JP2005328178A - Video conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video conference system in which the quality of video image and voice under meeting is high and security is also high. <P>SOLUTION: When there are user ID and input and connection request of a password from a log-in screen of a first client 11 and a second client 12, a server 20 confirms the user ID and the password, and acquires the IP addresses of the first client 11 and the second client 12. The server 20 transmits the IP addresses of the second and first client terminals to the first and second clients 11, 12. The first client 11 requests the connection by using the IP address of the second client 12. The second client 12 performs the allowance of the connection to the first client 11 by confirming the IP address of the first client 11, directly connects between the clients, and performs a video conference. Thus, only the advantages of the server type and the advantages of the P2P type can be realized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a video conference system that performs video and audio communication between clients in real time.

  As a conventional video conference system, there are a server system in which images and audio information are exchanged via a server, and a P2P (Peer to Peer) system in which clients are directly connected to exchange image and audio information.

  As a server system for connecting via an IP network, for example, there are those disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

  As the P2P method, for example, there are those disclosed in Patent Documents 3 and 4.

  In addition, Windows (TM) XP comes with Windows Messenger, and after signing in to a Microsoft (TM) server, P2P communication can be performed directly between authorized members without passing through the server. This is called the Hybrid P2P method.

JP 2000-308034 A JP 2002-10231 A JP 7-177145 A JP 2004-72741 A

  The former server method can search for users even in a LAN (Local Aria Network) environment, and can connect regardless of whether it is a global address or a local address. To do a real-time conference has become a fatal flaw.

  On the other hand, since the latter P2P method does not go through a server, real-time information exchange is possible and the image quality is high. However, since the connection is made using a mail address, there is a problem that security is weak. is there.

  In addition, the server method can be connected over a firewall installed between the Internet and the in-house LAN, but the P2P method cannot connect a global IP (Internet Protocol) and a local IP, and therefore cannot be passed through the firewall. is there.

  Furthermore, although the above-mentioned Hybrid P2P method becomes a P2P method after connection, since the address information necessary for connection is used as an e-mail address, if the address is known or stolen, the person is impersonated. There is a problem of being able to participate in the conference. Therefore, security is extremely weak, and there is a problem in terms of safety when used for business meetings.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a video conference system with high video and audio quality during a conference and high security.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a first client terminal, at least one second client terminal connected via an IP-connectable communication network, the first client terminal, and the second client terminal. And a server that connects the client terminal of the first client terminal via the communication network when a user ID and password are input and a connection request is received from the login screen of the first client terminal. When the user ID and password are entered and a connection request is received from the login screen of the second client terminal and the means for acquiring the IP address of the first client terminal, The entered user ID and password are confirmed, and the IP address of the second client terminal Means for acquiring, means for transmitting the IP addresses of the second and first client terminals to the first and second client terminals, respectively, and the first client terminal is configured to transmit the second client terminal to the second client terminal. Means for requesting connection using the IP address of the second client, and means for allowing the second client terminal to confirm the IP address of the first client terminal and permit connection to the first client terminal. It is.

In the present invention, the first client terminal and at least one other second client terminal can be connected by a communication network capable of IP connection, for example, the Internet or an intranet (in-house LAN or the like). When a video conference is held, for example, when a user ID and password are input from the login screen of the first client terminal serving as the chairperson of the video conference and a connection request command is issued, the command is transmitted to the server. The server confirms the received user ID and password with a pre-registered user database, and if correct, information on which global IP address (non-fixed) the first client terminal is currently connected to the IP communication network. To get. This can be acquired by the action of the server. Next, when there is a connection request from the second client terminal participating in the video conference, the IP address of the second client terminal is acquired in the same manner. The second global IP address is transmitted to the first client terminal together with the user ID, and the first client terminal sends a connection request using the IP address to the second client terminal. At this time, the server does not intervene. When the second client terminal permits connection in response to the connection request from the first client terminal, the first client terminal and the second client terminal are directly connected by the P2P method. When there are a plurality of second client terminals, they are interconnected in the same procedure. After the P2P connection, the voice information, image information, and screen sharing information of the first client terminal and the second client terminal can be communicated and shared.
In the present invention, each of the first and second client terminals may include a streaming server capable of streaming video and audio. As a result, the video and audio held by the first and second client terminals can be streamed.

  According to the present invention, the connection request between the client terminals is performed by the server method, and after obtaining the IP address, the video conference is performed by directly connecting using the IP address. Client) search, a global IP address and a local IP address can be interrogated, and the advantage of the server system that it can cross a firewall can be enjoyed. Therefore, the server is used only for a short time for connection between the client terminals before the start of the video conference, and the load on the server is reduced. Since the video conference itself after the client terminals are directly connected using the IP address acquired by the server is performed in the P2P method, a high quality video conference system is realized without degrading the quality of video and audio. be able to.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the video conference system of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the connection procedure. In the present embodiment, the video conference system includes a first client 11, a second client 12, and a server 20. As shown in FIG. 3, normally, a plurality of second clients 12 to 15 can be connected. However, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the number of second clients is one for simplicity.

The connection procedure of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
Step S1: The first client 11 serving as the chairperson of the video conference inputs his user ID and password and clicks a connection button to connect to the server 20 (see FIG. 5).

  Step S2: The server 20 confirms the user ID of the first client 11 based on the user database registered in advance and confirms whether the password is correct. If it is correct, which global IP address is used for connection. Get information about. The global IP address may be a non-fixed IP address or a fixed IP address that is given each time a connection is made by the provider.

  Step S3: In order to connect to the server 20, the second client 12 participating in the video conference inputs his / her user ID and password and clicks the connection button.

  Step S4: The server 20 confirms the user ID of the second client 12 based on the user database registered in advance and confirms whether the password is correct. If it is correct, which global IP address is used for connection. Get information about.

  Step S5: The server 20 transmits the user ID and IP address of the second client 12 to the first client 11.

  Step S6: The first client 11 acquires the user ID and IP address of the second client 12 sent from the server 20.

  Step S <b> 7: The server 20 transmits the user ID and IP address of the first client 11 to the second client 12.

  Step S8: The second client 12 acquires the user ID and IP address of the first client 11 sent from the server 20.

  Step S9: The first client 11 transmits a connection request to the second client 12 using the acquired IP address of the second client 12.

Step S10: In response to the connection request from the first client 11, the second client 12 transmits a connection permission signal using the IP address of the first client 11.
Thereby, P2P connection is performed.

  Step S <b> 11: The first client 11 transmits its own audio, video, and screen sharing information to the second client 12.

Step S12: The second client 12 transmits its own audio, video, and screen sharing information to the first client 11.
Thereby, both clients can share mutual information.

  FIG. 4 shows a configuration of the server 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention. A personal computer 21 (OS is, for example, Windows 2000 (trademark) or Windows XP (trademark)) is used as an in-house server. The camera 23 is connected to the video terminal via the video distributor 22, and the speaker 25 is connected to the audio terminal of the personal computer 21 via the audio distributor 24. The video distributor 22 and the audio distributor 24 are connected to a streaming server 26 to enable streaming distribution. The personal computer 21 and the streaming server 26 each have a global IP address for a communication network (line) capable of IP connection, or when connected to the provider, a global IP address is given from the provider server.

  The streaming server 26 can download and use software for streaming distribution, for example, MS-Encoder 9.0 (trademark) from the Microsoft (trademark) homepage.

  FIG. 5 shows a login screen in the client terminal of the video conference system. By setting a user ID and a password, new registration can be made to the server 20. The server 20 accepts user registration, and can manage login / out information in real time at the client terminal. By using the server method at the time of connection, it is possible to overcome communication failures such as VPN (Virtual Private Network) and firewall (open a specific port). After direct connection between the client terminals, data communication such as audio, video, and screen sharing between the client terminals is configured by the P2P method, and the server 20 is not burdened.

  FIG. 6 shows a main screen of the video conference system, in which names of participants in the video conference are displayed.

  FIG. 7 is a screen showing the connection state of the video conference system. The network status with respect to the real-time network usage and the number of frames per second with respect to the network status can be confirmed. The number of frames for the situation can be automatically adjusted.

  As described above, in the video conference system according to the present embodiment, the server connects the client only at the start of the conference, has a simple role of simply providing user search and online information, and reduces the load on the server. Yes. This reduces the burden on the server as in the conventional server method. By performing the video conference itself by the P2P method, it is possible to realize a high quality video conference system without deteriorating the quality of video and audio.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for real-time communication with a business or a remote place as a video conference system with high video and audio quality during a conference and high security.

It is the schematic which shows embodiment of the video conference system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the connection procedure in this Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the example in which the 2nd client is connected in multiple numbers. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the server which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a login screen in the client terminal which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a main screen in the client terminal which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a screen of the connection state in the client terminal which concerns on this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

11 First Client 12-15 Second Client 20 Server 21 Personal Computer 22 Video Distributor 23 Camera 24 Audio Distributor 25 Speaker 26 Streaming Server

Claims (2)

A first client terminal, at least one second client terminal connected via a communication network capable of IP connection, the first client terminal and the second client terminal via the communication network A video conference system including a server to be connected,
Means for confirming the entered user ID and password and obtaining the IP address of the first client terminal when there is a connection request with the input of the user ID and password from the login screen of the first client terminal; ,
Means for confirming the input user ID and password and obtaining the IP address of the second client terminal when there is a connection request with the input of the user ID and password from the login screen of the second client terminal; ,
Means for transmitting IP addresses of the second and first client terminals, respectively, to the first and second client terminals;
Means for the first client terminal to make a connection request using an IP address of the second client terminal;
A video conferencing system comprising: the second client terminal confirming an IP address of the first client terminal and permitting connection to the first client terminal.   2. The video conference system according to claim 1, wherein each of the first and second client terminals includes a streaming server capable of streaming video and audio.

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