Packet communication terminal having synchronized audio and cursor data
First Claim
1. A transmitting communication terminal comprising display means, means (320) for generating digital audio data units, an input means, means (330) responsive to said input means for generating pointer location data units and means (340) for transmitting a data packet over a packet based data network (180) to a remote terminal (350), said terminal comprising:
- means for presenting to a multiplexer (310) said digital audio and pointer location data units; and
means (310) for multiplexing said presented digital audio and pointer location data units into the same data packet thereby forming a composite data packet (400) for transmission over said packet based data network (180).
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates a communication terminal for the synchronization of audio and visual information within a communication system. Audio communication between the parties to a video conference is achieved by digitizing the speech and transmitting the same over a packet based data network. Each party to the conference can draw the attention of the other party to an object on the screen using a pointer controlled by, say, a mouse or ball. The co-ordinates of each parties'"'"' pointer are incorporated, via a multiplexer, into the data packets containing the digitized speech and transmitted to the other party'"'"'s terminal thereby ensuring the synchronization the pointer information with the digitized speech.
60 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A transmitting communication terminal comprising display means, means (320) for generating digital audio data units, an input means, means (330) responsive to said input means for generating pointer location data units and means (340) for transmitting a data packet over a packet based data network (180) to a remote terminal (350), said terminal comprising:
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means for presenting to a multiplexer (310) said digital audio and pointer location data units; and means (310) for multiplexing said presented digital audio and pointer location data units into the same data packet thereby forming a composite data packet (400) for transmission over said packet based data network (180).
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2. A receiving communication terminal comprising display means and further comprising:
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means (340) for receiving over a packet based data network (180) from a remote terminal (350) a composite data packet (400) comprising multiplexed digital audio and pointer location data units; means (310) for demultiplexing said received composite data packet (400) into separate digital audio and pointer location data units; means for presenting said demultiplexed pointer location and digital audio data units to said display means and a speech synthesis means (320) respectively; means for utilising said presented pointer location and digital audio data units to display a pointer reflecting the current location of a pointer on the display means of said remote terminal (350) and to generate speech via said speech synthesis means (320) thereby substantially synchronising the display of said pointer with the output of said digital audio from said remote terminal (350). - View Dependent Claims (6)
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3. A communication terminal including display means, means (320) for generating digital audio data units, an input means, means (330) responsive to said input means for generating pointer location data units and means (340) for transmitting a data packet over a packet based data network (180) to a remote terminal, said terminal further comprising:
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means for presenting to a multiplexer (310) said digital audio and pointer location data units; and means (310) for multiplexing said presented digital audio and pointer location data units into the same data packet thereby forming a composite data packet (400) for transmission over said packet based data network (180), means (340) for receiving over said packet based data network (180) from said remote terminal a composite data packet (400) comprising multiplexed digital audio and pointer location data units; means (310) for demultiplexing said received composite data packet (400) into separate digital audio and pointer location data units; means for presenting said demultiplexed pointer location and digital audio data units to said display means and a speech synthesis means (320) respectively; and means for utilising said presented pointer location and digital audio data units to display a pointer reflecting the current location of a pointer on the display means of said remote terminal and to generate speech via said speech synthesis means (320) thereby substantially synchronising the display of said pointer with the output of said digital audio from said remote terminal. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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- 5. The terminal of claimed 4 wherein said multiplexing means (310) is responsive to speech detection.
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8. A method of communicating sound and associated pointer information comprising the steps of generating digitised audio data units from the sound to be transmitted, generating pointer location data units representing the physical location of a pointer, said method being characterised by the steps of
presenting to a multiplexer (310) said digital audio and pointer location data units; - and
multiplexing said presented digital audio and pointer location data units into the same data packet thereby forming a composite data packet (400) for transmission over a packet based data network (180).
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9. A method of communicating sound and associated pointer information, comprising the steps of
receiving over a packet based data network (180) from a remote terminal (350) a composite data packet comprising multiplexed digital audio representing sound transmitted from said remote terminal (350) and pointer location data units representing the physical location of a pointer on said remote terminal (350); -
demultiplexing said received composite data packet into separate digital audio and pointer location data units; presenting said demultiplexed pointer location and digital audio data units to said display means and a speech synthesis means (320) respectively; and utilising said presented pointer location and digital audio data units to display a pointer reflecting the current location of a pointer on the display means of said remote terminal (350) and to generate speech via said speech synthesis means (320) thereby substantially synchronising the display of said pointer with the output of said digital audio from said remote terminal (350).
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10. A method of communicating sound and associated pointer information comprising the steps of generating digitised audio data units from the sound to be transmitted, generating pointer location data units representing the physical location of a pointer, said method comprising the further steps of
presenting to a multiplexer (310) said digital audio and pointer location data units; - and
multiplexing said presented digital audio and pointer location data units into the same data packet thereby forming a composite data packet (400) for transmission over a packet based data network (180), receiving over said packet based data network (180) from a remote terminal a composite data packet (400) comprising multiplexed digital audio and pointer location data units; demultiplexing said received composite data packet (400) into separate digital audio and pointer location data units; presenting said demultiplexed pointer location and digital audio data units to said display means and a speech synthesis means (320) respectively; and utilising said presented pointer location and digital audio data units to display a pointer reflecting the current location of a pointer on the display means of said remote terminal and to generate speech via said speech synthesis means (320) thereby substantially synchronising the display of said pointer with the output of said digital audio from said remote terminal (350). - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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Specification