JP6318553B2 - Management device, transmission terminal, transmission system, program, and transmission method - Google Patents

Description

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

  A conference system for performing a remote conference with a remote place via a communication network such as the Internet has become widespread. In this conference system, in a conference room where there is one party such as an attendee who conducts a remote conference, the terminal device of the remote conference system is used to capture and collect images of the conference room and other voices such as speeches. Then, it is converted into digital data, transmitted to the other party's terminal device, displayed on the display of the other party's conference room, and output as voice by a speaker, and a conference between remote locations is performed in a state close to the actual conference.

  In such a remote conference system, each terminal device can notify the other party of presence information (for example, online, offline, during a conference, etc.) indicating whether or not the remote conference can be executed. The presence information is notified to all terminal devices registered as connection destination candidates by an address book (also called a contact list) or the like.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for controlling presence / absence notification of presence by a communication terminal or a partner for the purpose of privacy protection.

  In the conventional method, presence information indicating that a response is possible is notified to all counterpart terminals that can be notified. Therefore, even though you are connected to a remote conference system with the intention of starting a remote conference with a specific partner, you will receive an incoming call from a third party who knows that you are online. Sometimes remote conferences could not be started immediately. In addition, there is a possibility that an incoming call from a third party may enter the remote conference connection destination, and it may be impossible to immediately start the remote conference that was similarly planned.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to enable quick connection with an intended transmission terminal.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a management device according to an embodiment of the present invention is:
A management device that manages the connection status of one or more transmission terminals that transmit images or sounds,
A first transmission terminal, a transmission unit that transmits the connection state of the transmission terminal other than the first transmission terminal,
A receiving unit that receives designation of a second transmission terminal whose connection state is offline from the first transmission terminal;
A setting unit that sets the connection state of the first transmission terminal and the second transmission terminal according to the designation to a standby state, which indicates a state of waiting for the start of a session;
A determination unit that determines whether the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state when a connection request is received from the second transmission terminal;
When the determination unit determines that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state, notifies the first transmission terminal that the second transmission terminal is online. And a notification unit
When the determination unit determines that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state, other transmission terminals other than the first transmission terminal and the second transmission terminal The second transmission terminal is notified that the connection state is the standby state.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to quickly connect to the intended transmission terminal of the other party.

1 is a schematic diagram of a transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure showing the example of the transmission terminal which concerns on this embodiment. The figure showing another example of the transmission 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 standby management table. The flowchart which shows standby registration request processing in the standby terminal. The flowchart which shows the specific process of the standby source terminal in a standby destination terminal. The flowchart which shows the standby registration process in a transmission management system. The sequence diagram showing the operation example at the time of a standby registration request | requirement. The sequence diagram showing the operation example after a standby destination terminal login. The figure showing the example of a screen display in the transmission terminal of a third party. The figure showing the example of a screen display in the transmission terminal of a third party. The figure showing the example of a screen display in the transmission terminal of a third party. 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.

  The transmission system includes a data providing system that transmits content data in one direction from one transmission terminal to another transmission terminal via a transmission management system, and information and emotions between multiple transmission terminals via a transmission management system. A communication system that communicates with each other is included. This communication system is a system for mutually transmitting information, emotions, and the like between a plurality of communication terminals (corresponding to “transmission terminals”) via a communication management system (corresponding to “transmission management system”). Examples of the communication system include a video conference system and a video phone system using image or voice communication.

  In this embodiment, 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 or a smartphone as an example of a communication 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.

  1 includes a transmission terminal (10aa, 10ab,...), A display (120aa,...) Of each transmission terminal, a relay device (30a, 30b,...), A transmission management system 50, and a program provision. A system 90 and a maintenance system 100 are included.

  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”. In addition, an arbitrary display among the plurality of displays (120aa, 120ab,...) Is represented as “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 described later, and stores a transmission terminal program for causing the transmission terminal 10 to realize various functions (or 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 causing the management system 50 to realize various functions (or causing the management system 50 to function as various means). The transmission management program is stored in the management system 50. Send.

  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, the maintenance system 100 may be installed in the country, and the transmission terminal 10, the relay device 30, the management system 50, or the program providing system 90 may be installed outside the country. In this case, the maintenance system 100 performs maintenance such as maintenance, management, and maintenance of at least one of these devices from the remote location via the communication network 2. In addition, the maintenance system 100 performs maintenance such as model number, manufacturing number, sales destination, maintenance inspection, or failure history management in at least one of these devices without using the communication network 2.

  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 a Tokyo office, and the LAN 2b is constructed in an 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.

  The transmission management system 50 described above manages a list of connection destination candidates (referred to as a destination list or contact list) of each transmission terminal, and when each transmission terminal connects to the transmission management system 50 (login request). Deliver the address list. The transmission management system 50 manages the operating states (ON line, OFF line, etc.) of all the transmission terminals, and notifies the transmission terminals of the operating states of the transmission terminals registered in the destination list. Each transmission terminal can attempt to start a session such as a video conference with respect to another transmission terminal that is on-line and that can communicate.

  The transmission terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention may “listen” to a conference by specifying an OFF-line transmission terminal after receiving the destination list and operation status of other transmission destination candidates. it can. The transmission management system 50 receives designation of waiting for a conference for one transmission terminal, the designated transmission terminal (hereinafter referred to as a standby terminal), and the designated transmission terminal (hereinafter referred to as a standby terminal). To associate and manage. Then, the transmission management system 50 sets the operating state of the standby terminal and the standby terminal to “waiting”. As a result, other transmission terminals that have registered the standby source terminal or the standby destination terminal in the destination list recognize that the operating state of these transmission terminals is “waiting”. As a result, users of other transmission terminals refrain from making calls to the standby terminal or the standby terminal.

  Furthermore, the transmission management system 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention notifies only the standby source terminal that the standby destination terminal is online when the standby destination terminal makes a connection request to the transmission management system 50. . As a result, the standby terminal can make a conference connection request to the standby terminal without being interrupted by another transmission terminal.

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

<< Appearance of transmission terminal >>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an external view of the transmission terminal when the transmission terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention is a video conference dedicated terminal. 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 shown in FIG. 2, 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) described later, a power switch 109 described later, and an alarm lamp 119 described later. Further, the operation panel 1150 is formed with a sound output surface 1151 formed by a plurality of sound output holes through which an output sound from a built-in speaker 115 described later passes. 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. 2 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 a torque hinge 1310. 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.

  FIG. 3 is an external view of the transmission terminal 10 when the transmission terminal according to the embodiment of the present invention is a portable terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet. The transmission terminal 10 includes a housing 10-1, a menu screen display button 10-2 provided at a lower portion of the housing 10-1, a display unit 10-3 provided in the main body 10-1, and a main body 10-. 1, a microphone 10-4 provided at the lower part of 1, and a speaker 10-5 and a camera 10-6 provided at the upper part of the main body 10-1. Among these, the “menu screen display button” 10-2 is a button for displaying a menu screen on which icons indicating various applications are displayed. The display unit 10-3 is a touch panel, and the user can start a video conference with another transmission terminal by selecting a transmission terminal as a destination from the destination list displayed here. .

  Although not shown, the transmission terminal 10 according to the present embodiment may be a laptop, a wristwatch, or a glasses-type wearable computer.

  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.

<< Hardware configuration example of transmission terminal >>
FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the transmission terminal 10 according to this embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, 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 entire transmission terminal 10. 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 an image (video) of an object by converting light into electric charges. As the solid-state image sensor, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) or a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 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. 5 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.

  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. 6 is a functional block diagram of each terminal, device, and system constituting the transmission system 1 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 6, 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 omitted in FIG. 6 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, a standby registration request unit 20, an online notification reception unit 21, a standby state determination unit 22, a standby source acquisition unit 23, and a transmission control unit 24 are provided. Each of these units is a function realized by any one of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 4 operating according to 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. 4 and the flash memory 104 shown in FIG.

(Functional configuration of transmission terminal)
Next, the functional configuration of the transmission terminal 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In the following, in describing each functional configuration of the transmission terminal 10, among the components illustrated in FIG. 4, 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. 6 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4 and a network I / F 111 shown in FIG. The transmission / reception unit 11 transmits / receives various data (or information) to / from other transmission terminals, devices, or systems via the communication network 2. 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. Note that this status information is not only the operation status (online or offline status) of each transmission terminal 10, but also whether or not a call is possible even when online, whether a call is in progress, or is away from the desk. The detailed state 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 receiving unit 12 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4 and the operation buttons 108 and the power switch 109 shown in FIG. 4 and receives various inputs by the user. For example, when the user turns on the power switch 109 shown in FIG. 4, the operation input receiving unit 12 shown in FIG. 4 receives the power ON and turns on the power.

  The login request unit 13 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4, and requests login from the transmission / reception unit 11 to the transmission management system 50 via the communication network 2 when receiving the power ON. 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 a command from the CPU 101 illustrated in FIG. 4 and the camera 112 and the image sensor I / F 113 illustrated in FIG. 4. Output data.

  The voice input unit 15a is realized by the instruction from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4 and the voice input / output I / F 116 shown in FIG. 4, 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 the instruction from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4 and the audio input / output I / F 116 shown in FIG. 4, 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. 4, 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. 4 and the display I / F 117 shown in FIG. 4 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.

  The delay detection unit 18 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4 and detects a delay time (ms) of image data or audio data sent from another terminal 10 via the relay device 30. .

  The storage / read processing unit 19 is executed by the instruction from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4 and the SSD 105 shown in FIG. 4 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. Here, the terminal ID is identification information for identifying the transmission terminal or the user of the transmission terminal. The terminal ID may be stored in the transmission terminal 10 in advance, 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 standby registration request unit 20 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4, and transmits a conference standby registration request to the transmission management system 50 in accordance with a user instruction. At this time, the standby registration request unit 20 transmits the terminal ID of its own transmission terminal and the terminal ID of the standby terminal to the transmission management system 50. Note that a standby terminal is a transmission terminal whose operation state is displayed as offline in the destination list.

  The online notification receiving unit 21 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 illustrated in FIG. 4, and receives a notification indicating that the standby terminal is online from the transmission management system 50.

  The standby state determination unit 22 is a function that mainly operates in a transmission terminal serving as a standby destination terminal, and is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. The standby state determination unit 22 determines whether or not its operating state that is notified when the transmission terminal logs into the transmission management system 50 is “waiting”.

  The standby source acquisition unit 23 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. When the standby state determination unit 22 determines that the operation state of the transmission terminal is “waiting”, the standby source acquisition unit 23 notifies the transmission management system 50 of the terminal ID of the transmission terminal, and the standby source The terminal ID of the terminal is acquired from the transmission management system 50.

  The call control unit 24 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4, and can send a call to a standby terminal in response to the online notification receiving unit 21 receiving a notification (standby). When starting a call from the original terminal). The call may be made automatically or after confirmation that the call is sent to the user.

  Further, the transmission control unit 24 is realized by a command from the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 4, and can perform transmission to the standby source terminal specified by the standby source acquisition unit 23 (from the standby destination terminal) To start). The call may be made automatically or after confirmation that the call is sent to the user.

  In addition, the transmission control unit 24 has a function of notifying a message and suppressing transmission when the user attempts to make a call to a transmission terminal whose operation state is “waiting”.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of a destination list displayed on a certain transmission terminal, in which the operating status, terminal ID, and terminal name of each transmission terminal are displayed. Among these, the operating states of the transmission terminals with the terminal IDs “01ab” and “01ba” are “waiting”. In such a case, for example, when the user tries to make a call to the transmission terminal “01ab”, the call control unit 24 displays the message shown in FIG. 14 and suppresses the call. In another example, the transmission control unit 24 displays the message shown in FIG. 15 and notifies the user that it is not preferable to make a call. Whether or not to permit transmission to the “waiting” transmission terminal is determined by the transmission system administrator.

<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 of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 5 operating according to instructions from the CPU 201 according to the relay device program expanded from the HD 204 onto the RAM 203. Means. Further, the relay device 30 includes a storage unit 3000 constructed by the RAM 203 shown in FIG. 5 and / or the HD 204 shown 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. 5, 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. 6 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 5 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. 5, 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. 5, 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 an instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 5 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. 5, 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 the instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 5 and the HDD 205 shown in FIG. 5, 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 transmission 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 / A read processing unit 59, a delay time management unit 60, a request reception unit 61, a standby registration unit 62, a standby state determination unit 63, an online notification transmission unit 64, a standby source notification unit 65, and a standby registration release unit 66 are included. Each of these units functions or functions realized by any of the constituent elements shown in FIG. 5 operating according to a command from the CPU 201 according to the management system program expanded from the HD 204 onto the RAM 203. Means. Further, the management system 50 has 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 standby source terminal with the terminal ID “01aa” has the terminal name “Japan Tokyo Office AA terminal”, the operation status is “standby”, and is managed. It is indicated that the date and time when the login request information is received by the system 50 is “13:40 on November 10, 2009” and the IP address of the transmission terminal 10aa is “1.2.1.3”. ing. Similarly, the operating state with the terminal ID “01ab” designated as the standby terminal is also set to “waiting”.

(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.

(Standby registration management table)
Further, in the storage unit 5000, a standby registration management DB 5008 configured by a standby registration management table as shown in FIG. 7 is constructed. In this standby registration management table, the terminal ID of the standby terminal and the terminal ID of the standby terminal are managed in association with each other.

(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. 5, 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. 5 and the network I / F 209 shown in FIG. Or information).

  The transmission terminal authentication unit 52 is realized by a command from the CPU 102 shown in FIG. 5, and uses the terminal ID and password included in the login request information received via the transmission / reception unit 51 as a search key, as a storage unit The terminal authentication is performed by searching the 5000 terminal authentication management DB 5002 and determining whether 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. 5, and in order to manage the operating state of the request source terminal that has requested the login, this request source is stored in the transmission terminal management DB 5003 (see FIG. 19). 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 shown in FIG. 5, and 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. 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. 5, 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 unit 56 is realized by an instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 5, and this final narrowing process is performed in order to support a final narrowing process that finally narrows 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 an instruction from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 5, and the selection session generated by the primary narrowing 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. 5, 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 / reading processing unit 59 is executed by the instruction from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 5 and the HDD 205 shown in FIG. 5, 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. 5, 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 request reception unit 61 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 5 and receives a standby registration request from the transmission terminal. Further, the request reception unit 61 receives the terminal IDs of the standby source terminal and the standby destination terminal transmitted together with the standby registration request.

  The standby registration unit 62 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 illustrated in FIG. 5. When the request reception unit 61 receives a standby registration request, the terminal IDs of the standby source terminal and the standby destination terminal received by the request reception unit 61. Is registered in the standby registration management table (FIG. 7).

  The standby state determination unit 63 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 5. When a login request is received from a transmission terminal, the standby state determination unit 63 refers to the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19) to determine the operation state of the transmission terminal. , It is determined whether it is “waiting”. Here, when the operation state is “waiting”, the transmission terminal authenticating unit 52 described above transmits a notification indicating that the operation state is “standby” together with the notification of the authentication result to the transmission terminal. be able to. On the other hand, when the operating state is not “standby”, the transmission terminal authenticating unit 52 described above can transmit, to the transmission terminal, a notification that the operating state is not “standby” along with the notification of the authentication result. .

  The online notification transmission unit 64 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. 5, receives a login request from the standby terminal, and notifies the standby source terminal that the online state has been entered. Specifically, when the standby state determination unit 63 determines that the operating state of the transmission terminal is “waiting”, the online notification transmission unit 64 regards the transmission terminal as a standby destination terminal, and sets the standby registration management table. Reference is made to FIG. Then, the online notification transmission unit 64 specifies the terminal ID of the standby terminal associated with the transmission terminal, and transmits a notification to the standby terminal.

  The standby notification unit 65 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. The standby notification unit 65 receives the terminal ID from the standby acquisition unit 23 of the transmission terminal that is the standby terminal, and refers to the standby registration management table (FIG. 7) to notify the terminal ID of the associated standby source terminal. To do.

  The standby registration canceling unit 66 is realized by a command from the CPU 201 shown in FIG. When a conference (session) between transmission terminals associated in the standby registration management table (FIG. 7) is started, the standby registration cancellation unit 66 deletes registration of terminal IDs of these transmission terminals from the standby registration management table. To do.

  In addition, the standby registration cancellation unit 66 changes the operating state of both transmission terminals on the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19) to “ON line (calling)” with the start of the conference.

<< Processing or Operation of Embodiment >>
Next, processing flows and operation examples of the transmission terminal 10 and the transmission management system 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the following example, it is assumed that the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10aa serving as the standby terminal is “01aa” and the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10ab serving as the standby terminal is “01ab”.

<< Standby registration request processing >>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process in which the transmission terminal 10aa serving as the standby terminal makes a standby registration request to the transmission management system 50.

  First, the operation input reception unit 12 of the transmission terminal 10aa receives an operation input for designating the transmission terminal 10ab as a standby terminal from the user (step S101). Next, the standby registration request unit 20 of the transmission terminal 10aa transmits the standby registration request to the transmission management system 50 together with its own terminal ID and the terminal ID of the standby terminal (step S102).

  Thereafter, when the online notification receiving unit 21 of the transmission terminal 10aa receives a notification indicating that the standby terminal is online from the transmission management system 50 (YES in step S103), the transmission control unit 24 A call is sent to the standby terminal (step S104). On the other hand, when the notification is not received (NO in step S103), the online notification receiving unit 21 repeats the process until the notification is received.

  In addition, the transmission process in step S104 may be started automatically, or may be started after displaying a confirmation message or the like to the user. Further, as will be described later, when the outgoing call process is started from the standby terminal, the outgoing call process in step S104 becomes unnecessary.

<< Standby source terminal identification process >>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process in which the transmission terminal 10ab serving as the standby terminal makes a login request to the transmission management system 50 and identifies the standby terminal.

  First, the login request unit 13 of the transmission terminal 10ab transmits a login request to the transmission management system 50 (step S201). Next, the transmission / reception unit 11 receives from the transmission management system 50 a notification indicating whether or not the operating state of the transmission terminal 10ab is “waiting” along with the authentication result for the login request (step S202). Next, the transmission / reception unit 11 receives the destination list of the transmission terminal 10ab from the transmission management system 50 (step S203). Further, the transmission / reception unit 11 receives the operation status of the transmission terminal included in the destination list from the transmission management system 50 (step S204).

  Next, the standby state determination unit 22 determines whether or not the notification received in step S202 indicates “waiting” (step S205). Next, when the notification is “waiting” (YES in step S205), the standby source acquisition unit 23 inquires of the transmission management system 50 about the terminal ID of the standby source terminal (step S206). Then, the standby source acquisition unit 23 acquires the terminal ID of the standby source terminal from the transmission management system 50 (step S207). Thereafter, the transmission control unit 24 performs transmission to the transmission terminal 10aa using the terminal ID of the standby terminal acquired in step S207 (step S208).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S205 that the notification is not “waiting” (NO in step S205), the process ends.

  In addition, the transmission process in step S208 may be started automatically, or may be started after displaying a confirmation message or the like to the user. Further, as described above, when the call origination process is started from the standby terminal, the call origination process in step S208 becomes unnecessary.

<< Standby registration process >>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process in which the transmission management system receives a standby registration request from the standby terminal and then manages the standby state after receiving a login request from the standby terminal.

First, the request reception unit 61 receives a standby registration request from the transmission terminal 10aa which is a standby terminal (step S301). At this time, the request receiving unit 61 receives the terminal IDs of the standby terminal and the standby terminal together with the standby registration request. Next, the standby registration unit 62 searches the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19) using the terminal IDs of the standby source terminal and standby destination terminal received in step S301 as keys, and sets the operating status of both terminals to “waiting”. (Step S302). Next, the standby registration unit 62 registers the terminal IDs of the standby source terminal and the standby destination terminal received in step S301 in the standby registration management table (FIG. 7) (step S303).
Next, the transmission / reception unit 51 receives a login request from the transmission terminal 10 (step S304). Next, the standby state determination unit 63 refers to the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19) (step S305). Then, the standby state determination unit 63 determines whether or not the operating state of the transmission terminal that has transmitted the login request is “waiting” (step S306).

  In step S306, when the standby state determination unit 63 determines that “waiting” (YES in step S306), the online notification transmission unit 64 refers to the standby registration management table (FIG. 7), and sets the standby source. A transmission terminal is specified (step S307). Next, the transmission terminal authentication unit 52 transmits the authentication result in response to the login request and sets the standby state (here, “waiting”) to the transmission terminal that transmitted the login request (here, the standby transmission terminal). (Step S308). Next, the transmitting / receiving unit 51 transmits the destination list to the standby transmission terminal (step S309). Next, the transmission / reception unit 51 transmits the operating state of the transmission terminal included in the destination list (step S310). Then, the online notification transmission unit 64 transmits a notification indicating that the standby destination terminal is online to the standby source terminal identified in step S307 (step S311).

  Thereafter, an inquiry about the terminal ID of the standby terminal is received from the standby terminal (step S312). Next, the standby source notifying unit 65 refers to the standby registration management table (FIG. 7), and notifies the standby destination terminal of the terminal ID of the standby source terminal (step S313).

  Further, the transmission / reception unit 51 receives a session start request from the standby transmission terminal or the standby transmission terminal (step S314). Then, the standby registration canceling unit 66 deletes the registration of these transmission terminals from the standby registration management table (FIG. 7) (step S315). Then, the standby registration canceling unit 66 updates the operating state of these transmission terminals in the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19) to “ON line (calling)” (step S316).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S306 that it is not “standby” (NO in step S306), the transmission terminal authenticating unit 52 transmits a standby state (not “standby”) together with the authentication result to the transmission terminal that requested the login. (Step S317). Next, the transmission / reception unit 51 transmits the destination list to the standby transmission terminal (step S318). Next, the transmission / reception unit 51 transmits the operating state of the transmission terminal included in the destination list (step S319).

<< Operation example when requesting standby registration >>
FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation example when a standby registration request is made. Here, an operation example in the case where the user of the transmission terminal 10aa having the terminal ID “01aa” performs standby registration for the transmission terminal 10ab having the terminal ID “01ab” will be specifically described.

  First, when the user turns on the power switch 109 of the transmission terminal 10aa shown in FIG. 2, the operation input accepting unit 12 shown in FIG. 6 accepts the power-on, and the transmission terminal 10aa is activated (step). S401). Thereafter, the transmission terminal 10aa is connected to the transmission management system 50 via the network 2 automatically or by user operation. Next, the user instructs to display the destination list by operating the transmission terminal 10aa (step S402). The display control unit 17 of the transmission terminal 10aa displays the destination list on the display 120 (step S403).

  Next, the user designates a standby terminal, which is a partner terminal that waits for the start of a session, by operating the operation button 108 or the like of the transmission terminal 10aa (step S404). In response to this, the standby registration request unit 20 of the transmission terminal 10aa sends the terminal ID “01aa” of its own transmission terminal and the designated standby terminal ID “01ab” together with the standby registration request to the transmission management system 50. (Step S405).

  When the request reception unit 61 of the transmission management system 50 receives the registration request, the standby registration unit 62 displays the operating states of the received two terminal IDs “01aa” and “01ab” in the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19). Update to “waiting” (step S406). Then, the standby registration unit 62 registers the received two terminal IDs “01aa” and “01ab” in the entries of the standby source terminal and the standby destination terminal in the standby registration management table (FIG. 7) (step S407).

  Thereafter, the request reception unit 61 of the transmission management system 50 may transmit a notification indicating that standby registration has been successful to the transmission terminal 10aa (step S408). Then, the display control unit 17 of the transmission terminal 10aa may display a message indicating that the standby registration has been successful on the display 120 (step S409).

<< Operation example after login to standby terminal >>
FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram showing an operation example of logging in to the standby terminal and starting a session with the standby terminal. Here, the description will be made assuming that after the operation shown in FIG. 11 is executed, the transmission terminal 10ab registered as the standby terminal is started and a login request is transmitted to the transmission management system 50.

  First, when the user of the transmission terminal 10ab turns on the power switch 109 shown in FIG. 2, the operation input accepting unit 12 shown in FIG. 6 accepts the power on and turns on the power (step) S501). The login request unit 13 automatically transmits login request information indicating a login request from the transmission / reception unit 11 to the transmission management system 50 via the communication network 2 in response to the reception of the power ON (step S502). . The log-in request information includes a terminal ID “01ab” for identifying the transmission terminal 10ab that is the own terminal as the request source, and a preset password “abab”. These terminal ID and password are data read from the non-volatile storage unit 1000 via the storage / read processing unit 19 and sent to the transmission / reception unit 11. When the login request information is transmitted from the transmission terminal 10ab to the transmission management system 50, the transmission management system 50 on the reception side can grasp the IP address of the terminal 10ab on the transmission side.

  Next, the transmission terminal authentication unit 52 of the transmission management system 50 uses the terminal ID “01ab” and the password “abab” included in the login request information received via the transmission / reception unit 51 as search keys, in the nonvolatile storage unit 5000. The transmission terminal authentication management table (FIG. 18) is searched. Then, terminal authentication is performed by determining whether the same terminal ID and password are managed in the terminal authentication management DB 5002 (step S503).

  When the transmission terminal authentication unit 52 determines that the login request is from the authorized transmission terminal 10ab, the state management unit 53 stores the reception date and time of the login request information and the transmission terminal 10ab in the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 9). Is stored (step S504). Accordingly, the terminal management table shown in FIG. 11 includes the terminal ID “01ab”, the reception date and time “2009.11.10.13:40” and the terminal IP address “1.2.1.3”. It will be managed in association.

  Subsequently, the standby state determination unit 63 of the transmission management system 50 refers to the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19) and determines whether or not the operation state of the transmission terminal 10ab is “standby” (step S505). Here, since the operating state of the transmission terminal 10ab is “standby”, the online notification transmission unit 64 refers to the standby registration management table (FIG. 7), and the terminal ID “01aa” of the standby transmission terminal 10aa. Is specified (step S506).

  The transmission terminal authentication unit 52 of the transmission management system 50 sends the authentication result information and the standby state (indicating “waiting”) of the transmission terminal via the communication network 2 to the request source terminal ( Transmission to the transmission terminal 10ab) (step S507). In the present embodiment, the case where it is determined by the transmission terminal authentication unit 52 that the terminal has a valid use right will be described below.

  When the transmission terminal 10ab receives the authentication result information indicating the result determined to be a terminal having a valid use authority, the transmission / reception unit 11 requests the transmission management system 50 to request a destination list. The destination list request information is transmitted (step S508). Thereby, the transmission / reception unit 51 of the transmission management system 50 receives the destination list request information.

  Next, the terminal extraction unit 54 searches the destination list management table (FIG. 20) using the terminal ID “01ab” of the request source terminal (terminal 10ab) that requested the login as a search key. Then, terminal IDs of candidate destination terminals that can talk with the request source terminal (terminal 10ab) are extracted (step S509). Further, the terminal extraction unit 54 searches the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19) using the extracted terminal ID as a search key, and extracts the destination name corresponding to this terminal ID by reading it. Here, the terminal IDs (“01aa”, “01ca”, “01cb”) of the destination terminals (10aa, 10ca, 10cb) corresponding to the terminal ID “01ab” of the request source terminal (terminal 10ab) are extracted. . In addition, terminal names corresponding to these ("Japan Tokyo office AA terminal", "America New York office CA terminal", "America New York office CB terminal") are extracted.

  Next, the transmission / reception unit 51 of the transmission management system 50 reads destination list frame data (destination list frame as shown in FIG. 13) from the storage unit 6000 via the storage / read processing unit 59 ( Step S510). Then, the transmitting / receiving unit 51 transmits “destination list information (destination list frame, terminal ID, destination name)” including the destination list frame and the extracted terminal ID and destination name to the request source terminal (terminal 10ab) ( Step S511). Thereby, in the request source terminal (terminal 10ab), the transmission / reception unit 11 receives the destination list information, and the storage / reading processing unit 19 stores the destination list information in the volatile storage unit 1100 (step S512).

  Further, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 of the transmission management system 50 uses the terminal IDs (10aa, 10ca, 10cb) of the destination terminals extracted by the terminal extraction unit 54 as search keys, and the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19). Search for. Then, for each terminal ID extracted by the terminal extraction unit 54, the corresponding operating state is read to obtain each operating state of the transmission terminals (10aa, 10ca, 10cb) as destination candidates (step S513).

  Next, the transmission / reception unit 51 requests “terminal status information” including the terminal ID “01aa” as the search key used in step S509 and the operation status “waiting” of the corresponding destination terminal. It transmits to the former terminal (transmission terminal 10ab) (step S514). Similarly, the transmission / reception unit 51 also receives the remaining “terminal status information” such as “terminal status information” including the terminal ID “01ca” and the operation status “OFF line” of the corresponding destination terminal. It transmits to the request source terminal (transmission terminal 10ab).

  Next, the storage / read processing unit 19 of the request source terminal (transmission terminal 10ab) sequentially stores the state information of the transmission terminal received from the transmission management system 50 in the volatile storage unit 1100 (step S515). Therefore, the request source terminal (terminal 10ab) receives each of the status information of each terminal, so that each of the current times of the transmission terminals 10aa and the like that are candidates for the destination terminal that can communicate with the request source terminal (terminal 10ab). Can be obtained.

  Next, the destination list creation unit 20 of the request source terminal (terminal 10ab), based on the destination list information stored in the volatile storage unit 1100 and the state information of the transmission terminal, the transmission terminal 10 as a destination candidate. Create a destination list that reflects the status. Then, the display control unit 16 controls the timing for displaying the destination list on the display 120 shown in FIG. 2 (step S516).

  Further, the terminal extraction unit 54 of the transmission management system 50 searches the destination list management table (20) using the terminal ID “01ab” of the request source terminal (terminal 10ab) that has requested the login as a search key. Then, the terminal IDs of other requesting terminals that have registered the terminal ID “01ab” of the requesting terminal (terminal 10ab) as candidates for the destination terminal are extracted (step S517). In the destination list management table shown in FIG. 20, the terminal IDs of the other request source terminals to be extracted are “01aa”, “01ba”, and “01db”.

  Next, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 of the transmission management system 50 uses the transmission terminal management table (see FIG. 19) using the terminal ID “01ab” of the request source terminal (terminal 10ab) that requested the login as a search key. Search for. Then, the operating state of the request source terminal (transmission terminal 10ab) that has requested the login is acquired (step S518). Here, the operating state of the transmission terminal 10ab is “waiting”.

  The online notification transmitting unit 64 includes the terminal ID “01ab” of the request source and the operation status “online” for the standby source terminal 10aa specified in step S506 among the terminal IDs extracted in step S517. "Status information" is transmitted (step S519). On the other hand, the transmission / reception unit 51 is not the standby source terminal among the terminals related to the terminal ID extracted in step S517, but transmits the terminal ID “01ab” and the operation state “waiting” to the transmission terminal 10ba whose operation state is “ON line” ”Including terminal status information is transmitted (step S520).

  The display control unit 17 of the transmission terminal 10aa displays the destination list reflecting the received terminal ID “01ab” and the operation state “online” on the display 120 (step S521). Further, the display control unit 17 of the transmission terminal 10ba displays a destination list reflecting the received terminal ID “01ab” and the operation state “waiting” on the display 120 (step S522). FIG. 13 shows an example of a destination list displayed on the transmission terminal 10ba.

  Thereafter, the transmission / reception unit 51 of the transmission management system 50 receives an inquiry about the terminal ID of the standby terminal from the transmission terminal 10ab which is the standby terminal (step S523). In response to this, the standby notification unit 65 refers to the standby registration management table (FIG. 7) and associates the terminal ID “01aa” of the transmission terminal 10aa that is the standby terminal associated with the transmission terminal 10ab that made the inquiry. Is specified (step S524). Then, the standby notification unit 65 transmits the terminal ID “01aa” specified in step S524 to the transmission terminal 10ab that made the inquiry (step S525).

  Then, the transmission control unit 24 of the transmission terminal 10ab transmits the session start request for the terminal ID “01aa” received in step S525 to the transmission management system 50 automatically or after confirmation by the user (step S526). . At this time, the transmission management system 50 is notified of the terminal ID of the request source terminal and the terminal ID of the connection destination for starting the session. The standby registration cancellation unit 66 of the transmission management system 50 deletes the registration of these transmission terminals from the standby registration management table (FIG. 7) (step S527). Then, the standby registration canceling unit 66 updates the operating state of these transmission terminals in the transmission terminal management table (FIG. 19) to “ON line (during call)” (step S528).

  Thereafter, the transmission management system 50 executes processing for establishing a session between the request source terminal and the connection destination terminal.

  In the above operation example, the session is started from the transmission terminal 10ab that is the standby terminal, but as described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 10, a notification that the standby terminal is online has been received. The standby terminal may start a session.

  In step S514, the standby terminal is also notified that the operating state of the transmission terminal 10ab is “standby”, but may instead be notified as “ON line”.

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

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmission system 2 Communication network 10 Transmission terminal 11 Transmission / reception part 12 Operation input reception part 13 Login request part 14 Imaging part 15a Audio | voice input part 15b Audio | voice output part 16 Final narrowing down part 17 Display control part 18 Delay detection part 19 Storage | reading process Part 19
20 Standby registration request unit 21 Online notification reception unit 22 Standby state determination unit 23 Standby source acquisition unit 24 Transmission control unit 30 Relay device 50 Transmission management system 61 Request reception unit 62 Standby registration unit 63 Standby state determination unit 64 Online notification transmission unit 65 Standby source notification unit 66 Standby registration cancellation 5000 Storage unit

JP 2006-157166 A

Claims (11)

A management device that manages the connection status of one or more transmission terminals that transmit images or sounds,
A first transmission terminal, a transmission unit that transmits the connection state of the transmission terminal other than the first transmission terminal,
A receiving unit that receives designation of a second transmission terminal whose connection state is offline from the first transmission terminal;
A setting unit that sets the connection state of the first transmission terminal and the second transmission terminal according to the designation to a standby state, which indicates a state of waiting for the start of a session;
A determination unit that determines whether the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state when a connection request is received from the second transmission terminal;
When the determination unit determines that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state, notifies the first transmission terminal that the second transmission terminal is online. And a notification unit
When the determination unit determines that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state, other transmission terminals other than the first transmission terminal and the second transmission terminal The management apparatus that notifies that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is the standby state . When a session start request for the first transmission terminal or the second transmission terminal is received from the other transmission terminal, the start request is not satisfied.
The management apparatus according to claim 1 . When a session start request for the first transmission terminal or the second transmission terminal is received from the other transmission terminal, a connection confirmation message is displayed on the other transmission terminal.
The management apparatus according to claim 1 . When the session is started between the first transmission terminal and the second transmission terminal, the setting unit starts a connection state between the first transmission terminal and the second transmission terminal. Set to connected state, indicating that it is connected,
The management apparatus according to claim 1 . When the accepting unit accepts the designation by receiving the identifier of the second transmission terminal from the first transmission terminal, the identifier of the first transmission terminal and the identifier of the second transmission terminal are obtained. The management apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a storage unit that associates and stores the storage unit. The identifier is an identifier for identifying a user of the transmission terminal or the transmission terminal,
The management device according to claim 5 . A transmission terminal for transmitting images or sounds,
From a management apparatus that manages the connection state of the transmission terminal, a first reception unit that receives other connection state of the transmission terminal other than the transmission terminal,
An input receiving unit that receives designation of the other transmission terminal in which the connection state is offline;
A request unit that requests the management apparatus to register the other transmission terminal according to the designation as a standby transmission terminal that waits for the start of a session;
Has, if requested by the request unit is received, the transmission terminal and the connection status of the other transmission terminals is indicative of a state of waiting for the start of a session with each other, is set to the standby state,
The first receiving unit receives that the other transmission terminal according to the designation is online when the connection state of the other transmission terminal according to the designation is set to the standby state; When a connection state of a transmission terminal other than the other transmission terminal according to the designation is set to the standby state, a connection state of a transmission terminal other than the other transmission terminal according to the designation is the standby state. That you receive ,
Transmission terminal. 8. The second receiving unit according to claim 7 , further comprising a second receiving unit configured to receive a notification that the other transmission terminal is online when a connection request from the other transmission terminal is received in the management apparatus. Transmission terminal. A transmission system comprising a management apparatus for managing images or with one or more transmission terminals for transmitting a voice connection status of the transmission terminal,
The management device
A first transmission terminal, a transmission unit that transmits the connection state of another transmission terminal other than the first transmission terminal,
From the first transmission terminal, among the other transmission terminals, an input reception unit that receives designation of a second transmission terminal whose connection state is offline;
A request accepting unit that accepts a request to register the second transmission terminal according to the designation as a standby transmission terminal that waits for the start of a session from the first transmission terminal ;
The connection state of the second transmission terminal requested to register as the first transmission terminal and the standby transmission terminal is set to a standby state indicating that each session is waiting to start a session. A setting section;
A determination unit that determines whether the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state when a connection request is received from the second transmission terminal;
When the determination unit determines that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state, notifies the first transmission terminal that the second transmission terminal is online. And a notification unit
When the determination unit determines that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state, other transmission terminals other than the first transmission terminal and the second transmission terminal , Notifying that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is the standby state,
The first transmission terminal is
A receiving unit that receives the connection state of a transmission terminal other than the first transmission terminal from the management device;
A request unit that requests the management device to register the second transmission terminal according to the designation as a standby transmission terminal that waits for the start of a session;
Having a transmission system. A transmission terminal for transmitting images or sounds to a computer,
From a management apparatus that manages the connection state of the transmission terminal, a first reception unit that receives other connection state of the transmission terminal other than the transmission terminal,
An input receiving unit that receives designation of the other transmission terminal in which the connection state is offline;
A request unit that requests the management apparatus to register the other transmission terminal according to the designation as a standby transmission terminal that waits for the start of a session;
A program for functioning as a transmission terminal,
When requested by the request unit is received, the transmission terminal and the connection status of the other transmission terminals is indicative of a state of waiting for the start of a session with each other, is set to the standby state,
The first receiving unit receives that the other transmission terminal according to the designation is online when the connection state of the other transmission terminal according to the designation is set to the standby state; When a connection state of a transmission terminal other than the other transmission terminal according to the designation is set to the standby state, a connection state of a transmission terminal other than the other transmission terminal according to the designation is the standby state. That you receive ,
program. A transmission method performed in a transmission system comprising a management apparatus for managing images or with one or more transmission terminals for transmitting a voice connection status of the transmission terminal,
The management device
A first transmission terminal, a transmission step of transmitting the connection state of another transmission terminal other than the first transmission terminal,
From the first transmission terminal, among the other transmission terminals, an input reception stage for receiving designation of a second transmission terminal whose connection state is offline;
A request accepting stage for accepting a request for registering the second transmission terminal according to the designation as a standby transmission terminal awaiting the start of a session from the first transmission terminal ;
The connection state of the second transmission terminal requested to register as the first transmission terminal and the standby transmission terminal is set to a standby state indicating that each session is waiting to start a session. The setting stage,
A determination step of determining whether the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state when a connection request is received from the second transmission terminal;
In the determination step, when it is determined that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is set to the standby state, the first transmission terminal is notified that the second transmission terminal is online. And notifying the transmission terminal other than the first transmission terminal and the second transmission terminal that the connection state of the second transmission terminal is the standby state, and
The first transmission terminal is
Receiving from the management device the connection status of the other transmission terminal;
A requesting step for requesting the management apparatus to register the second transmission terminal according to the designation as a standby transmission terminal awaiting start of a session .

Images