Video conferencing system

• US 20050151836A1
• Filed: 01/09/2004
• Published: 07/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Camelot Technology Associates Limited
• Original Assignee: Camelot Technology Associates Limited
• Inventors: Ni, Hong Tao
• Application Number:
  US10/755,067
• Publication Number:
  US 20050151836A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.90
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/152 Multipoint control units therefor

Abstract

A video conferencing method utilizes video data from cameras situated at the respective locations of user terminals. The video data from each of the cameras is provided to a user terminals, where it is processed into a compressed video data stream by software installed and executed in the user terminal. The compressed video data streams are provided to a multi-point control unit that switches them into output video data streams without decompressing them. Each user terminal receives, decompresses and displays a selected combination of said decompressed output data streams according to a selection by the user of the user terminal.

Claims

1. A video conferencing method, comprising:

obtaining video data from a plurality of cameras situated at the respective locations of at least two different user terminals;

providing the video data from said plurality of cameras to said respective user terminals;

processing the video data in the respective user terminals to obtain compressed video data streams, said processing being executed by software installed and executed in the user terminal;

providing the compressed video data streams to a multi-point control unit, said multi-point control unit switching said compressed video data streams into a plurality of output video data streams, without decompressing said compressed video data streams; and

at each one of said user terminals, decompressing said output video data streams and displaying a selected combination of said decompressed output video data streams according to a selection by the user of the user terminal.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the compressed video data streams are provided over a TCP/IP network.

3. A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein each one of said compressed video data streams is provided over a plurality of different channels in said TCP/IP network.

4. A method in accordance with claim 2, wherein the data in said compressed video data streams is organized into a plurality of different ordered sequences, each one of said plurality of different ordered sequences being provided through a respective one of said plurality of different channels.

5. A method in accordance with claim 1, in which the video data is compressed by estimating the motion between frames in the video, the estimated motion including the amount of rotation of an object in the frames.

6. A method in accordance with claim 5, in which the amount of rotation is categorized as corresponding to one of a plurality of predetermined types of rotation.

7. A method in accordance with claim 1, in which the compressed video data streams contain macroblocks of image data, in which the ratio of luminance to chrominance components is 4:

2;

2.

8. A method in accordance with claim 7, in which the compressed video data streams are organized into blocks of data, the blocks of data including a move header, a type header and a Quant header.

9. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the user selection controls the resolution of the displayed video data.

10. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the user selection controls the combination of decompressed video output data streams.

11. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein one of the decompressed video output data streams is displayed as a main screen and other video output data streams are displayed as sub-screens.

12. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the user selection controls which one of the decompressed video output data streams is displayed as a main screen.

13. A method in accordance with claim 10, wherein users can join or leave a video conference by interacting with a user interface displayed on the user terminal.

14. A user terminal, said user terminal comprising:

a camera providing a video signal;

a display;

a central processing unit; and

a software program installed in said user terminal, said software program utilizing a low level language supported by the central processing unit and an extended instruction set to cause said central processing unit to;

     1) compress said video signal provided by said camera and provide said compressed video signal to a multi-point control unit via a TCP/IP network; and

     2) receive compressed video signals from said multi-point control unit and decompress said compressed video signals for display on said display.

15. A user terminal as recited in claim 14, wherein said compression comprises improved motion estimation categorizing rotation occurring in said video signal as one of a predetermined number of different rotation types, said compressed video signals provided to said multi-point control unit having a data block containing a header indicating said rotation type for the data in said data block.

16. A software program stored in a tangible medium, said software program utilizing a low level language supported by the central processing unit of a computer and an extended instruction set to cause said central processing unit to:

1) compress a video signal provided to said computer from a camera and provide said compressed video signal to a multi-point control unit via a TCP/IP network; and

     2) receive compressed video signals from said multi-point control unit and decompress said compressed video signals for display on said computer.

17. A software program in accordance with claim 16, wherein said compression comprises improved motion estimation categorizing rotation occuring in said video signal as one of a predetermined number of different rotation types, said compressed video signals provided to said multi-point control unit having a data block containing a header indicating said rotation type for the data in said data block.