Telephone communication system

• US 7,257,202 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2003
• Issued: 08/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Umemura, Masaya, Tomokane, Takeo, Hiroi, Kazushige
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier; Gerald
• Application Number:
  US10/651,258
• Publication Number:
  US 20050031092A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,446 Days
• Field of Search: 348/14.11, 379/88.13, 379/88.14
• US Class Current: 379/88.14
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/20 Scanners
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2094 Proximity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42263 where the same subscriber uses different terminals, i.e. nomadism
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/58 Arrangements for transferring received calls from one subscriber to another; Arrangements affording interim conversations between either the calling or the called party and a third party substation line holding circuits H04M1/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/142 Constructional details of the terminal equipment, e.g. arrangements of the camera and the display
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q

Abstract

A video-phone call with a portable video-phone terminal is enabled for a cellular phone which has not video-phone service provided, by making use of cameras and display devices placed on the street. For a video-phone call to a portable video-phone terminal, a media converter in a service center distributes data so as to send video data to a public communication terminal on the street, and voice data to a cellular phone without video recording/reproducing capability. A call agent in a service center issues an ID in response to a request from the cellular phone without video recording/reproducing capability on voice call. This ID may be received by a service center via a detector such as a sensor deployed on the street, to provide a video-phone service by using a public communication terminal on the street in the vicinity of the detector.

Claims

1. A telephone communication system, for establishing communication between a first telephone terminal and a second telephone terminal, through a communication network, comprising:

the first telephone terminal having functions of voice and data communication, video capturing, compression/expansion of captured video and displaying;

the second telephone terminal not having at least one of the functions of capturing video, compression/expansion of captured video, and displaying video;

a service center connected to the communication network, having a call agent for call control to a called telephone terminal, and for assigning an identifier to the second telephone terminal, and a media converter for converting image data and voice data;

a public communication terminal connected to the service center and having a display function;

wherein the service center;

performs call control through the call agent between the first and second telephone terminals,

communicates to the first telephone terminal in a format including video data and voice data via the media converter,

sends video data to the public communication terminal relating to the second telephone terminal via the media converter,

sends voice data to the second telephone terminal via the media converter, and

determines the public communication terminal relating to the second telephone terminal for each communication based on the identifier assigned to the second terminal by the call agent.

2. A telephone communication system according to claim 1, wherein:

the public communication terminal includes a display device and an imaging device;

the call agent is configured to detect a request for using the public communication terminal sent from the second telephone terminal;

the call agent, when detecting a request from the second telephone terminal, actuates the display device and the imaging device, and the media converter directs transmission and reception of video data; and

the call agent directs the first telephone terminal to transition to a video-phone call session, the media converter releases the connection to the second telephone terminal, in order to perform a video-phone call session between the public communication terminal and the first telephone terminal.

3. A telephone communication system according to claim 1, further including a server having a storage connected to the communication network, wherein:

the call agent is configured to detect a request or using the public communication terminal sent from the second telephone terminal;

the call agent, when detecting a request from the telephone terminal, actuates the public communication terminal to direct the media converter to transmit and receive video data;

the media converter composes voice data from the second telephone terminal with the video data to send to the server;

the call agent indicates the destination and directs the server to store the video data; and

the server notifies the first telephone terminal of the arrival of video data, and the first telephone terminal in response to the notification obtains video data stored in the server to display thereon.

4. A communication method for providing voice calls between a first telephone terminal and a second telephone terminal, through a communication network, comprising the steps of:

providing a service center connected to the communication network, having a call agent for call control to a called telephone terminal and a media converter for converting image data and voice data;

providing a public communication terminal connected to the service center and having a display device and an imaging device;

establishing communication between a first telephone terminal and the media converter in a format comprised of video data and voice data, wherein the first telephone terminal includes functions of voice communication, video capturing, compression/expansion of captured video, and displaying video;

recognizing a request for using the public communication terminal sent from a second telephone terminal which has a voice communication function but not at least one of video capturing, compression/expansion of captured video, and displaying video;

assigning an identifier to the second telephone terminal under control by the call agent;

determining the public communication terminal relating to the second telephone terminal for each communication based on the identifier assigned to the second telephone terminal by the call agent; and

transmitting and receiving video data by the media converter, when the request has been validated, by actuating the display device or the video capturing device of the public communication terminal corresponding to the second telephone terminal.

5. A communication method according to claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

adding an identifier to the second telephone terminal, under the control of the call agent, in response to the request from the second telephone terminal;

displaying any related information about the identifier on the second telephone terminal;

detecting the displayed identifier on the second telephone terminal by a detector included in the public communication terminal to send to the service center the detected information; and

enabling the use of the public communication terminal in the vicinity of the second telephone terminal in order to transmit and receive video data by the call agent in accordance with the information included in the received identifier.

6. A communication method according to claim 4, further comprising the steps of:

displaying an identifier assigned to the public communication terminal on the display device of the public communication terminal;

reading and decoding, by the second telephone terminal, the identifier of the public communication terminal to send to the call agent; and

granting permission to use the public communication terminal indicated by the identifier to the second telephone terminal by the call agent.

7. A communication method according to claim 6, further including the steps of:

requesting video data to a plurality of the public communication terminals when allowing the use of the plurality of the public communication terminals;

extracting a still image from received video data for each of the public communication terminals; and

sending images to the second telephone terminal for selection of one still image in order to determine the public communication terminal used for the video-phone communication.

8. A communication method according to claim 5, wherein:

one display button of the second telephone terminal is operatively allocated to a request of identifier; and

an identifier request is sent to the call agent by the user by operating the display button.

9. A telephone communication system for providing voice calls between a first telephone terminal and a second telephone terminal, through a communication network, comprising:

the first telephone terminal having functions of voice and data communication, video capturing, compression/expansion of captured video and displaying;

the second telephone terminal not having at least one of the functions of capturing video, or compression/expansion of captured video, and displaying video;

a service center connected to the communication network, having a call agent for call control to a called telephone terminal for detection of a request for using the public communication terminal and for assigning an identifier to the second telephone terminal, and a media converter for converting image data and voice data; and

a public communication terminal connected to the service center and having an image display device and an image device;

wherein;

the service center determines the public communication terminal relating to the second telephone terminal for each communication based on the identifier assigned by the call agent;

the call agent actuates the public communication terminal to enable video data communication to the media converter and to direct the second telephone terminal to transit to the video-phone call;

the media converter composes voice data from the second telephone terminal with the video data from the public communication terminal to send to the first telephone terminal; and

the media converter extracts voice data and video data from the first telephone terminal, extracted voice data is sent to the second telephone terminal, extracted video data is sent to the display device of the public communication terminal.

10. A telephone communication system according to claim 9, wherein:

the media converter compares information of transmission time added to voice data with information of transmission time added to video data to compose voice data with video data of substantially the same time.

11. A telephone communication system according to claim 9, wherein:

the media converter compares clock information included in the media converter with information of transmission time added to voice data and information of transmission time added to video data to determine am amount of delay, and determines transmission time of composed data to the communication network derived from the amount of delay, processing time of the media converter, and spare time predefined in the media converter, to thereby equalize an arrival time at the first telephone terminal.

12. A telephone communication system according to claim 9, wherein:

the media converter composes extracted video data with video data received from the capturing device at the time of completion of extraction, to send to the display device; and

the display device displays simultaneously video from the first telephone terminal and video captured by the capturing device.

13. A telephone communication system according to claim 9, wherein:

the call agent identifies a media converter which is in the shortest path to the public communication terminal to switch from the media converter interconnecting the second telephone terminal and the first telephone terminal, prior to use the public communication terminal.

14. A public communication terminal for providing voice calls between a first telephone terminal and a second telephone terminal, through a communication network, comprising:

a service center connected to the communication network, having a call agent for call control to a called telephone terminal and for assigning an identifier to the second telephone terminal, and a media converter for converting image data and voice data;

wherein;

communication is performed in a format including voice data and video data for the first telephone terminal having the functions of voice communication, video capturing, compression/expansion of captured video, and display;

the use of a public communication terminal connected to the service center having a display device and capturing device is enabled, based on a request from a second telephone terminal having a voice communication function but without at least one of the functions of video capturing, compression/expansion of captured video, and displaying;

the service center determines the public communication terminal relating to the second telephone terminal for each communication based on the identifier assigned to the second telephone terminal by the call agent;

the media converter performs transmission and reception of voice data for the second telephone terminal while performing transmission and reception of video data for the display device or capturing device of the public communication terminal; and

the call agent charges the second telephone terminal based on the call time of the use of the public communication terminal.

15. A telephone communication system according to claim 14, wherein:

the call agent charges the second telephone terminal based on the balance amount of call time from the voice call.

16. A telephone communication system according to claim 14, wherein:

the call agent and a plurality of media converters are communicable with a plurality of public communication terminals;

when placing a call to a first telephone terminal through a communication network,

the call agent switches the video-phone communication with another first telephone terminal from the one of first telephone terminal to one of the public communication terminal; and

one of public communication terminals performs a video-phone call through the media converter.

17. A telephone communication system according to claim 16, wherein:

the second telephone terminal or the first telephone terminal possessed by the user on video call from a public communication terminal requests the call agent to transition from the public communication terminal to second telephone terminal or first telephone terminal possessed by the user; and

the call agent, in response to the request, controls a called first telephone terminal to transit the call session to voice call to the second telephone terminal or video-phone call or voice call to the first telephone terminal.

18. A service center, used in a video-phone communication system allowing a plurality of cellular phones to communicate with each other through a cellular phone network, wherein the service center is connected to the cellular phone network and to a detector through another network other than the cellular phone network, the service center comprising:

a unit for receiving from a detector a detected identifier assigned to a first cellular phone by the service center and displayed on the first cellular phone;

a unit for determining a public communication terminal relating to the first cellular phone to which the identifier is assigned;

a unit for preparing communication data and conveying the communication data to a second cellular phone, wherein the communication data is composed of a stream of voice from the cellular phone and a stream of video from the public communication terminal;

a unit for dividing the a stream of voice and a stream of video from the second cellular phone, and sending the divided stream of voice from the second cellular phone to the first cellular phone, and the divided stream of video from the second cellular phone to the public communication terminal; and

a unit for receiving from the cellular phone network a copy of packets in a telephone format transmitted from the first cellular phone presenting the identifier to the second cellular phone.

19. A service center according to claim 18, wherein:

the copy of packets received by the service center includes voice and video, the service center adds or composes video with another video to transmit to a cellular phone network.

20. A cellular phone, used for communication according to claim 18, wherein:

a button on the cellular phone is allocated to send an identifier, and the user operating the button causes identifier information to be transmitted.

21. A service center according to claim 19, wherein:

the copy of packets including voice and video is composed of a stream of voice and video;

another video is composed of a stream of video; and

the number of pixels is different between a video frame of the stream of voice and video and a video frame of the stream of video, and the smaller one of the frames is embedded into the larger one of the frames.

22. A service center according to claim 21, wherein:

the larger one of video streams is generated by an encoder, a video encoder performs intra-frame coding and inter-frame differential encoding, and moving vector detection is not performed for the area of the larger frame to embed the smaller frame during differential encoding.

23. A service center according to claim 21, wherein:

any one of encoder for encoding video of embedded smaller frame and encoder for encoding video of embedding larger frame is presented with quantize coefficient by the other to control the bit rate of the stream of video and voice output from the composing service of the stream of voice and video with the stream of video.

24. A service center according to claim 19, wherein:

the copy of packets including voice and video are composed of a stream of voice and video;

another video is composed of a stream of video; and

a transport stream is output comprised of one voice stream and a plurality of video stream, by sequentially interlacing one frame of voice and video from the voice and video stream with one frame of the video stream.

25. A service center according to claim 24, wherein:

a transport stream is comprised of voice and a plurality of video streams, the number of pixels in a frame is different among the plurality of video streams, and a smaller frame is embedded into a larger one for reproducing.

26. A service center according to claim 25, wherein:

the transport stream is added with display attribute information by the composition outputting the transport stream, and is reproduced in accordance with the display attribute information.

27. A communication method for performing voice and video communication under the control of a service center, by means of cellular phone terminals, through a communication network, comprising:

communicating voice data and video data between the service center and a first telephone terminal;

communicating information including voice data other than the video data between the service center and a second telephone terminal;

assigning an identifier to the second telephone terminal for each communication in response to a request from the second telephone terminal;

determining and actuating a display device and a capturing device in the vicinity of the second telephone terminal based on the identifier for service relating to the second telephone terminal; and

performing transmission/reception of video data between the service center and the display device or capturing device for service relating to the second telephone terminal.

28. A service center communicating between the first terminal enabling video communication and the second terminal enabling voice communication through a network, comprising:

a unit for assigning an identifier to the second terminal per each communication;

a unit for determining a public communication terminal relating to the second terminal according to the identifier;

a unit for dividing voice data and video data from video communication data after receiving the video communication data from the first terminal and sending the video data to the public communication terminal corresponding to the second terminal and the voice data to the second terminal; and

a unit for receiving the voice data from the second terminal and the video data from the public communication terminal, preparing the video communication data by composing the voice data and the video and sending the video communication data to the first terminal.

29. A service center according to claim 28, further comprising:

a detector corresponding to said public communication terminal for detecting the identifier assigned to the second terminal;

a unit for receiving the identifier from said detector;

wherein;

said determining unit determines the public communication terminal in which the corresponding detector detects the identifier as the public communication terminal corresponding to the second terminal.

30. A service center according to claim 29, where:

said detector detects the identifier by capturing video displayed on the second terminal.

31. A service center according to claim 29, wherein:

said detector is set near said public communication terminal.