MIXED VIDEO DELIVERING APPARATUS AND METHOD, AND COMPUTER STORAGE MEDIUM

• US 20090116563A1
• Filed: 09/19/2008
• Published: 05/07/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Kawamura, Takuya, Shibuya, Naohisa, Sugasawa, Nobuhiko
• Granted Patent: US 8,320,466 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/240.260
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/265 Mixing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/152 Multipoint control units therefor

Abstract

There is provided with a mixed video delivering apparatus, including: a video receiving unit receiving first to Nth encoded video data from first to Nth terminals; a decoding unit decoding the first to Nth encoded video data; a video mixing unit mixing first to Nth decoded video data to obtain mixed video data to be transmitted to a terminal “A” out of the first to Nth terminals; an encoding parameter storage storing first to Nth encoding parameters which are used for encoding the first to Nth videos by the first to Nth terminals; an encoding parameter selecting unit selecting an encoding parameter which is used by any one of terminals other than the terminal A; an encoding unit encoding the mixed video data with a selected encoding parameter to obtain encoded mixed video data; and a video transmitting unit transmitting the encoded mixed video data to the terminal A.

Claims

1. A mixed video delivering apparatus, comprising:

a video receiving unit configured to receive first to Nth (N being an integer more than

     1) encoded video data, from first to Nth terminals;

a decoding unit configured to decode the first to Nth encoded video data to obtain first to Nth decoded video data;

a video mixing unit configured to mix the first to Nth decoded video data to obtain mixed video data representing a mixed video to be transmitted to a terminal “

A”

which is one of the first to Nth terminals;

an encoding parameter storage having stored therein first to Nth encoding parameters which are used for encoding the first to Nth videos by the first to Nth terminals;

an encoding parameter selecting unit configured to select an encoding parameter which is used by any one of terminals other than the terminal A, from the encoding parameter storage;

an encoding unit configured to encode the mixed video data with a selected encoding parameter to obtain encoded mixed video data; and

a video transmitting unit configured to transmit the encoded mixed video data to the terminal A.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a layout information storage configured to store layout information showing a layout of each video in the mixed video;

a layout change instruction receiver configured to receive from the terminal “

A”

a layout change instruction requesting a change to the layout information; and

a layout information updating unit configured to update the layout information in accordance with the layout change instruction, wherein

the video mixing unit mixes the first to Nth decoded video data based on the layout information, and

the encoding parameter selecting unit selects the encoding parameter when the layout information is updated.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the encoding parameter selecting unit identifies a video which is dominant in the mixed video based on the layout information and selects the encoding parameter corresponding to the dominant video.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the dominant video is a video having a largest area among videos transmitted by the first to Nth terminals.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the dominant video is a video that is positioned uppermost among videos transmitted by the first to Nth terminals.

6. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first to Nth encoding parameters are information on frame rates of the first to Nth videos.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the encoding parameter storage further stores information on a default frame rate of the mixed video which is predetermined with the terminal “

A”

, and

when the frame rate of the dominant video is lower than the default frame rate, the encoding parameter selecting unit selects the frame rate of the dominant video as the frame rate of the mixed video, and when the frame rate of the dominant video is equal to or higher than the default frame rate, the encoding parameter selecting unit selects the default frame rate as the frame rate of the mixed video.

8. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first to Nth encoding parameters are information on bit rates of the first to Nth videos.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein

the encoding parameter storage further stores information on a default bit rate of the mixed video which is predetermined with the terminal “

A”

, and

when the bit rate of the dominant video is lower than the default bit rate, the encoding parameter selecting unit selects the bit rate of the dominant video as the bit rate of the mixed video, and when the bit rate of the dominant video is equal to or higher than the default bit rate, the encoding parameter selecting unit selects the default bit rate as the bit rate of the mixed video.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the encoding parameter selecting unit accepts, from the terminal A, selection of one of videos being transmitted by the first to Nth terminals, and selects an encoding parameter of the video selected by the terminal A.

11. A mixed video delivering method, comprising:

receiving first to Nth (N being an integer more than

     1) encoded video data, from first to Nth terminals;

decoding the first to Nth encoded video data to obtain first to Nth decoded video data;

mixing the first to Nth decoded video data to obtain mixed video data representing a mixed video to be transmitted to a terminal “

A”

which is one of the first to Nth terminals;

selecting an encoding parameter which is used by any one of terminals other than the terminal A from an encoding parameter storage having stored therein first to Nth encoding parameters which are used for encoding the first to Nth videos by the first to Nth terminals;

encoding the mixed video data with a selected encoding parameter to obtain encoded mixed video data; and

transmitting the encoded mixed video data to the terminal A.

12. A computer storage medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to execute instructions to perform the steps of:

receiving first to Nth (N being an integer more than

     1) encoded video data, from first to Nth terminals;

decoding the first to Nth encoded video data to obtain first to Nth decoded video data;

mixing the first to Nth decoded video data to obtain mixed video data representing a mixed video to be transmitted to a terminal “

A”

which is one of the first to Nth terminals;

selecting an encoding parameter which is used by any one of terminals other than the terminal A from an encoding parameter storage having stored therein first to Nth encoding parameters which are used for encoding the first to Nth videos by the first to Nth terminals;

encoding the mixed video data with a selected encoding parameter to obtain encoded mixed video data; and

transmitting the encoded mixed video data to the terminal A.