JP2006060364A - CONFERENCE SYSTEM AND CONFERENCE CONTROL METHOD - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manage a conference system and a conference control method for managing a speech right, including the order of the right to speak.
SOLUTION: Terminals of a plurality of users A, B, and C, a signal control system 1 and a media control system 2 are connected via an IP network, and a floor control unit 11 of the signal control system 1 supports meeting participating members. The speech right management table 12a for registering the priority, the speech right, and the waiting order of the speech right is referred to, and the speech right management table 12a is referred to for the speech right request. The right to speak, the low-priority floor-right requesters are registered in waiting order, each floor-right requester is notified of the response, and when the floor-right is requested after the floor-right is acquired, the floor-right holder has high priority. When the priority of the right to speak is registered in waiting order, and the priority of the right holder is low, the right to speak is forcibly released and the right holder is registered in waiting order. Give the right to speak to those who have the right to speak.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a conference system in which a plurality of users conduct a conference via an IP network and a conference control method thereof.

  In a conference system that connects users who are scattered in remote locations and conduct conferences, if the conference participants are free to speak, there are many cases where they speak at the same time, and the content of the speech becomes unclear. . Therefore, a conference system has been proposed in which a speaker is designated from among those who want to speak. For example, there is known a conference system in which a speech requester requests a speech request by having an ID card read by a terminal, displays the speech requesters on the chair's display, and designates them in the desired order (for example, Patent Documents) 1).

  There is also known a conference system in which a chairman gives a right to speak to a requester of an urgent speech by displaying it on the chairperson side in response to an urgent speech request among a plurality of requesters of speech. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2). In a conference system using an electronic blackboard, a conference system is also known that displays the order of writing requests to the electronic blackboard of a plurality of conference participants (for example, see Patent Document 3).

  There is also known a system for performing a conference using a call function and an image transmission display function of a mobile phone, and a system for performing a conference by transmitting voice and image information between a plurality of users via an IP network. Are known. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a system for conferencing between a plurality of users via an IP network is conceivable. In the figure, 101 is a signal control system, 102 is a media control system, 111 is a floor control section, 112 is a floor management information section, 113 is an event processing function section, 114 is a signal reception section, and 115 is a signal transmission. The user A, B, and C are registered in the speaking right management information unit 112 as participating members of the conference. In addition, the case where it has the item of a participating member, an organizer, and the right to speak is shown as speaking right management information, and the state where the user A is the organizer and has acquired the right to speak is shown. Users A, B, and C are connected to the signal control system 101 and the media control system 102 via the IP network.

  The signal control system 101 includes a function of, for example, a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) server in the IP telephone system. The signal control system 101 receives a request to speak from a conference member by the signal receiving unit 114, and the event processing function unit 113 The event input content is determined, and in the case of a floor request, the floor management information unit 112 is referred to determine whether or not the floor can be registered. If yes, it is registered in the floor management information unit 112. The signal transmission unit 115 notifies the permission of the speech, and if not allowed, notifies the non-permission.

  For example, when user A sends a floor request first and then user B sends a floor request, it is received by the signal receiver 114 of the signal control system 101 and temporarily stored in the FIFO memory. The event processing function unit 113 of the right control unit 111 extracts one event from the FIFO memory, and refers to the right management information unit 112. If the right to speak is not registered, it is registered in accordance with the right to request and transmitted. The permission notification is sent from the unit 115. In this case, since the user A is the first requester of the right to speak, as described above, the right to speak is registered in correspondence with the user A in the right management information unit 112, and the right of the right to speak is transmitted to the user A from the signal transmission unit 115. Notify permission.

  For the user B of the next request for the right to speak, the right to speak for the user A has already been registered in the right-of-speak management information unit 112, so the user B is notified of the non-permission. The media control system 102 is notified of the content registered for the right to speak in the right management information unit 112. The media control system 102 receives the utterance information from the user A as indicated as “Receive only”, and copies and transmits it to the users B and C of the conference participating members as indicated as “Send only”. For example, the utterance information from user B that is not registered is discarded. Therefore, the content of a plurality of users' utterances is not transmitted / received at the same time.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the floor control process in the conference system shown in FIG. 10. When the floor is not registered in the floor management information unit 112 (a1), signal reception is performed. When there is an event input (a2) in the unit 114, the event processing function unit 113 determines whether the request to acquire the “right” request (a3), the right to “release” the request (a5), or other (a8). In the case of the request to acquire the right to speak, the right to speak is given to the requester (a4). That is, it is registered in the floor management information unit 112 as described above. Then, the floor acquisition notification is sent to the requester (a5). In the case of a request to release the floor “a” (a6), a floor release notification is sent to the requester (a7), and the process proceeds to step (a1). If the event is other (a8), the event is discarded (a9), and the process proceeds to step (a1).

  Depending on the event input (b1) after the floor is registered, the event processing function unit 113 of the floor control unit 111 determines whether the floor “acquisition” request (b4), the floor “release” request, or other (b7 In the case of a request to acquire the right to speak (b2), a non-permission notice is sent to the requester (b3), and the process proceeds to step (b1). In the case of a request to release the right to speak (b4), the right to speak is set to empty (b5), that is, the right to speak is registered in the right management information section 112, and the right to speak is released to the requester. (B6), the process proceeds to step (a1). If the event is other (b7), the event is discarded (b8) and the process proceeds to step (b1).

  FIG. 12 shows an outline of the connection of the conference system shown in FIG. 10 described above. The address of the signal control system 101 is “10.22.100.1” and the address of the media control system 102 is “10.22. 100.2 ”, and the addresses of users A, B, and C are set to“ 10.2.10.0.3 ”,“ 10.22.100.4 ”, and“ 10.22.100.5 ”, respectively, and the media control system 102, the SIP-URI (SIP-Uniform Resource Identifier) of “090123499@10.22.100.1” and the SIP-URI of users A, B, and C are “09012340001@10.22.10.1”, “09012340002@10.2.2100.1”, “09012340003@10.22. 100.1 ”, and users A, B, and C have the same SIP domain name“ 10.22.10.1 ”. A solid line arrow indicates a SIP signal path, and a dotted line arrow indicates an RTP (Realtime Transport Protocol) packet path.

  The other party's call, conference participation request, speaking right “acquisition” request, speaking right “release” request, responses to various requests, etc. are transmitted / received by the route of the solid arrow by SIP signal, and media information such as voice information and image information Is transmitted / received via the media control system 102 along the path indicated by the dotted line by the RTP packet.

  FIGS. 13 to 15 show sequence charts in the conventional conference system. The conference system includes the users A, B, and C, the signal control system, and the media control system in FIGS. FIG. 13 shows a conference participation sequence. That is, each of the users A, B, and C transmits a session establishment request “INVITE” to the signal control system, and the signal control system transmits a session establishment request “INVITE” to the media control system. State 1 when user A is registered as a conference organizer and user A is first registered as a participating member and receives “200 OK” from the signal control system, and then user B receives “200 OK” from the signal control system. The state 2 when the user C is received and the state 3 when the user C next receives “200 OK” from the signal control system are shown as transition of the floor management information. This floor management information is also notified to the media control system. By sending “ACK” from the users A, B, and C, the media control system allows the users A and B who are members of the conference to participate. , C is in a state in which transmission / reception control of media data such as sound and images is possible.

  Next, as shown in Fig. 14, the user A sends "INFO (speaking right" acquisition "request)" to the signal control system to make a speaking right request, which is referred to as a sequence F1, and the sequences F2 to F14 will be described below. The signal control system determines whether or not the right to speak is registered in the right to manage information section, and if the right to speak is not registered, “INFO (call path change notification)” to the media control system. The media control system sends a response “200 OK” to the signal control system (F3) The signal control system registers the user A's speaking right in the speaking right management information section, and A response “200 OK (speaking right acquisition notification)” is sent to A. (F4) The media control system sends media data such as voice from user A to other conference members' users. The media data is sent to the users B and C and discarded even if media data is received from the users B and C to whom the floor is not registered.

  In this state, when the user B sends “INFO (speaking right“ acquisition ”request)” to the signal control system (F5), when the signal control system refers to the speaking right management information section, the speaking right is already registered. Therefore, “403 Fovidden (speaking right“ acquisition ”request non-permission notification)” is sent to the user B (F6).

  Also, as shown in FIG. 15, when user A sends “INFO (speaking right“ release ”request)” (F7), the signal control system refers to the speaking right management information section and registers the speaking right of user A. If the user A's right to speak registered in the right management information section is deleted and "INFO (call path change notification)" is sent to the media control system (F8), the media control system A response “200 OK” is sent to the control system (F9), and the signal control system sends a response “200 OK (speaking right release notification)” to the user A (F10).

In this state, when “INFO (speaking right“ acquisition ”request)” is transmitted from the user B (F11), the signal control system refers to the speaking right management information part, and the speaking right is in an empty state. “INFO (speech path change notification)” is sent to the media control system (F12), and when the response “200 OK” is received from the media control system (F13), the floor for user B in the floor management information section is registered. Then, a response “200 OK (speaking right acquisition notification) is sent to the user B (F14), and the speaking right is changed from the user A to the user B.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-201658 JP-A-8-9063 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-219098

  For example, in Patent Documents 1 to 3 of the conventional examples in which the right to speak is registered and managed, the chairperson who hosts the meeting gives the right to speak according to the order of requesting the right-right requestor, and further the requester of the emergency sound Since the chairperson has to proceed with the proceedings while confirming the registration contents of the requester of the right to speak on a display or the like, there is a problem that the burden on the chairperson is large.

  Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 10 to 15 of the above-described conventional example, the right to speak is managed by using the signal control system and the media control system, thereby managing the right to speak and the burden of the chairman of the conference. In the conference system to be mitigated, when a request for a right to speak occurs, the right to speak is given to the earliest requester, and the registered right to speak is released for the subsequent right to speak. It becomes non-permission notification until. Therefore, there is a problem that the requester of the right to speak must repeatedly send the right to speak. For this reason, there is a possibility that the worst situation occurs in which the right to speak is not given even during the conference.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to enable the right-of-speaking requester to sequentially speak by managing the order of the right-of-speaking request.

  The conference system of the present invention is a conference system in which terminals of a plurality of users who are conference participants, a signal control system, and a media control system are connected via an IP network. The signal control system includes a floor control unit, An event processing function unit, and the floor control unit includes a floor management table for registering priority, floor and waiting order corresponding to meeting participants, and the event processing unit includes: Determine the contents of the event input, refer to the floor management table for the floor request, and in the floor request conflict, in the floor management table to give the floor to the floor requester with high priority. Register the right-to-speak requester in the waiting order of the right-of-speech management table, notify each of the right-of-speak requesters in response, and at the time of requesting the right to speak, When the priority is high, the low-priority floor requester is registered in the waiting order of the floor control table, and when the floor holder is low-priority, the floor is forcibly released to hold the floor The media control system comprising means for registering a user in a waiting order in the floor management table, registering in the floor management table so as to give a floor to the floor requester having a high priority, and notifying each of the responses. Comprises means for controlling the transfer of media data between the conference participants in accordance with media control information including the conference participants and the registrants in the floor management table of the signal control system.

  Further, the event processing function unit determines the contents of the event input, deletes the right to speak registered in the right management table in response to a request to release the right to speak, and is registered in the waiting order. Means for notifying the right-of-speak requester of the right to speak and registering in the right-to-speak management table so as to give the right to speak in response to the right to speak according to the empty notice.

  In addition, the event processing function unit determines an event input content, deletes the floor registered in the floor management table, gives priority to the floor requester registered at the head of the waiting order, and others Means for registering the right to speak in the right-to-speak management table so that the right to speak is given preferentially to the requester.

  The conference control method of the present invention is the conference control method in a conference system in which a terminal of a plurality of users of conference participants, a signal control system, and a media control system are connected via an IP network. The floor management table of the system is configured to register priorities, floors, and waiting order for the conference participants, and the floor management table is used for event input of the floor requests from the conference participants. And when the request for speaking right is competing, it is registered in the speaking right management table so as to give a speaking right to the high-priority speaking right requester, and the low-priority speaking right requester is registered in the speaking right management table. In response to the request for the right to speak, and when the right to speak is requested after the right is obtained, if the priority of the right holder is high, When the priority of the right holder is low, the right to speak is forcibly released, and the right holder is registered in the right order of the right management table when the priority of the right holder is low. It includes a process of registering in the speaking right management table so as to give a speaking right to the speaking right requester and notifying each of the responses.

  In addition, the event processing function unit of the signal control system determines the contents of the event input from the conference participants, and when the right to speak is released from the right holder, the right to speak is registered in the right management table. Deleting the right to speak to the right holder who has been registered in the waiting order, and registering in the right management table so as to give the right to the right request according to the empty notice Is included.

  It is possible to manage the requesters of the right to speak among the members of the conference in the order requested, and to give the right to speak in the order requested, so that the burden of the chairperson (organizer) of the conference is not increased once during the conference. Can solve the problem that the right to speak is not given. In addition, by setting the priority for the conference members, the request for the right to speak of the user with the higher priority is processed with priority over the user with the lower priority, and the user with the highest priority is assigned to the user with the lower priority. Even if the right to speak is forcibly released, the right to speak can be processed.

  The conference system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1. A conference in which terminals of a plurality of users A, B, and C who are conference participants, a signal control system 1 and a media control system 2 are connected via an IP network. The signal control system 1 has a configuration including a floor control unit 11 and an event processing function unit 13, and the floor control unit 11 includes priorities, floors and waiting orders corresponding to conference participants. The event processing function unit 13 determines the event input content via the signal receiving unit 14, refers to the speaking right management table 12a in response to the speaking right request, and When there is a request conflict, it is registered in the floor management table 12a so as to give a floor to the floor requester with a high priority, and a floor with a low priority is waited for in the floor management table 12a. To the requester of the right to speak, and when the right of the right holder is high when requesting the right to speak after acquiring the right to speak, When the priority of the right holder is low, the right to speak is forcibly released and the right holder is registered in the right order of the right management table 12a. The media control system 2 includes means for registering in the floor management table 12a so as to give a floor to a high floor requester, and notifying each of the responses from the signal transmitter 15. The media control system 2 includes the floor of the signal control system 1. Means is provided for controlling the transfer of media data between conference participants in accordance with the media control information including the conference participants and the utterance right registrant in the management table 12a.

  The conference control method of the present invention is a conference control method in a conference system in which a terminal of a plurality of users A, B, and C who are conference participants, a signal control system 1 and a media control system 2 are connected via an IP network. In this case, the floor management table 12a of the signal control system 1 is configured to register the priority corresponding to the conference participant, the floor and the waiting order, and in response to the event input of the floor request from the conference participant, Refer to the floor management table 12a, and when there is a floor request conflict, register in the floor management table 12a so as to give a floor to the floor requester with a high priority, and request the floor requester with a low priority. The right to speak is registered in the waiting order of the right management table 12a, the response right is notified to each right requester, and the right to speak is low when the right holder has a high priority when the right to speak is requested after the right is obtained. The requesters are registered in the waiting order of the speaking right management table 12a, and when the right of the speaking right holder is low, the speaking right is forcibly released, and the right of speaking is held in the waiting order of the speaking right management table 12a. It includes a process of registering, registering in the speaking right management table 12a so as to give a speaking right to a high-priority speaking right requester, and notifying each of the responses.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of Embodiment 1 of the present invention, in which 1 is a signal control system, 2 is a media control system, 11 is a floor control unit, 12 is a floor management information section, 12a is a floor management table, 12b is a priority management table, 13 is an event processing function unit, 14 is a signal reception unit, 15 is a signal transmission unit, 16 is a timer management function unit, FIFO is a first-in first-out memory for received signals, A, B and C indicate users who are members of the conference.

  Each of the users A, B, and C who are members of the conference can use a fixed terminal such as a fixed telephone connected to the IP network or a mobile terminal such as a mobile telephone. The address control means that is used can be applied. The signal control system 1 includes, for example, a SIP server function, manages information on conference participants and the right to speak, and notifies the media control system 2 of the information. The media control system 2 According to the contents of the notification, there is provided means for controlling a transmission / reception route of media data such as voice and images between the conference participants.

  The signal control system 1 has a configuration including a floor control unit 11, a signal reception unit 14, and a signal transmission unit 15. The floor control unit 11 includes a floor control information unit 12, an event process, It has a configuration including a function unit 13 and a timer management function unit 16. The speaking right management information unit 12 includes a speaking right management table 12a and a priority management table 12b. The speaking right management table 12a corresponds to a conference, for example, a participating member, a priority, It has items of organizer, floor, and waiting order (queue). The organizer's item can be omitted. The priority management table 12b has a configuration in which priorities are registered in advance for meeting participants. For example, the organizer of the conference can register the priority corresponding to the participating members at the time of the conference, but if the priority is registered in advance, the registration operation for each conference is not necessary.

  By using the SIP protocol with the signal control system 1 as a SIP server and the users A, B, and C as SIP clients, and executing the INVIT sequence, between the media control system 2 and each of the users A, B, and C. , An RTP session is established. For example, when the user A is the conference organizer and the users B and C also make a conference participation request, the users A, B, and C are registered in the participation member item of the speaking right management table 12a, and the priority management table. Referring to 12b, the priorities of users A, B, and C are registered in the speaking right management table 12a. In this case, Lv. 1, priorities of users B and C are set to the next Lv. 2, a state in which the speaking right of the user A is registered and the waiting order of the speaking right request of the user B is 1 is shown on the left side. In other words, the participating members are users A, B, and C, the priorities are Lv, 1 for user A, Lv. 2. The organizer is user A, the right to speak is user A indicated by a circle, and the waiting order is 1 for user B. In this case, the conference group “0001” can be identified and managed by, for example, roomID = 00001 in the “INFO” To header from the users A, B, and C.

For the floor control, the “INFO” method is applied, and the event type is set in the body part.
GET: Request to acquire a right to speak ・ FREE: Request to release a right to speak ・ CUE: Notification of queue registration ・ RELEASED: Notification of forcible release ・ IDLE: Notification of idle right The event processing function unit 13 determines this event input content.

  The event processing function unit 13 determines the event input of the conference participation request from the users A, B, and C, and the participating members are registered in the speaking right management table 12a according to the determination. In the state where the floor is not registered, when the user A and the user B subsequently make a floor request, the event processing function section 13 receives the received signal via the FIFO of the signal receiver 14. When the user A's speaking right request is referred to the speaking right management table 12a, the speaking right is unregistered. Therefore, the user A's remarks in the speaking right management table 12a. The right is registered, and a response OK (acquisition) is transmitted from the signal transmission unit 15 to the user A. In response to a request to speak from the next user B, the user A's speaking right is registered in the speaking right management table 12a. Therefore, 1 is registered as the order in the waiting order (queue). Then, a response OK (queue registration) is transmitted. Thereby, the user B can recognize that it is possible to acquire the right to speak by making the next right request. In addition, when the user C requests the right to speak next to the user B, the user C registers 2 as an order in the waiting order (queue).

  By notifying the media control system 2 of the registered contents of the floor management table 12a as media control, the media control system 2 indicates media data such as voice and image from the user A as Receive only. The media control system 2 rejects the media data from the user B who has not acquired the speaking right and transmitted to the users B and C as shown as Send only. That is, only the content of the speech of the user A who has the right to speak is transmitted to the users B and C of other conference participants.

  When user A releases the right to speak, the right to speak corresponding to user A registered in the right management table 12a is deleted, and the right to speak is notified to user B based on the queued registration contents. The user B's speaking right is registered in the speaking right management table 12a when the user B is prompted to speak or the user B voluntarily requests the speaking right. By notifying the media control system 2 of the change contents of the floor management table 12a, the media control system 2 copies the media data from the user B and transmits it to the users A and C. That is, the content of user B's message is transmitted to users A and C.

  If the request for speaking right is almost simultaneous, the priority of the speaking right management table 12a is referred to, the right to speak is given to a user with high priority, and the waiting order (queue) is assigned to a user with low priority. ). In addition, in a state where a user with a low priority has obtained the right to speak, when a user with a high priority makes a request for the right to speak, the user with the low priority is forcibly released, Control is performed to give a right to speak to a user with high priority, and the processing result is notified to each user. In addition, the requester of the right to speak registered in the queue (queue) has the right to register the next right to speak. When the right to speak previously registered is released, Even when another user makes a floor request at the same time when a free space notification is made and a floor request is made, priority is given to the free notification target users registered in the waiting order (queue). Register the right to speak requested by the user. The priority period in this case is managed by the timer management function unit 16, and is deleted from the waiting order (queue), assuming that the priority is abandoned when a predetermined set time elapses.

  2, 3 and 4 are flowcharts of the floor control process. FIG. 2 shows that there is no floor / registration queue, that is, the state where the conference participation members are registered in the floor management table 12a. The processing for acquiring the right to speak in steps (A1) to (A9) is shown, and corresponds to steps (a1) to (a9) shown in FIG. That is, if the user has an event input (a2) in the signal receiving unit 14 from the speaking right state = vacant (A1), the event processing function unit 13 determines whether the speaking right “acquisition” request (A3) or the speaking right “ It is determined whether the request is “release” (A5) or others (A8). If the request is “acquisition”, the request is given to the requester (A4). That is, it is registered in the speaking right management table 12 a of the speaking right management information unit 12. Then, the floor acquisition notification is sent to the requester of the floor (A5). Also, in the case of a request for “speaking right release” (A6), a speaking right release notification is sent to the requester (A7). Therefore, the user can confirm whether or not the request to acquire the right to speak and the request to release the right to speak are accepted. If the event is other (A8), the event is discarded (A9). After steps (A7) and (A9), the process proceeds to step (A1). Further, after step (A5), the control process during use of the right to speak in FIG. 3 is performed.

  FIG. 3 shows the floor control process in steps (B1) to (B23) in the state where the floor is being used. The user who acquired the floor in steps (A3) to (A5) in FIG. If there is, the event processing function unit 13 causes the request to acquire the right to speak or acquire the right to release the statement in the same manner as in steps (A3), (A6), and (A8) described above. Or if it is a request to acquire the right to speak (A2), it is determined whether there is a waiting queue (B3). That is, it is determined whether or not it is registered in the waiting order (queue) of the speaking right management table 12a. When there is no waiting queue, that is, when the queues are not registered in the waiting order, priority is determined (B4). That is, when there is a right holder, the priority of the right holder is compared with the priority of the right requester.

  When the priority of the floor requester is high, the floor of the floor holder with the lower priority is forcibly released (B5), the forced release is notified to the floor holder (B6), and the floor is The request is given to the requester with the highest priority (B7). In other words, the floor of the floor requester is registered in the floor management table 12a. Then, a voice acquisition request is sent to the voice requester (B8). If the priority of the right holder is high in step (B4), the right cueing is performed for the right requester (B9). That is, registration is made in the waiting order of the speaking right management table 12a. Then, the floor requester is notified of the floor registration (B10). With this floor right queue registration notification, the floor requester can recognize that the user with the highest priority currently holds the floor and has the opportunity to acquire the floor when the floor is released. .

  In step (B3), if there is a waiting queue, that is, if there is something that is registered in the waiting order of the floor management table 12a, the priority of the waiting queue registrant and the current floor requester is given priority. If the priority of the requester of the right to speak is higher than that of the waiting queue registrant, the process proceeds to step (B4). (B12), if yes, go to step (B14), if not, register at the head of the queue with lower priority than the requester of the right to speak (B13) and go to step (B14) . In this step (B14), the floor-right requester is notified of the floor-right registration. In this case, the priority is set to, for example, three levels of high, medium, and low, and a waiting queue is provided corresponding to the level of priority. When belonging to the level of the same priority, registration can be performed according to the order of the right to speak. Or, if the priorities are the same, corresponding to the priority and the order of the right to speak, register in the queue in the right-to-speak request order. Can be overtaken and registered at the top.

  If the event input is a request to release the right to speak (B15), it is determined whether or not the user has the right to speak (B16). If the request is from the right holder, the right to be registered in the right management table 12a is registered. Is deleted, and the right to speak state becomes empty (B17). Then, the requester is notified of the right to speak (B18), the presence / absence of the waiting queue is determined (B19), and if not, the process proceeds to step (A1) (see FIG. 2). If yes, the monitoring of the presence / absence of the right to speak is started (B20), and the right to speak is notified to the queued person (B21).

  In step (B15), in the case of a determination of a request to release the right to speak from a person other than the right holder, it is determined whether or not the requester is registered in the waiting queue (B22). If not, the process proceeds to step (B1). If registered, it is deleted from the waiting queue (B23), and the process proceeds to step (B1). That is, when a floor request is made and registered in the waiting queue, the registration can be deleted by a floor release “release” request. If the event input is other (B24), the event input is discarded (B25), and the process proceeds to step (B1).

  FIG. 4 shows the steps (C1) to (C28) of the control processing during the right-to-speak / priority monitoring. After the right-to-speak notification is sent to the queued person in step (B21) in FIG. With regard to (C1), the event processing function unit 13 determines whether it is priority monitoring (C2), a speaking right “acquisition” request (C9), a speaking right “release” request (C23), or other (C29). . In the case of priority monitoring (C2), that is, in a state where the speaking right is empty, the user registered in the waiting queue has the right of speaking right request and determines whether or not the priority period has ended. Monitoring is performed by the management function unit 16 (see FIG. 1) (C3), and if it is within the priority period, a speech right availability notification is performed again as in step (B21) (C4). For example, the priority period is set in the timer management function unit 16, and the event processing function unit 13 can determine the end of the priority period by a timer expiration notification indicating that the set time has elapsed.

  If the priority period is over, priority monitoring is canceled (C5), the presence or absence of a waiting queue is determined (C6), and if there is no waiting queue, the process proceeds to step (A1) in FIG. If there is a waiting queue, priority monitoring is started (C7), the queuing person is notified of the absence of the right to speak (C8), and the process proceeds to step (C1).

  If the event input is a request for acquisition of the right to speak (C9), it is determined whether or not the user is a priority person whose priority is being monitored (C10). If the person is the right person, the right to speak is given to the person (C11). A right to speak is obtained (C12), priority monitoring by the timer management processing unit 16 is canceled (C13), and the process proceeds to step (B1) in FIG. If the request to acquire the right to speak is other than the priority person, the level of priority between the right requester and the priority is determined (C14). If the priority of the right holder is high, priority monitoring is performed. Release (C15), return the priority to the head of the queue (C16), give the right to speak to the requester with high priority (C17), notify the requester of the right to speak (C18), step of FIG. Move to (B1).

  If the priority of the priority requester is higher than that of the requester of the right to speak, the presence / absence of a waiting queue is determined (C19), and if there is no waiting queue, the request for the right to speak is queued (C20). The user is notified of queue registration as a response to the request to speak (C21). If there is a waiting queue, it is determined whether or not it is queue registration of the floor requester (C22). If it is not queue registration of the floor requester, the head of the queue with lower priority than the floor requester is moved to. Register (C23) and notify the queue registration (C21)

  Further, in the case of a request to release the right to speak (C23), it is determined whether or not it is a priority (C24). In the case of a priority, that is, in the case of a user registered in the waiting queue, priority after step (C2) The right monitoring process is canceled (C25), and the process proceeds to step (A1) (see FIG. 2). If the user is not a priority person, the presence / absence of the corresponding registration queue is determined (C26). If the corresponding registration queue is present, the registration queue is deleted (C27), and the right to speak is released (C28). Move to C1). If there is no corresponding queue, a floor release notification is made (C28), and the process proceeds to step (C1). If the event input is other (C29), the event is discarded (C30), and the process proceeds to step (C1).

  5 to 9 show a floor control process sequence chart, and F1 to F36 in FIGS. 6 to 9 show an example of a sequence executed sequentially. FIG. 5 shows a conference participation sequence for the users A, B, and C, the signal control system, and the media control system. The user A, B, and C sides and the media control system side are “INVITE”. , “100 Trying”, “180 Ringing”, “200 OK”, “ACK” according to the signal sequence. This conference participation sequence is a process similar to that of the conventional example shown in FIG. 13, but will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In the signal control system 1, referring to the priority management table 12b, Priorities are registered together with participating members in the management table 12a. Therefore, the contents of the speaking right management table 12a in the states 1 to 3 of the conference participation sequence are updated in accordance with the order of the states 1 to 3 of the transition of the speaking right management information. Note that the priority of the user A is set to Lv. 1. Set the priority of user B to Lv. 3. Set the priority of user C to LV. 2, the priority is Lv. 1> Lv. 2> Lv. The ranking is 3. Therefore, user A has the highest priority, user C is next, and user B is next.

  For example, when the user A makes a request for the right to speak after registering the participating members in the right to management table 12a, as shown in FIG. 6, the user A signals “INFO (speaking right“ acquisition ”request)”. Transmit to the control system (F1) The signal control system sends “INFO (call path change notification)” to the media control system when the floor is not registered in the floor management table 12a (F2), When the response “200 OK” is received from the media control system (F3), the floor is registered for user A in the floor management table 12a, and “200 OK (speaking right acquisition notification) is sent to user A ( F4).

  When the user B sends “INFO (speaking right“ acquisition ”request)” in the state where the speaking right is being used (F5), the event processing function unit 13 of the signal control system 1 stores the speaking right management table 12a. Since the priority of the user B is lower than the priority of the user A who is using the right to speak, 1 indicating the order is registered in the waiting order (queue), and “200 OK (the right to speak) is registered in the user B. Queue registration notification) "is sent (F6).

  In this state, when the user C sends “INFO (speaking right“ acquisition ”request)” (F7), the event processing function unit 13 of the signal control system 1 refers to the speaking right management table 12a, and the user A The priority is compared because the right to speak is being used and the waiting order (queue) is registered for user B. In this case, since the priority is in the order of A> C> B, The order (queue) is set to 1, user B's waiting order (queue) is lowered to 2, and a response “200 OK (speaking right queue registration notification)” is sent to user C (F8).

  Further, when user A is using the right to speak, if user B sends out "INFO (request for right to speak") as shown in FIG. 7 (F9), event processing function unit 13 of signal control system 1 In the same manner as the sequences (F5) and (F6) in FIG. 6, the user B is registered in the waiting order (queue), and “200 OK (speaking right queue registration)” is sent to the user B (F10). Next, when user B sends "INFO (speaking right" release "request)" (F11), the signal control system waits for user B in the speaking right management table 12a (queue) as shown as queue deletion. ) Is deleted, and “200 OK (speaking right release notification)” is sent (F12).

  Further, when user A makes a request for the right to speak while user C is using the right to speak, as shown in FIG. 8, the signal control is performed by “INFO (speaking right“ acquisition ”request)” from user A (F13). The event processing function unit 13 of the system 1 refers to the floor management table 12a, and since the priority of the user A is higher than the priority of the user C, the media control system notifies the INFO (call path change notification user C → user A) "is sent (F14), and when the response" 200 OK "is received (F15), the right to speak in the right management table 12a is changed from user C to user A, and" INFO OK "is given to user C. Is sent (F16), and when the response “200 OK” is received from the user C (F17), a response “200 OK (speaking right acquisition notification)” is sent to the user A (F18). A user with a high priority can acquire the right to speak by interruption.

  Further, when the user C is using the right to speak and the user B is in the waiting order (queue) registration state, the user A sends out a right request “INFO (speaking right“ acquisition ”request)” (F19). The event processing function unit 13 of the signal control system 1 refers to the floor management table 12a, and the priority of the user A is the highest, so “INFO (call path change notification user C → user A)” is sent to the media control system. Sending (F20) and receiving the response “200 OK” from the media control system (F21), the user A in the speaking right management table 12a is updated to give the speaking right, and “INFO (remarking) is given to the user C. When the response “200 OK” is received, “200 OK (speaking right acquisition notification)” is sent to the user A (F). 4).

  When user A is using the right to speak and user C is in the waiting order (queue) registration state, as shown in FIG. 9, when user A sends "INFO (speaking right" release "request)" (F25) The event processing function unit 13 of the signal control system 1 refers to the speaking right management table 12a and sends “INFO (call path change notification)” to the media control system 2 because the speaking right of the user A is registered. (F26), when the response “200 OK” is received (F27), update is performed to delete the user A's floor registration in the floor management table 12a, and the waiting order 1 of the user C is updated to 0. “200 OK (speaking right release notification)” is sent to A. (F28) This waiting order 0 indicates a priority waiting state.

  The event processing function unit 13 of the signal control system 1 performs control to send “INFO (notice of speaking right availability)” to the user C in the waiting order 0 through the signal transmission unit 15 (F29). When the response “200 OK” from C is received (F30), the timer management function unit 16 (see FIG. 1) is activated, and the presence or absence of a request for the right to speak from the user C is monitored. Then, when the timer expires, "INFO (notice to speak right)" is sent again to the user C (F31), and when the response "200 OK" is received (F32), the timer is started again. When “INFO (speaking right“ acquisition ”request)” is received from the user C (F33), the signal control system sends “INFO (speech path change notification)” to the media control system (F34), and the response When “200 OK” is received (F35), the signal control system registers the speaking right of the user C in the speaking right management table 12a and sends a response “200 OK (speaking right acquisition notification)” to the user C ( F36).

  In this case, a speech right availability notification is sent every time the timer expires, and the priority waiting order can be forcibly deleted when a preset number of times or a preset monitoring time for the priority right elapses. That is, it is possible to monitor whether or not the above-described priority period has elapsed, delete the waiting order registration after the priority period elapses, and perform a speech right availability notification with the next waiting order as the priority waiting order.

It is explanatory drawing of Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart of a floor control process. It is a flowchart of a floor control process. It is a flowchart of a floor control process. It is a sequence chart of a floor control process. It is a sequence chart of a floor control process. It is a sequence chart of a floor control process. It is a sequence chart of a floor control process. It is a sequence chart of a floor control process. It is explanatory drawing of a prior art example. It is a flowchart of the floor control process of a prior art example. It is connection outline explanatory drawing of a conference system. It is a sequence chart of the floor control process of a prior art example. It is a sequence chart of the floor control process of a prior art example. It is a sequence chart of the floor control process of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Signal control system 2 Media control system 11 Speaking right control part 12 Speaking right management information part 12a Speaking right management table 12b Priority management table 13 Event processing function part 14 Signal receiving part 15 Signal transmission part 16 Timer management function part A, B , C user

Claims (5)

In a conference system in which terminals of a plurality of users of conference participants, a signal control system, and a media control system are connected via an IP network,
The signal control system has a configuration including a floor control unit and an event processing function unit,
The floor control unit includes a floor management table for registering priorities, floors, and waiting order for meeting participants.
The event processing function unit determines an event input content, refers to the speaking right management table for a speaking right request, and gives a speaking right to a high-priority speaking right requester when the speaking right request conflicts. To the right-of-speech management table, register the right-of-speaking right requesters in the waiting order of the right-of-speaking right management table, notify each of the right-to-speak requesters in response, When the priority of the right holder is high, the right requester of low priority is registered in the waiting order of the right management table, and when the priority of the right holder is low, the right is forcibly released. Means for registering the right holders in the waiting order of the right management table, registering in the right management table so as to give a right to the right priority requester, and notifying each of the responses. Prepared,
The media control system comprises means for controlling transfer of media data between the conference participants according to media control information including conference participants and utterance registrants in the floor management table of the signal control system. A conference system characterized by   The event processing function unit determines an event input content, deletes the right to speak registered in the right management table in response to a right release request from the right holder, and the messages registered in the waiting order 2. A means for notifying a right requester of a right to speak and registering in the right management table so as to give a right to speak in response to a request for right according to the empty notification. The conference system described.   The event processing function unit determines event input contents, deletes the right to speak registered in the right management table, gives priority to the right requester registered at the head of the waiting order, 2. The conference system according to claim 1, further comprising means for registering the right to speak in the right management table so that the right to speak is preferentially given to the right-right requester. In a conference control method in a conference system in which a terminal of a plurality of users of conference participants, a signal control system, and a media control system are connected via an IP network,
The floor control table of the signal control system is configured to register priorities, floors, and waiting orders for the conference participants, and the speech is requested in response to an event input from the conference participants. Referring to the right management table, when there is a request for right to speak, it is registered in the right management table so as to give the right to the right-right requester, and the low-priority right requester Register in the waiting order of the right management table, notify each right-of-speak requester in response, and when the right to speak after requesting the right to speak, when the priority of the right holder is high, When the priority of the right holder is low, the right to speak is forcibly released and the right holder is registered in the right order of the right management table when the priority of the right holder is low. High voice requester Registered in the talk burst management table to give the floor, conference control method characterized by comprising the step of responding notification respectively.   The event processing function unit of the signal control system determines the event input contents from the conference participants, and the floor registered in the floor management table is deleted by the floor release request from the floor holder. And a step of notifying the right-of-speak requester registered in the waiting order of the right to speak and registering the right to speak in response to the right-of-speak request according to the empty notification. The conference control method according to claim 4, further comprising:

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