Videoconference system and method therefor
First Claim
1. A videoconference system for holding a videoconference among N communication centers connected by a communication line,each communication center comprising:
- N-1 display devices for displaying images from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference;
N-1 speaker devices for outputting voices from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference;
N-1 camera devices disposed at positions corresponding to said display devices, for imaging participants in said videoconference;
N-1 microphone devices disposed at positions corresponding to said display devices, for capturing voices from said participants;
N-1 first multiplexers for combining video and audio signals from said camera and microphone devices to respectively produce N-1 first multiplexed outputs;
a second multiplexer for multiplexing the first N-1 multiplexed outputs to produce a second multiplexed output;
a transmitter/receiver for receiving said second multiplexed output and for transmitting a signal to said communication line, the transmitted signal including video and audio signals from the N-1 camera devices and the N-1 microphone devices, the transmitter/receiver receiving the transmitted signal to extract the video and audio signals corresponding to other communication centers and outputting the extracted video and audio signals;
a first demultiplexer for demultiplexing the output from the transmitter/receiver and for outputting respective multiplexed outputs; and
N-1 second demultiplexers for respectively receiving the multiplexed outputs from said first demultiplexer and for separating video and audio signals received by said transmitter/receiver and for supplying the separated video and audio signals to the respective N-1 display and N-1 speaker devices.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A videoconference system holds a videoconference among N (a plurality of) communication centers connected by a communication line. Each communication center includes: N-1 display devices for displaying images from the other communication centers participating in the videoconference; N-1 speaker devices for outputting voices from the other communication centers participating in the videoconference; N-1 camera devices disposed at positions corresponding to the display devices, for imaging participants in the videoconference; N-1 microphone devices disposed at positions corresponding to the display devices, for capturing voices from the participants; and a transmitter/receiver transmitting output signals from the N-1 camera devices and output signals from the N-1 microphone devices to the other communication centers, and receiving output signals from the camera devices and output signals from the microphone devices of the other N-1 communication centers, the transmitter/receiver for supplying the output signals from the camera devices and the output signals from the microphone devices of the other N-1 communication centers to the N-1 display devices and the N-1 speaker devices corresponding to the camera devices and the microphone devices.
-
Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A videoconference system for holding a videoconference among N communication centers connected by a communication line,
each communication center comprising: -
N-1 display devices for displaying images from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference; N-1 speaker devices for outputting voices from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference; N-1 camera devices disposed at positions corresponding to said display devices, for imaging participants in said videoconference; N-1 microphone devices disposed at positions corresponding to said display devices, for capturing voices from said participants; N-1 first multiplexers for combining video and audio signals from said camera and microphone devices to respectively produce N-1 first multiplexed outputs; a second multiplexer for multiplexing the first N-1 multiplexed outputs to produce a second multiplexed output; a transmitter/receiver for receiving said second multiplexed output and for transmitting a signal to said communication line, the transmitted signal including video and audio signals from the N-1 camera devices and the N-1 microphone devices, the transmitter/receiver receiving the transmitted signal to extract the video and audio signals corresponding to other communication centers and outputting the extracted video and audio signals; a first demultiplexer for demultiplexing the output from the transmitter/receiver and for outputting respective multiplexed outputs; and N-1 second demultiplexers for respectively receiving the multiplexed outputs from said first demultiplexer and for separating video and audio signals received by said transmitter/receiver and for supplying the separated video and audio signals to the respective N-1 display and N-1 speaker devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A method for holding a videoconference among N communication centers connected by a communication line, comprising the steps of:
-
displaying images from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference on N-1 display devices located at a given communication center; outputting voices from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference to N-1 speaker devices located at said given communication center;
imaging participants in said videoconference with N-1 camera devices disposed at said given communication center at positions corresponding to said N-1 display devices;capturing voices from said participants with N-1 microphone devices disposed at said given communication center at positions corresponding to said N-1 display devices; multiplexing video and audio signals from said camera and microphone devices to produce N-1 first multiplexed outputs; multiplexing the N-1 first multiplexed outputs and producing a second multiplexed output; transmitting the second multiplexed output to said communication line, the transmitted second multiplexed output including video and audio signals from the N-1 camera devices and the N-1 microphone devices, receiving a transmitted signal to extract the video and audio signals of other communication centers and outputting the extracted video and audio signals; demultiplexing the extracted video and audio signals and outputting multiplexed outputs; and demultiplexing the multiplexed outputs to recover the video and audio signals to be supplied to the N-1 display devices and the N-1 speaker devices. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A plurality of communication centers connected by a communication line for holding a videoconference among said communication centers, each communication center comprising:
-
N-1 display devices for displaying images from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference; N-1 speaker devices for outputting voices from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference; N-1 camera devices disposed at positions corresponding to said display devices, for imaging participants in said videoconference; N-1 microphone devices disposed at positions corresponding to said display devices, for capturing voices from said participants; N-1 first multiplexers for combining video and audio signals from said camera and microphone devices to respectively produce first multiplexed outputs; a second multiplexer for multiplexing the first N-1 multiplexed outputs to produce a second multiplexed output; a transmitter/receiver for receiving said second multiplexed output and for transmitting a signal to said communication line, the transmitted signal including video and audio signals from the N-1 camera devices and the N-1 microphone devices, the transmitter/receiver receiving the transmitted signal to extract the video and audio signals corresponding to other communication centers and outputting the extracted video and audio signals; a first demultiplexer for demultiplexing the output from the transmitter/receiver and for outputting respective multiplexed outputs; and N-1 second demultiplexers for respectively receiving the multiplexed outputs from said first demultiplexer and for separating video and audio signals received by said transmitter/receiver and for supplying the separated video and audio signals to the respective N-1 display and N-1 speaker devices. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A videoconference system for holding a videoconference among N communication centers connected by a communication line,
each communication center comprising: -
N-1 display devices for displaying images from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference; N-1 speaker devices for outputting voices from the other communication centers participating in said videoconference; N-1 camera devices disposed at positions corresponding to said display devices, for imaging participants in said videoconference; N-1 microphone devices disposed at positions corresponding to said display devices, for capturing voices from said participants; a multiplexer for generating a combined video and audio signal which includes ID signals respectively identifying a respective camera and microphone device for each channel from the N-1 camera devices and N-1 microphone devices; a transmitter/receiver for transmitting a signal to said communication line, the transmitted signal including video and audio signals from the N-1 camera devices and the N-1 microphone devices, the transmitter/receiver receiving the transmitted signal to extract the video and audio signals corresponding to other communication centers and outputting the extracted video and audio signals; a demultiplexer coupled to said communication line for separating the output from the transmitter/receiver based upon the ID signals and for supplying each separated video and audio signals to a corresponding display device and speaker device among said N-1 display devices and said N-1 speaker devices based upon the ID signals.
-
Specification