JP2002092624A - Information communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten a communication time so as to reduce a communication cost when additional image information is transmitted on the basis of the previously transmitted information in transmission of image information between information processors via a communication network and reduce a memory capacity storing the received image information in the information processor receiving the image information. SOLUTION: In an information communication system transmitting the image information between clients 102 and 103 via the network 100, when new information is transmitted in addition to the previously transmitted image information, image information constructed of components excepting the already transmitted image information, that is, only the added image information is transmitted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an information communication system, and more particularly to an information communication system for transmitting and receiving image information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When transmitting image information between information processing apparatuses via a communication network such as the Internet, there is a case where a comment or the like is written in the transmitted image information and transmitted again. For example, in an information communication system for teaching music performance via a communication network, after transmitting image information of a musical score as a teaching material to a plurality of students, notes on performance are written in the musical score for each student, and There is a case where image information of a musical score in which notes are written is transmitted to a student.
Further, there is a case where the result of the performance is evaluated and the image information of the musical score in which the evaluation items are written is transmitted to the student who has performed.

[0003]

However, when image information to be transmitted is a musical score or other information having a large amount of information, even if the amount of information added later is small, the information amount to be actually transmitted is small. Is more than the transmitted image information. In particular, when there are a plurality of destinations to be transmitted and there are frequent writings to be added, such as in an information communication system for guiding music performance or an information communication system for holding a conference via a communication network, the communication time becomes longer. Therefore, there was a problem that communication costs soared. In addition, an information processing device that receives such image information also requires a very large memory capacity to store the previously received written information in addition to the previously received image information. However, there has been a problem that the cost of the information processing apparatus also rises.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for transmitting image information between image processing apparatuses via a communication network, wherein image information added based on the previously transmitted image information is transmitted.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the communication cost by reducing the communication time and to reduce the capacity of a memory for storing the received image information in an information processing apparatus that receives the image information.

[0005]

The information communication system according to the first aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus having a display means via a communication network (corresponding to the network 100 in FIG. 1 in the embodiment). In the embodiment, the image information is transmitted from the clients 102 and 103 of FIG. 1 to at least one other information processing apparatus having the display unit (corresponding to the clients 102 and 103 of FIG. 1). When transmitting, if the image information to be transmitted is image information added based on the image information that has been transmitted to the other information processing device before, the portion excluding the transmitted image information is used. It is configured to transmit the configured image information.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when transmitting new information in addition to the previously transmitted image information, image information composed of a portion excluding the transmitted image information,
That is, only the added image information is transmitted.

In this case, when the received image information is image information added based on previously transmitted image information, the other information processing apparatus may include: There is a reception permission / prohibition unit (corresponding to the input unit 25 in FIG. 1 in the embodiment) for determining whether to permit or reject the received image information according to an operation. In this case, whether to accept the added image information is determined at the discretion of the user of the information processing apparatus that has received the added image information.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus converts the image information to be displayed on the display means into image information obtained by combining the received image information and the transmitted image information or other image information. It has a display switching unit (corresponding to the input unit 25 in FIG. 1 in the embodiment) for switching whether to use image information in accordance with an operation. In this case, the page or the like of the image information to be displayed is managed by the control of the user.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an information communication system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG.
Shows a configuration for realizing the information communication system of the present invention. In the information communication system according to the present embodiment, information on music training is transmitted and received via a communication network to perform music training for a plurality of students.

In FIG. 1, a server 101 and a plurality of clients 102, 103... Are connected to a network 100 such as a LAN or the Internet. The server 101 performs processing according to a connection request or disconnection request from a client, multicast processing of received data from a client to a plurality of clients, and the like. These processes are controlled based on the contents of the user database.

For this purpose, the server 101 is provided with a CPU 11 for performing these controls and a ROM 12, a RAM 13, a communication control means 14, an input means 15, an output means 16, a storage means 17 and the like connected to the system bus. I have. The ROM 12 stores control programs executed by the CPU 11, initial data, and the like in advance. RAM1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a work area of the CPU 11. Communication control means 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a communication interface between the CPU 11 and the network 100. The input unit 15 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and inputs data and commands to the CPU 11 according to operations of the management operator. The output unit 17 includes a display unit and a printer, and outputs data according to an output command of the CPU 11. The storage means is constituted by a hard disk, an optical disk, or the like, temporarily stores various information received from the client, and transmits the information to the client as necessary.

On the other hand, the clients 102, 103,.
A teacher and a plurality of students are used as users, and a control program for transmitting and receiving image information of a musical score between clients and processing the image information is provided. Each client, like the server, also has a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a communication control unit 2 connected to its system bus.
4, input means 25, output means 26, storage means 27 and the like are provided. The function of each part is the same as that of the server, so the description is omitted. However, in the input means 26, especially in the student's client, a performance means for performing music is provided integrally or as an external connection device. . Further, the output means 26 is provided with a tone generating means for reproducing music, either integrally or as an external connection device.

FIG. 2 shows an example of image information transmitted from a teacher to a student and displayed. First, the image information of only the score is stored in the information processing device of the teacher (for example,
3) From the student's information processing device (for example, client 10)
2). Thereafter, additional image information including the enclosing mark A, the underline B, and the notes C on the performance shown in FIG. 2 is transmitted from the teacher who evaluated the performance data by the student playing this score. In this case, the information of the musical score, which is the transmitted image information, and the information, such as the enclosing mark, which is the added image information, are not synthesized by the storage unit 27 but are synthesized as drawing data on the display surface of the output unit 26. You. Therefore, as described later, the added image information includes position information corresponding to the display position of the transmitted image information.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the screen of the display unit of the client, ie, the information processing device of the teacher and the student.
At the top of the screen, tool icons such as "line", "enclosure", and "character string" are displayed as image information elements to be added to the image information on the display screen. The enclosing mark A, underline B, and notes C on playing shown in FIG. 2 are created by selecting these tool icons. At the bottom of the screen, command icons such as “Send”, “Receive”, “Received Page”, “Operation Page”, and page feed / return for performing communication control and page operation are displayed. With these command icons,
Transmission / reception control, display target page control, page feed control, and the like can be executed. Tool icons and command icons
The selection can be made by a keyboard or a mouse of the input means.

FIG. 4 shows the data format of the image information to be added. (1) is an area for writing object data, and one or a plurality of object data are stored for each added page. Each object data is composed of coordinate data including an element 0 (representing a type such as a line, a box, and a character string) and elements 1 to i. The coordinate data forms position data on the display screen. Therefore, it is composed of the data of the start point (Xs, Ys) and the end point (Xe, Ye) of the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the element 0.

FIG. 4B shows the page information area. The page number operated by the user is stored in the register PageMy. The received page number is stored in the register PageRec. The page number currently displayed is stored in the register Page. Register D0n
[Page] stores the number of objects in the page being displayed.

FIG. 4C shows an area of the transmission / reception buffer, which is composed of a transmission buffer send buf [] and a reception buffer recv buf []. Each buffer includes a data ID, a user ID, a page, and a data body. FIG. 4D shows an area of the user database, in which data of a plurality of users is stored. Each user's data is composed of a serial number ID, a user classification Class, a user name, and a password. Classification is as follows: 0 is manager, 1 is teacher,
2 is the moderator, 3 is the student, and 4 is the observer.

Next, the operation of the server will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In the main flow of FIG. 5, after initialization of variables and initialization necessary for network connection (step A1), reception from the client is awaited (step A2). First, a pointer fd indicating connection numbers of a plurality of clients is initialized (fd = 0) (step A3). Then, an end condition is checked (step A4), and if not, it is determined whether or not the reception port matches the client specified by fd (step A5). That is, the connection condition of the input data is checked. If it does not match the designated client, fd is incremented (step A6), the next client is designated, the process proceeds to step A4, and the termination condition is checked.

In step A5, when the client matches the designated client, the request and information from the client are checked. That is, it is determined whether or not the request is a connection request (step A7). If the request is a connection request, connection processing is executed (step A8). If it is not a connection request, it is determined whether or not it is a disconnection request (step A9). If the request is a disconnection request, a disconnection process is executed (step A10). If it is not a disconnection request, it is determined whether or not it is user information (step A1).
1). If it is user information such as user ID,
An authentication process is executed (step A12). If it is not the user information, the process proceeds to a transmission processing subroutine (step A13). After completion of each process, step A2
And the above process is repeated again. When the end condition is satisfied in step A4, the flow ends.

FIG. 6 shows a step A in the flow of FIG.
13 is a flow of a transmission process of No. 13. It is determined whether or not the pointer fd designating the client is that of the teacher's client (step B1). If the pointer fd is the teacher's client, that is, if the received data is from the teacher to the student, the reception is performed. Send data to all student, observer, and moderator clients (Step B
2).

If fd is not for the teacher's client, it is determined whether or not fd is for the student's client (step B3). If the client is a student client, the received data is sent from the student to the teacher, and is transmitted to the teacher client (step B).
4). If fd is not for the student's client, it is determined whether fd is for the observer's client (step B5). If the client is a client of the observer to whom only browsing is permitted, a process such as a warning is performed without transmitting (step B6).

If fd does not belong to the client of the observer, it is determined whether or not fd belongs to the moderator (step B7). In the case of the moderator's client, send it to the teacher's client (step B
8). When any transmission is completed, the process returns to the main flow of FIG.

Next, the operation of each client will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG.
In the main flow of (1), first, initialization such as variable initialization and connection preparation is performed (step C1), and an event generated by user operation is awaited (step C1).
2). If there is an event, its content is determined.

It is determined whether or not the event is a connection request (step C3). If the event is a connection request, connection processing is executed (step C4). If it is not a connection request,
It is determined whether the request is a disconnection request (step C5). If the request is a disconnection request, a disconnection process is executed (step C6). If it is not a disconnection request, it is determined whether or not the event is a setting event (step C7). If the event is a setting event, a setting process is executed (step C8). For example, when the written image information is transmitted as it is, a setting process of setting the transmission switch flag to 1 is performed.

If it is not a set event, it is determined whether or not it is a write event (step C9). If it is this event, the process proceeds to a write process subroutine (step C10). If it is not a write event, it is determined whether or not it is a page feed event (step C11). If this is an event,
Shift to subroutine of page feed processing (step C
12). If it is not a page feed event, it is determined whether or not it is a display event (step C13). If it is this event, a display process is executed (step C14). After each process, the process shifts to step C2 to wait for a new event.

The flow of FIG. 8 is a flow of the write process of step C10 in the flow of FIG. When a write operation is performed from the keyboard or the mouse of the input unit, a process of storing the write operation information (additional image information) is performed (step D1). That is, the type of the write information (type of line, box, character string, etc.) and the coordinate data of the start point and the end point, Xs, Ys, Xe, and Ye, are temporarily stored in the RAM. Next, the process proceeds to a subroutine of a display process (step D2), and the stored data is displayed.

Further, the displayed object data is
The data is stored in the storage unit in the format shown in FIG. 4A (step D3). In this case, the number of object data is composed of five elements 0 to 4 of type, Xs, Ys, Xe, and Ye. Next, it is determined whether or not connection to the network has been completed (step D4). If connected, the transmission switch flag is further turned on (Sen
It is determined whether or not (dSw = 1) is set (step D5).

When the transmission switch flag is ON, the data ID, the user ID, and the page are set in the transmission buffer send buf [0-2], and the object data is transmitted in the transmission buffer send buf [3-7].
(Step D6), and execute the transmission process (Step D7). After the transmission processing, or when the connection is not established in step D4, or when the transmission switch flag is off in step D5, the number of objects D0n [Page] corresponding to the page is incremented (step D8). Then, the process returns to the main flow of FIG.

FIG. 9 shows step C in the flow of FIG.
12 is a flowchart of page feed processing of No. 12; The page data is updated (step E1) in accordance with the page forward or backward operation of the command icon in FIG. 3, and the register Page is updated.
The page number operated by the user stored in My is set to the currently displayed page number of the register Page (step E2). Then, the process proceeds to a subroutine of a display process (step E3). As a result, the page on which the page operation has been performed is displayed.

Next, it is determined whether or not connection to the network has been completed (step E4). If connected, the transmission switch flag is further turned on (SendSw =
It is determined whether or not 1) is set (step E).
5). When the transmission switch flag is ON, the data ID, the user ID, and the page are transmitted in the transmission buffer se.
nd buf [0-2] (step E6),
A transmission process is executed (step E7). After the sending process,
Alternatively, if the connection has not been made in step E4, or if the transmission switch flag is off in step E5, the process returns to the main flow in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the receiving process of each client. This reception process is executed by a routine different from the main flow routine of FIG. 7 when the connection with the server is completed. First, variables required for reception are initialized (step F1), and it is determined whether or not an end condition is present (step F2). If the condition is the end condition, the process returns to the main flow. If the condition is not the end condition, the process enters a data reception waiting state (step F3).

If there is a reception, it is determined whether or not it is addressed to itself (step F4). If it is not addressed to itself, the process proceeds to step F2. If it is addressed to itself, the data is received and the reception buffer recv buf is received.
[] Is read (step F5). Next, it is determined whether or not the reception switch flag is ON (RecSw = 1) (step F6). When this flag is on, it is determined whether or not the received data is a page feed (step F7).

If the page is to be turned, the page is updated and displayed (step F8). If it is not page feed, it is determined whether or not it is write (step F).
9). In the case of writing, the writing reception and display are executed (step F10). After each process, or when the receiving switch is off in step F6, the process proceeds to step F2.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the page updating process in step F8 in the flow of FIG. Receive buffer rec buf in register PageRec of received page
The data of [2] is stored (step G1), and the received data of PageRec is stored in the register Page of the display page (step G2). Then, the process proceeds to a subroutine of a display process (step G3). And FIG.
It returns to the flow of the receiving process.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing step F1 of the flow shown in FIG.
It is a flow of write reception processing of 0. First, after a connection with the server is established, a UID which is a user ID transmitted from the server to the client and stored therein are stored.
The user ID of ecv buf [1] is compared to determine whether or not they match (step H1). If they do not match, this flow ends and the flow returns to the flow of FIG. 10. If they match, the write pointer i is set to the initial value 1 (step H2). Also, a pointer p for the page
Is set to the page number of recv buf [2] (step H3).

Next, it is determined whether or not the value of i is 5 or less (step H4). That is, it is determined whether or not the number of objects of the write data is equal to or less than the maximum value 5.
If the value of i is 5 or less, do which is the area of the item designated by i of the page designated by p in the storage means
b [p] [D0n [p]] [i], receive buffer re
The data of cv buf [3 + i] is stored (step H5). That is, as shown in FIG. 4C, the data body except for the data ID and the like is stored. Then, the value of i is incremented (step H6), and
4 and the above-mentioned writing process is repeated.

If the value of i exceeds the maximum value 5 in step H4, the value of D0n [p] is incremented (step H7), and the next area of the storage means is designated.
Further, the page number of p is set in the register Page (step H8), and is set in the register PageRec (step H9). Next, the process proceeds to a subroutine of a display process (step H10). As a result of this display processing, a composite image as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed as the image information to which the write data has been added, superimposed on the already transmitted image information. After the display processing, the flow returns to the reception processing flow in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a subroutine of the display processing. The page of the page number set in the register Page is displayed on the screen (step J1). Next, a pointer i specifying an object is set to an initial value 0 (step J2), and the following loop processing is executed while incrementing i. It is determined whether the value of i is smaller than the value of the number of objects D0n [Page] (step J3). If the value of i is equal to or greater than the value of D0n [Page] and display of all objects on the page has been completed, this flow is terminated.

When the value of i is smaller than the value of D0n [Page] and there is an object that has not been displayed yet, the type of the image of the object is determined. For example,
If the data is a line or a box, the object type obj [Page] [i] [0] is a line (Line).
Is determined (step J4). If the type is line, a line drawing process is executed (step J).
5). If it is not a line, obj [Page] [i]
It is determined whether or not [0] is a box (SQUARE) (step J6). If the type is box, box drawing processing is executed (step J7). After each drawing process, the value of i is incremented (step J8), the process proceeds to step J3, and the above loop process is repeated.

As described above, in the above embodiment, the clients 102, 103
When transmitting new information in addition to the previously transmitted image information in an information communication system that transmits image information between, the image information composed of the parts excluding the transmitted image information, that is, added Only image information is transmitted. Therefore, when transmitting image information between clients via the network 100, when transmitting image information added based on the previously transmitted image information, the communication time is shortened to reduce the communication cost. At the same time, the capacity of the memory for storing the received image information in the information processing apparatus that receives the image information can be reduced.

In this case, the client transmitting the image information (object data) creates new image information in another image frame that can be displayed so as to overlap the image frame to which the transmitted image information has been added, and Is transmitted to the client that receives the image information. On the other hand, the client that has received the new image information displays the image frame of the received additional image information over the image frame of the previously received image information.

In this case, if the received image information is image information added based on the previously transmitted image information, the received client can permit or reject the received image information. The input means 25 has a reception permission / prohibition means for determining whether or not to perform the operation in accordance with the operation. In this case, whether to accept the added image information is determined by
Since it is determined at the discretion of the user of the information processing apparatus that has received the added image information, for example, if the student is not ready for the performance, the object of the teacher's comment can be rejected. In short, the display management on the receiving side can be under the control of the user.

Further, each client switches between image information to be displayed on the display means and image information obtained by combining received image information and transmitted image information or other image information according to an operation. Switching means to input means 2
5 In this case, the page or the like of the image information to be displayed is managed by the control of the user.

In the above embodiment, the present invention has been described by taking an information communication system for music training as an example. However, the applicable range of the information communication system according to the present invention is not limited to a music training system. Is clear. For example, the present invention can be applied to a system for holding a conference via a communication network such as a LAN or an intranet. The image information in this case is a conference material distributed to users of a plurality of information processing apparatuses connected to the communication network,
The added image information is information written on the material by an arbitrary user during the conference of the plurality of users.

[0045]

According to the present invention, in an information communication system for transmitting image information between information processing apparatuses via a communication network, when transmitting new information in addition to the previously transmitted image information, Only the image information composed of portions excluding the transmitted image information, that is, the added image information, is transmitted. Therefore, when transmitting image information between information processing apparatuses via a communication network, when transmitting image information added based on the previously transmitted image information, the communication time is shortened to reduce the communication cost. In addition to the reduction, the capacity of the memory for storing the received image information in the information processing apparatus that receives the image information can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information communication system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram showing a score and an image of an additional object, which are image information of the system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view showing a screen of a display unit of each client in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view showing a data format of an object in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a main flowchart of the server in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a transmission process in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a main flowchart of each client in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a writing process in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a page turning process in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a reception process in each client.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a page update process in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a writing process in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a display process in each client.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 21 CPU 12, 22 ROM 13, 24 RAM 14, 24 Communication control means 15, 25 Input means 16, 26 Output means 17, 27 Storage means 100 Network 101 Server 102, 103 Client

Claims (11)

[Claims] When transmitting image information from an arbitrary information processing apparatus having a display means to at least one other information processing apparatus having a display means via a communication network, the image information to be transmitted has previously been transmitted to the information processing apparatus. In the case where the image information is added based on the image information transmitted to another information processing apparatus, the image information is configured to transmit the image information configured by excluding the transmitted image information. Communications system. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image information to be transmitted is image information added based on image information transmitted to the other information processing apparatus before, and the transmitted information is 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein new image information is created in another image frame that can be displayed so as to be superimposed on the image frame to which the image information has been added, and the new image information is transmitted to the other information processing apparatus. An information communication system according to claim 1. 3. When the received image information is image information added based on previously received image information, the other information processing apparatus includes the received image information in an image frame of the received image information. 2. The information communication system according to claim 1, wherein image frames of the received image information are displayed in a superimposed manner. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the other information processing apparatus permits or rejects the received image information when the received image information is image information added based on previously transmitted image information. 4. The information communication system according to claim 3, further comprising a reception permission / prohibition unit that determines whether to perform the operation according to an operation. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image information to be displayed on the display unit is an image information obtained by combining the received image information and the transmitted image information, or another image information. The information communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a display switching unit that switches according to the status. 6. The image information added based on the transmitted image information includes a character, a symbol, a graphic, or a combination thereof added to emphasize the contents of the transmitted image information. The information communication system according to claim 1, wherein the information is image information. 7. The transmitted image information is a teaching material distributed from a teacher information processing device to a plurality of student information processing devices, and the added image information is transmitted to each student when the learning material is implemented. The information communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the information is guidance information. 8. The information communication system according to claim 7, wherein said student information processing means further comprises performance means for performing a music performance based on said teaching material displayed on a display means. 9. The transmitted image information is a conference material distributed to users of a plurality of information processing apparatuses connected to a communication network, and the added image information is stored during a conference of the plurality of users. The information communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the information is information written in the material by an arbitrary user. 10. The information communication system according to claim 1, wherein the added image information includes position information indicating a display position of the transmitted image information. 11. A method for managing transmission and reception of image information between information processing apparatuses, selecting an information processing apparatus to be received according to the content of image information from an arbitrary information processing apparatus, and The information communication system according to claim 1, further comprising a management device that transmits the image information.