state is “online” from among the relay devices 30 managed by the relay device management DB 5001 (see FIG. 17). Thus, the relay device 30 is selected.

  Further, the primary screening unit 56 searches the relay device management DB 5001 (see FIG. 17) based on the extracted IP address of the request source terminal and the IP address of the destination terminal, thereby selecting the relay device selected above. For each dot address of 30 IP addresses, it is investigated whether it is the same as or different from each dot address in each IP address of the request source terminal and destination terminal. Further, the primary narrowing-down unit 56, for each relay device, of the upper two points having the higher points of the integrated points obtained by integrating the higher points with respect to the transmission terminal 10 at the address priority points and the transmission speed priority points. By selecting the relay device 30, the relay device 30 is further selected. In the present embodiment, the top two relay devices 30 with high points are selected. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If one relay device 30 can be narrowed down as many as possible, the top points with high points are selected. Three or more relay devices 30 may be selected.

  Further, the primary narrowing-down unit 56 refers to the priority management DB 5006 (see FIG. 23) and determines an address priority point for each investigated relay device 30. Further, the primary narrowing-down unit 56 searches the priority management DB 5006 (see FIG. 22) based on the maximum data transmission rate of each relay device 30 managed in the relay device management DB 5001 (see FIG. 17). The transmission speed priority point is determined for each relay device 30 narrowed down by the first narrowing-down process.

  Subsequently, the session management unit 57 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 8, and the selection session generated by the primary narrowing-down unit 56 is stored in the session management DB 5005 (see FIG. 21) of the storage unit 5000. The ID, the terminal ID of the request source terminal, and the terminal ID of the destination terminal are associated and stored and managed. Further, the session management unit 57 relays the relay device 30 finally selected by the final selection unit 16c of the transmission terminal 10 for each selection session ID with respect to the session management DB 5005 (see FIG. 21). Store and manage device IDs.

  The quality determination unit 58 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and searches the quality management DB 5007 (see FIG. 24) using the delay time as a search key to extract the image quality of the corresponding image data. Thus, the image quality of the image data to be relayed to the relay device 30 is determined.

  The storage / read processing unit 59 is executed by the instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8 and the HDD 205 shown in FIG. 8, and stores various data in the storage unit 5000 or stored in the storage unit 5000. To read various data.

  The delay time management unit 60 is realized by a command from the CPU CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and responds by searching the transmission terminal management DB 5003 (see FIG. 19) using the IP address of the destination terminal as a search key. The terminal ID is extracted, and in the session management table of the session management DB 5005 (see FIG. 21), the delay time indicated by the delay information is added to the field of the delay time in the record including the extracted terminal ID. Remember and manage.

  The seminar information registration unit 61 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 8, and performs seminar registration in response to a request from the user terminal 300 of the caller. The seminar information registration unit 61 receives a seminar registration request from the user terminal 300 of the caller via the communication network 2. The seminar information registration unit 61 obtains the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 used by the caller, the title of the seminar related to the seminar, and the start / end date and time of the seminar from the caller's user terminal 300 together with the seminar registration request. Receive. The seminar information registration unit 61 generates a unique seminar ID for each seminar, and stores the received terminal ID, seminar title, start date / time, and end date / time in association with each other in the seminar management table (FIG. 10). To do.

  Also, the seminar information registration unit 61 obtains the current date and time, and if the current date and time is after the seminar start date and before the seminar completion date and time, the item of “current flag” in the seminar management table is set. Set to “T”, otherwise set to “F”. The seminar information registration unit 61 sets the “completion flag” item of the seminar management table to “T” if the current date is after the seminar completion date, and “F” otherwise. To "".

  The seminar screen output unit 62 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and outputs a seminar screen in response to a request from the transmission terminal 10 used by the caller. A display example of the seminar screen is as shown in FIG. The seminar screen output unit 62 receives a seminar screen output request from the transmission terminal 10 used by the caller via the communication network 2. The seminar screen output unit 62 receives the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 and the title of the seminar specified by the caller (may be a seminar ID) together with the seminar screen output request.

  The seminar screen output unit 62 refers to the seminar management table (FIG. 10) and identifies a seminar that matches the terminal ID and title received from the transmission terminal 10 used by the caller. Then, the seminar screen output unit 62 outputs a seminar screen to the transmission terminal 10 used by the caller. Specifically, the seminar screen output unit 62 transmits the title of the seminar, the comment associated with the seminar, and comment information (only when present), which constitute the seminar screen, to the transmission terminal 10, respectively. It is displayed at a predetermined position. The seminar screen output unit 62 can specify a comment and comment information associated with a seminar by using a seminar ID as a key with reference to a comment management table (FIG. 11) described later.

  The comment registration screen output unit 63 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 8, and outputs a comment registration screen in response to a request from the viewer user terminal 300. The comment registration screen output unit 63 receives a comment registration request from the user terminal 300 of the viewer via the communication network 2. When receiving the comment registration request, the comment registration screen output unit 63 outputs an authentication screen to the user terminal 300 and requests the viewer to input authentication information (for example, a combination of a user ID and a password).

  When the user authentication unit 64, which will be described later, successfully authenticates with the authentication information transmitted from the user terminal 300, the comment registration screen output unit 63 displays a list of registered seminars on the user terminal 300 in the seminar list output unit 65. To send to. An example of a screen on which a list of seminars is displayed on the user terminal 300 of the viewer is shown in FIG.

  The comment registration screen output unit 63 outputs a comment registration screen when a seminar selection receiving unit 66 described later receives a seminar ID from the user terminal 300. Specifically, the comment registration screen output unit 63 transmits, to the user terminal 300, a form that displays a seminar title, a comment input form, and a send button for sending a comment, which constitute the comment registration screen. To do.

  The user authentication unit 64 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. The user authentication unit 64 refers to an authentication database prepared in advance and verifies whether the combination of the user ID and password transmitted from the viewer user terminal 300 matches the combination registered in the authentication database. To do. The user authentication unit 64 determines that the authentication has succeeded when the combination of the two matches, and determines that the authentication has failed when they do not match. The user authentication unit 64 passes the determination result to the comment registration screen output unit 63.

  The seminar list output unit 65 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and is registered with reference to the seminar management table (FIG. 10) according to an instruction from the comment registration screen output unit 63. Get seminar information. Then, the seminar list output unit 65 transmits, to the viewer's user terminal 300, a list of combinations of titles and seminar IDs in the acquired seminar information. Here, the seminar list output unit 65 may transmit the title and seminar ID of the seminar whose “current flag” in the seminar management table is “T” to the user terminal 300. Also, the seminar list output unit 65 may transmit the title and seminar ID of the seminar whose “completion flag” in the seminar management table is “F” to the user terminal 300.

  The seminar selection receiving unit 66 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 8, and receives a seminar ID corresponding to the title selected by the viewer user terminal 300 from the viewer user terminal 300. The seminar selection receiving unit 66 passes the received seminar ID to the comment registration screen output unit 63.

  The comment registration unit 67 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and stores a comment transmitted from the viewer user terminal 300 and accompanying comment information in the comment management table (FIG. 11). To do. The comment information includes, for example, the seminar ID of the seminar subject to the comment, the comment creation date and time, the comment update date and time, and the user ID of the user who registered the comment. Here, the comment registration unit 67 can acquire from the comment registration screen output unit 63 the seminar ID that is the subject of comment registration and the user ID of the user who registered the comment. Also, the comment registration unit 67 can set the date and time when the comment is received from the user terminal 300 as the comment creation date and time. Also, the comment registration unit 67 can set the date and time when the updated comment is received from the user terminal 300 as the comment update date and time. The comment registration unit 67 generates a unique comment ID for each comment, associates the comment with the comment information, and stores them in the comment management table (FIG. 11).

  The comment registration detection unit 68 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, and monitors the update status of the comment management table (FIG. 11). When the comment registration detection unit 68 detects that a new comment has been added or the comment has been updated, the comment registration detection unit 68 identifies the comment ID of the comment that has been registered or updated. Then, the comment registration detection unit 68 passes the comment ID to the comment reception notification unit 69.

  The comment acceptance notifying unit 69 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8, refers to the comment management table (FIG. 11), and identifies the seminar ID corresponding to the comment ID received from the comment registration detecting unit 68. To do. Next, the comment reception notifying unit 69 refers to the seminar management table (FIG. 10), and identifies the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 of the sender corresponding to the seminar ID. And the comment reception notification part 69 transmits a comment (and comment information as needed) with respect to identified terminal ID.

<Functional configuration of user terminal>
The user terminal 300 includes a transmission / reception unit 301, a display unit 302, and an input unit 303. Each of these units is a function realized by any one of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 8 being operated by a command from the CPU 201 according to the user terminal program expanded from the ROM 202 or HDD 205 onto the RAM 203, Or a functioning means.

(Each functional configuration of user terminal)
The transmission / reception unit 301 of the user terminal 300 shown in FIG. 9 is executed by the command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 8 and the network I / F 209 shown in FIG. The transmission / reception unit 301 transmits / receives various data (or information) to / from other terminals, devices, or systems via the communication network 2.

  The display unit 302 is realized by the display 208 shown in FIG. 8, and displays a seminar screen for the caller, an authentication screen for the viewer, a seminar list, a comment registration screen, and the like.

  The input unit 303 is realized by the keyboard 211 or the mouse 212 shown in FIG. 8, and accepts a seminar registration instruction by a caller, a comment registration screen output instruction by a viewer, seminar selection, and comment input.

<< Processing or Operation of Embodiment >>
Next, a processing flow and an operation example of the transmission management system 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following example, it is assumed that the transmission terminal used by the seminar sender is 10ab, the user terminal is 300ab, the transmission terminal used by the seminar viewer is 10ba, and the user terminal is 300ba.

<< Seminar registration process >>
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process in which the transmission management system 50 accepts seminar registration from the user terminal 300ab of the caller and then outputs a seminar screen to the transmission terminal 10ab used by the caller.

  First, the seminar information registration unit 61 receives a seminar registration request transmitted from the user terminal 300ab (step S101). At this time, along with the seminar registration request, the seminar information registration unit 61 receives the terminal ID of the transmission terminal, the title, and information on the start / end date / time of the seminar specified by the caller. Next, the seminar information registration unit 61 generates a seminar ID, and registers the terminal ID and seminar information received in step S101 together with the seminar ID in the seminar management table (FIG. 10) (step S102).

  Next, the seminar screen output unit 62 receives the seminar screen output request transmitted from the transmission terminal 10ab (step S103). At this time, the seminar screen output unit 62 receives, together with the seminar screen output request, the terminal ID of the transmission terminal that has transmitted the request and information indicating the title specified by the caller. The seminar screen output unit 62 refers to the seminar management table (FIG. 10) and identifies one seminar information using the title (step S104).

  Then, the seminar screen output unit 62 outputs a seminar screen including the title of the specified seminar information and, if present, a comment corresponding to the seminar and comment information to the user terminal 300ab (step S105). Here, the seminar screen output unit 62 sends, to the user terminal 300ab, the comment and comment information having the seminar ID of the seminar specified in step S104 among the comments and comment information stored in the comment management table (FIG. 11). Can be output.

<< Comment registration process >>
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process in which the transmission management system 50 receives a comment registration from the viewer user terminal 300ba and stores the comment and accompanying comment information in the comment management table (FIG. 11).

  First, the comment registration screen output unit 63 receives a comment registration request from the viewer user terminal 300ba via the communication network 2 (step S201). Next, the comment registration screen output unit 63 outputs an authentication screen to the user terminal 300ba and requests the viewer to input authentication information (for example, a combination of a user ID and a password) (step S202).

  The user authentication unit 64 receives a combination of a user ID and a password from the user terminal 300ba (step S203). The user authentication unit 64 refers to an authentication database prepared in advance and verifies whether the combination of the user ID and password transmitted from the viewer user terminal 300 matches the combination registered in the authentication database. (Step S204). Then, when the combination of the two matches, the user authentication unit 64 determines that the authentication is successful (YES in step S205). On the other hand, if they do not match, it is determined that the authentication has failed (NO in step S205).

  The seminar list output unit 65 refers to the seminar management table (FIG. 10), and transmits a list of combinations of titles and seminar IDs among the registered seminar information to the viewer's user terminal 300 (step S206). . Next, the seminar selection receiving unit 66 receives the seminar ID corresponding to the title selected by the viewer's user terminal 300 from the viewer's user terminal 300 (step S207).

The comment registration screen output unit 63 outputs a comment registration screen to the user terminal 300ba (step S208). Specifically, the comment registration screen output unit 63 transmits, to the user terminal 300, a form that displays a seminar title, a comment input form, and a send button for sending a comment, which constitute the comment registration screen. The comment registration unit 67 receives the comment transmitted from the user terminal 300 of the viewer (step S209). And the comment registration part 67 stores the comment transmitted from the viewer's user terminal 300 and the comment information accompanying it in a comment management table (FIG. 11) (step S210).

<< Comment notification process >>
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a process in which the transmission management system 50 notifies the sender's transmission terminal 300ab of a comment and accompanying comment information.

  First, the comment registration detection unit 68 monitors the comment management table (FIG. 11) and determines whether or not a comment has been registered / updated (step S301). When the comment is registered / updated (YES in step S301), the comment registration detection unit 68 identifies the comment ID of the comment that has been registered / updated (step S302). If the comment is not registered / updated, the process returns to step S301 again.

  The comment acceptance notifying unit 69 refers to the comment management table (FIG. 11), and identifies the seminar ID corresponding to the comment ID identified in step S302 (step S303). Next, the comment reception notifying unit 69 refers to the seminar management table (FIG. 10), and specifies the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 100 of the sender corresponding to the seminar ID (step S304). The comment reception notifying unit 69 notifies the sender and the transmission terminal 300ab having the specified terminal ID of the comment and comment information (step S305).

<< Operation example of the entire system >>
FIG. 15 shows the operation of each device and terminal when a seminar is held by connecting two points, a point where one caller is located and a point where many viewers are present, using the transmission system 1 described above. It is a figure showing an example. Here, the caller is using a transmission terminal whose terminal ID is “01ab”, and is entitled “Basic Marketing Knowledge” from “13:00 on July 13, 2013” to “July 2013”. I will serve as a lecturer (sender) until 13:00 on the 13th. In addition, the viewer uses a transmission terminal with a terminal ID “01ba”, views the seminar, and gives feedback to the caller by a comment.

First, the seminar information registration unit 61 of the transmission management system 50 receives the seminar registration request transmitted from the user terminal 300ab (step S401). At this time, along with the seminar registration request, the seminar information registration unit 61 receives the terminal ID “01ab”, the title, and the start / end date and time information specified by the caller.
-Title: Basic knowledge of marketing-Start date: 2013-07-13 13:00-End date: 2013-07-13 14:00 Next, the seminar information registration unit 61 of the transmission management system 50 A seminar ID “2” is generated, and the received terminal ID “01ab” and the seminar information are registered in the seminar management table (FIG. 10) together with the seminar ID (step S402). Here, assuming that the current date and time is “July 13, 2013, 13:00”, the seminar information registration unit 61 sets the “current flag” to “T” and the “completion flag” to “F”. Set.

  Next, the input unit 20 of the transmission terminal 10ab accepts a seminar screen output instruction according to the operation of the transmission terminal 10ab by the caller (step S403). At this time, the input unit 20 also receives an input of the title “basic knowledge of marketing” by an operation from the caller. The transmission / reception unit 11 transmits a seminar screen output request to the transmission management system 50 (step S404). The transmission / reception unit 11 transmits to the transmission management system 50 together with the request, the terminal ID “01ab” of the transmission terminal 10ab and the title “basic knowledge of marketing” received in step S403.

  Next, the seminar screen output unit 62 of the transmission management system 50 refers to the seminar management table (FIG. 10), and uses the title “basic knowledge of marketing” indicated by the information received in step S404 to obtain one seminar information. Specify (step S405). Here, the seminar screen output unit 62 specifies a seminar with a seminar ID “2” among the seminars shown in the seminar management table.

  Next, the seminar screen output unit 62 of the transmission management system 50 outputs, to the user terminal 300ab, information necessary for constructing the seminar screen, including the title “basic knowledge of marketing” of the specified seminar information (step). S406). Here, it is assumed that no comment has been registered for the seminar. The transmission / reception unit 11 of the transmission terminal 10ab passes the received information to the display control unit 17 (step S407). As illustrated in FIG. 4, the display control unit 17 displays the seminar screen on the display 120ab (step S408).

  Next, when receiving the comment registration instruction from the viewer, the input unit 303 of the viewer user terminal 300ba instructs the transmission / reception unit 301 to transmit a comment registration request to the transmission management system 50 (step S409). For example, the user terminal 300ba can instruct the viewer to transmit a comment registration request when instructed by a viewer to access a predetermined site for registering a comment through a Web browser. The transmission / reception unit 301 of the user terminal 300ba transmits a comment registration request to the transmission management system 50 (step S410).

  Upon receiving the comment registration request transmitted from the user terminal 300ba, the comment registration screen output unit 63 of the transmission management system 50 outputs an authentication screen to the user terminal 300ba (step S411). For example, the authentication screen includes a form that prompts the viewer to input a user ID and a password. The display unit 302 of the user terminal 300ba receives an authentication screen (form) from the transmission management system 50 through the transmission / reception unit 301 (step S412). Then, the display unit 302 displays an authentication screen on the display (step S413).

  When receiving the input of the user ID and password from the viewer, the input unit 303 of the user terminal 300ba passes the user ID and password to the transmission / reception unit 301 (step S414). It is assumed that the user ID input here is “Kanda” and the password is “password”. The transmission / reception unit 301 of the user terminal 300ba transmits the user ID and password to the transmission management system 50 (step S415). When the user authentication unit 64 receives the transmitted user ID and password, the user authentication unit 64 refers to an authentication database or the like, and verifies whether the combination of the user ID and the password matches the combination registered in the authentication database (step). S416). Then, the user authentication unit 64 passes the authentication result together with the user ID to the comment registration screen output unit 63 (step S417). Here, the description will be made assuming that the authentication is successful.

  When the user authentication is successful, the comment registration screen output unit 63 of the transmission management system 50 instructs the seminar list output unit 65 to output a seminar list (step S418). The seminar list output unit 65 reads the seminar management table (FIG. 10) (step S419). Next, the seminar list output unit 65 transmits a list of combinations of titles and seminar IDs among the registered seminar information to the user terminal 300ba of the viewer (step S420). Here, the seminar list output unit 65 transmits, to the user terminal 300ba, a list of combinations of titles and seminar IDs of two seminars whose “completion flag” is “F” among the seminars illustrated in FIG. To do.

  The transmission / reception unit 301 of the user terminal 300ba passes the list of combinations of titles and seminar IDs received from the seminar list output unit 65 to the display unit (step S421). Next, the display unit 302 of the user terminal 300ba displays the received list of combinations of titles and seminar IDs on the display (step S422) (FIG. 5).

  The input unit 303 of the user terminal 300ba accepts selection of one seminar from the viewer, and passes the seminar ID of the seminar to the transmission / reception unit 301 (step S423). Here, it is assumed that the input unit 303 has received selection of a seminar with a seminar ID “2” (title “Basic Knowledge of Marketing”). The transmission / reception unit 301 transmits the seminar ID to the transmission management system 50 (step S424). The seminar selection receiving unit 66 of the transmission management system 50 receives the seminar ID transmitted from the user terminal 300ba, and passes the seminar ID to the comment registration screen output unit 63 (step S425).

  The comment registration screen output unit 63 of the transmission management system 50 outputs a comment registration screen to the user terminal 300ba (step S426). The comment registration screen is composed of, for example, a form including a seminar title “basic knowledge of marketing”, a text box for inputting a comment, and a send button. The display unit 302 of the user terminal 300ba receives a comment registration screen (form) from the transmission management system 50 through the transmission / reception unit 301 (step S427). Then, the display unit 302 displays the comment registration screen on the display (step S428) (FIG. 6).

  The input unit 303 of the user terminal 300ba passes the comment received from the viewer to the transmission / reception unit 301 (step S429). Here, it is assumed that the input unit 303 has received a comment “Nice to meet you”. The transmission / reception unit 301 of the user terminal 300ba transmits the accepted comment to the transmission management system 50 (step S430). Upon receiving the comment, the comment registration unit 67 of the transmission management system 50 obtains the user ID “Kanda” of the viewer who has output the comment registration screen and the selected seminar ID “2” from the comment registration screen output unit 63. Receive (step S431). Then, the comment registration unit 67 stores the comment and comment information in the comment management table (step S432). Assuming that the date and time when the comment is received in step S430 is “2013/07/13 13:00”, the comment registration unit 67 generates an entry with the comment ID “5”, and displays the comment and the comment information. Store.

  The comment registration detection unit 68 of the transmission management system 50 detects that a comment has been registered, and specifies the comment ID “5” of the newly registered comment (step S433). The comment registration detection unit 68 passes the specified comment ID to the comment reception notification unit 69 (step S434). The comment acceptance notifying unit 69 refers to the comment management table (FIG. 11), and identifies the seminar ID “2” corresponding to the comment ID “5” identified in step S302 (step S435). Also, the comment reception notifying unit 69 refers to the seminar management table (FIG. 10), and specifies the terminal ID “01ab” corresponding to the seminar ID “2” (step S436).

  The comment acceptance notifying unit 69 of the transmission management system 50 passes the specified terminal ID “01ab”, the comment specified by the comment ID received in step S434, and the comment information to the seminar screen output unit 62 (step S437). . The seminar screen output unit 62 transmits the received comment and comment information to the sender's transmission terminal 10ab specified by the received terminal ID (step S438). The transmission / reception unit 11 of the transmission terminal 10ab passes the received comment and comment information to the display control unit 17 (step S439). The display control unit 17 of the transmission terminal 10ab displays the received comment and comment information on the display 120ab (step S440) (FIG. 4).

  Through the above processing, the transmission management system 50 according to the present embodiment enables feedback based on comments from viewers to senders such as seminars. As a result, the caller can receive a comment on his / her speech from the viewer as appropriate.

  In the above-described embodiment, the comment management DB 5008 that stores the comment management table and the seminar management DB 5009 that stores the comment management DB 5008 seminar management table are stored in the storage unit 5000 of the transmission management system 50. However, these DBs may be configured on an external server that the transmission management system 50 can access via the communication network 2 or the like. Further, the transmission management system 50 may be configured by a plurality of hardware.

  In the above-described embodiment, the transmission terminal 10 and the user terminal 300 are described as being separate devices. However, in other embodiments, the transmission terminal 10 and the user terminal 300 may be the same device. For example, by using a device such as a smartphone or a tablet, a video conference and input processing by a web browser can be performed in parallel.

  In addition, the system configuration in which the transmission terminal 10, the relay device 30, the transmission management system 50, and the user terminal 300 described in the above-described embodiments are connected is an example, and various systems are used depending on applications and purposes. Needless to say, there are configuration examples.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmission system 2 Communication network 10 Transmission terminal 11 Transmission / reception part 12 Operation input reception part 17 Display control part 20 Input part 30 Relay apparatus 50 Transmission management system 50
61 seminar information registration unit 62 seminar screen output unit 63 comment registration screen output unit 64 user authentication unit 65 seminar list output unit 66 seminar selection reception unit 67 comment registration unit 68 comment registration detection unit 69 comment reception notification unit 300 user terminal 301 transmission / reception unit 302 Display unit 303 Input unit 5000 Storage unit 5008 Comment management DB
5009 Seminar Management DB

JP 2010-033164 A

Claims (10)

A transmission management system for managing video or audio communication executed using a session established between a plurality of transmission terminals,
About communication constituted by each of a plurality of series of images or sounds transmitted from the plurality of transmission terminals, communication identification information constituted by the series of images or sounds, and the series of images or sounds in the communication A first management unit that associates and manages the identification information of the first transmission terminal that transmits
A comment sentence representing a comment on the series of images or sounds received from a user terminal of a user of the second transmission terminal that receives the series of images or sounds participating in the communication is identified with the corresponding communication. A second management unit that manages the information and the identification information of the comment in association with each other;
When the comment is registered or updated, the communication identification information associated with the registered or updated identification information of the comment is identified with reference to the second management unit, and the identified communication is identified. A identifying unit that identifies the identification information of the first transmission terminal associated with the information with reference to the first management unit;
A first output unit that outputs the comment text representing the comment that has been registered or updated to the first transmission terminal corresponding to the identification information identified by the identifying unit;
A transmission management system. The transmission management system according to claim 1, wherein the first management unit manages the identification information of the communication in association with a title given to the communication. A second output unit that outputs the one or more titles managed by the first management unit to a user terminal of a user of the second transmission terminal;
The transmission management system according to claim 2. The first output unit outputs the comment sentence to the first transmission terminal having the identification information related to the title specified by the user terminal of the user of the second transmission terminal.
The transmission management system according to claim 3. The title represents a name given to a lecture or seminar composed of the series of images or sounds.
The transmission management system according to claim 3 or 4. When an image is transmitted from the first transmission terminal, the first output unit outputs the comment text next to the image displayed on the first transmission terminal.
The transmission management system according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A first management table storing identification information of the communication and identification information of the first transmission terminal, and a second management table storing the comment text, the identification information of the communication, and the identification information of the comment. A storage unit for storing,
The first management unit stores and manages the identification information of the communication and the identification information of the first transmission terminal in the first management table,
The second management unit stores and manages the comment text, the identification information of the communication, and the identification information of the comment in the second management table.
The transmission management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The first management unit stores and manages the identification information of the communication and the identification information of the first transmission terminal in a first management table stored in a server that can communicate with the transmission management system,
The second management unit stores the comment text, the identification information of the communication, and the identification information of the comment in a second server that is different from the server or the server that can communicate with the transmission management system. Store and manage in the management table,
The transmission management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A transmission management method executed in a transmission management system for managing video or audio communication executed using a session established between a plurality of transmission terminals,
About communication constituted by each of a plurality of series of images or sounds transmitted from the plurality of transmission terminals, communication identification information constituted by the series of images or sounds, and the series of images or sounds in the communication A first management stage that associates and manages the identification information of the first transmission terminal that transmits
Receiving a comment sentence representing a comment on the series of images or sounds from a user terminal of a user of a second transmission terminal that receives the series of images or sounds participating in the communication;
A second management stage for managing the comment sentence in association with the corresponding identification information of the communication and the identification information of the comment;
When the comment is registered or updated, the communication identification information associated with the identification information of the comment registered or updated in the second management stage is specified, and the communication identification information specified A specifying step of identifying identification information of the first transmission terminal associated in the first management step;
A first output stage for outputting the comment text representing the registered or updated comment to the first transmission terminal corresponding to the identification information identified in the identifying stage;
A transmission management method. On the computer,
For communication constituted by each of a plurality of series of images or sounds transmitted from a plurality of transmission terminals, the communication identification information constituted by the series of images or sounds, and the series of images or sounds in the communication A first management stage that associates and manages identification information of the first transmission terminal to be transmitted;
Receiving a comment sentence representing a comment on the series of images or sounds from a user terminal of a user of a second transmission terminal that receives the series of images or sounds participating in the communication;
A second management stage for managing the comment sentence in association with the corresponding identification information of the communication and the identification information of the comment;
When the comment is registered or updated, the communication identification information associated with the identification information of the comment registered or updated in the second management stage is specified, and the communication identification information specified A specifying step of identifying identification information of the first transmission terminal associated in the first management step;
A first output stage for outputting the comment text representing the registered or updated comment to the first transmission terminal corresponding to the identification information identified in the identifying stage;
A transmission management program that executes

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