Bidirectional communication system, client terminal, client management server, and broadcast server
First Claim
1. A bidirectional communication system that performs bidirectional communication of video information including image and voice data, comprising:
- a plurality of client terminals, each of which transmits and receives the video information after sending a first and second service request messages over a communications network and having been granted authorization through a first and second authentication processes for the first and second service request messages, respectively;
a broadcast server comprising a video data communication server to transmit and receive the video information to and from the client terminal of a requesting client whose identity has been successfully authenticated through the second authentication process, the video data communication server initiating the second authentication process by sending an authentication request message over the communication network in response to the second service request from the requesting client terminal; and
a client management server to perform the first authentication process in response to the first service request message from the requesting client terminal, and to perform the second authentication process in response to the authentication request message from the video data communication server.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A bidirectional communication system which provides a wide variety of communication services to meet the needs of broadcast audiences. Each client terminal sends a service request message over a communications network and receives authorization, and after that, it transmits and receives the video information. A client management server receives service request messages from clients and executes a two-stage authentication process to grant authorization to them. A video data communication server transmits and receives the video information to/from the requesting clients when their identity has successfully been authenticated.
104 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A bidirectional communication system that performs bidirectional communication of video information including image and voice data, comprising:
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a plurality of client terminals, each of which transmits and receives the video information after sending a first and second service request messages over a communications network and having been granted authorization through a first and second authentication processes for the first and second service request messages, respectively;
a broadcast server comprising a video data communication server to transmit and receive the video information to and from the client terminal of a requesting client whose identity has been successfully authenticated through the second authentication process, the video data communication server initiating the second authentication process by sending an authentication request message over the communication network in response to the second service request from the requesting client terminal; and
a client management server to perform the first authentication process in response to the first service request message from the requesting client terminal, and to perform the second authentication process in response to the authentication request message from the video data communication server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
a plurality of video data generation means, disposed in each studio in said broadcast server, for generating the video information;
a plurality of video data relaying means for relaying the video information to said plurality of client terminals;
switching means for switching connections between said plurality of video data generation means and said plurality of video data relaying means; and
switching control means for controlling said switching of the connections.
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12. The bidirectional communication system according to claim 11, wherein said video data communication server further comprises video data monitoring means for monitoring activity of said plurality of video data relaying means.
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13. The bidirectional communication system according to claim 11, said broadcast server further comprises monitor image display means for producing and displaying a monitor image by combining part or all of the video information relayed through said plurality of video data relaying means.
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14. The bidirectional communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a toll billing server which starts accumulation of a toll when a communication session of each client terminal is started, and ends the accumulation when the communication session is closed.
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15. The bidirectional communication system according to claim 14, wherein said toll billing server issues tickets having identification data to said client terminals.
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16. The bidirectional communication system of claim 1, wherein the video data communication server comprises a plurality of video data relay means for relaying the video information to and from the client terminals, and wherein the client management server allocates one of the plurality of video data relaying means to the requesting client terminal in response to the first service request message received therefrom.
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17. The bidirectional communication system of claim 1, wherein the video data communication server comprises a plurality of video data relaying means for relaying the video information to and from the client terminals, and wherein the requesting client terminal addresses the second service request message to one of the plurality of video data relaying means that is specified by the client management server.
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18. A client terminal, for use by a requesting client whose identification data is stored in a client management server, which performs bidirectional communication with a broadcast server to deliver video information including image and voice data, wherein the client terminal transmits a first service request message to the client management server to initiate a first authentication process therein, wherein the client terminal transmits a second service request message that causes the broadcast server to initiate a second authentication process in the client management server, and wherein the client terminal transmits and receives the video information when the first and second authentication processes have successfully authenticated the identity of the requesting client.
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19. A client management server which manages clients in a bidirectional communication system where video information including image and voice data is delivered from a video data communication server in a broadcast server to a plurality of client terminals and vice versa, comprising:
an authentication unit that performs a first authentication process in response to a first service request message from the client terminal of a requesting client, and a second authentication process in response to an authentication request message that the video data communication server transmits in response to a second service request message from the requesting client terminal, thereby permitting the requesting client terminal to transmit a signal to and receive a signal from the video data communication server.
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20. A broadcast server to perform, in conjunction with a client management server, bidirectional communication with a plurality of client terminals to deliver video information including image and voice data, comprising:
a video data communication server to issue an authentication request message to the client management server in response to a second service request message from the client terminal of a requesting client, to transmit and receive the video information to and from the requesting client terminal when the client management server has successfully authenticated the requesting client in response to the authentication request message, wherein the client management server permits the requesting client terminal to send the second service request message to the video communication server only when the identity of the requesting client has been authenticated as a result of a first service request message previously sent from the requesting client terminal to the client management server.
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21. A method for bidirectional communication between a client terminal and a video communication server, comprising:
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transmitting a first service request to a client management server, wherein the client management server authenticates the client terminal in response to the first service request; and
transmitting a second service request to the video communication server only when the identity of the requesting client terminal has been authenticated by the client management server, wherein the client management server authenticates the client terminal in response to an authentication request from the video communication server, wherein the client management server enables the client terminal to transmit and receive video information to and from the video communication server when the client management server has successfully authenticated the client terminal in response to the authentication request message.
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Specification