WO2006016316A1

WO2006016316A1 - Conference system with quality information

Info

Publication number: WO2006016316A1
Application number: PCT/IB2005/052548
Authority: WO
Inventors: David N. Roundhill
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
Priority date: 2004-08-11
Filing date: 2005-07-28
Publication date: 2006-02-16

Abstract

In a method of communicating comprising audio and/or video information (I1) is generated by a first party (P 1) at a first location (L 1). This audio and/or video information (Il) is transmitted as transmitted information (TI) to a second party (P2) at a remote, second location (L2) where it is retrieved as received information (IR). At the second location (L2) a quality indication (QI) is generated which indicates a quality of the received information (IR). The quality indication (QI) is transmitted (202) to the first location (L 1) where feedback (F) is provided (103) to the first party (P1) indicating the quality indication (QI).

Description

CONFERENCE SYSTEM WITH QUALITY INFORMATION

The invention relates to a communication system, a local unit at a transmitting location of such a communication system, a remote unit at a receiving location of such a communication system, and a method of communicating.

Video conferencing equipment comprises a speaker microphone, a speaker display and a speaker loudspeaker at a speaker's location, and an audience loudspeaker, an audience display and an audience microphone at a remote audience's location. The speaker is the meeting participant which is actually speaking to the speaker microphone. The sound registered by the speaker microphone is transmitted to the remote audience and is made audible to the audience by the audience loudspeaker. The speaker sees the audience on the speaker display and the audience sees the speaker on the audience display.

A frequent problem encountered in the use of video conferencing equipment is that a meeting participant at the speaker's location cannot be heard by the audience at the audience location.

It is an object of the invention to improve the quality of the information received by a receiving party at a location remote from a sending party.

A first aspect of the invention provides a communication system as claimed in claim 1. A second aspect of the invention provides a local unit at a transmitting location as claimed in claim 8. A third aspect of the invention provides a remote unit at a receiving location as claimed in claim 9. A fourth aspect of the invention provides a method of communicating as claimed in claim 10. Advantageous embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.

The communication system in accordance with the first aspect of the invention comprises a local unit at a first location which comprises an information retrieval unit for retrieving audio and/or video information generated by a first party present at the first location. A local transmitter transmits the information to a second party at a second location remote from the first location. A remote unit at a second location comprises a remote receiver which receives said information. The remote unit further comprises a remote transmitter which receives a quality indication indicating a quality of the information received at the second location and which transmits the quality indication to the first location. The local unit further provides feedback to the first party indicating the quality indication. Thus, in this communication system a transmitting party (the first party) at a transmitting location (the first location) receives feedback about the quality of the information received by a receiving party (the second party) at the remote receiving location (the second location). Now, the transmitting party is aware of the quality of the audio and/or video information received by the receiving party and can take action to improve this quality if it is insufficient.

It has to be noted that US 4,682,957 discloses a system which sends control signals to a remote location to control a presentation device. These control signals are fed back from the remote location to the originating location to operate a similar presentation device at the originating location. This system facilitates a synchronization of a local and a remote presentation; it does not provide feedback to the originating location about a quality of an audio and/or video signal received at the remote location. EP-A- 1328106 discloses a system in which a remote evaluation of the audio quality of an IP-based voice-communication is performed. There is no feedback to the speaker of the audio quality detected at the remote site.

US 2003/72474 discloses a wireless communication device which may include a video input device, a signaling device, and video-conferencing capabilities. An image- recognition processor selectively generates feedback signals based on characteristics of a face , in an image received by the video-input device. In one embodiment, these feedback signals are used to selectively control the signaling device to communicate to a user characteristics of the face in the image received, so that the user may take appropriate corrective action if desired. In an embodiment as claimed in claim 2, a member of the receiving party provides input to the system indicating the quality of the received information. For example, this member may input a number indicating how good the quality of the received information is perceived by him or her.

In an embodiment as claimed in claim 3, a member of the receiving party provides input to the system indicating that the quality of the received information is perceived by him or her as insufficient. For example, this member may push a button.

In an embodiment as claimed in claim 4, a quality detector is present at the receiving party's location to determine the quality of the received information. The receiving party need not take care of feedback about the quality of the received information. This quality detector may process the signal received directly.

In an embodiment as claimed in claim 5, the quality detector comprises a microphone at the receiving party's location to sense the level of the audio information received from the transmitting party. The quality detector detects whether the sensed level is below a predetermined level and provides the quality indicator accordingly. Well known techniques can be used to determine whether the low sensed level is due to a transmitting party which is not producing any sound or an intended sound by the transmitting party which is too silent. Such a microphone has the advantage that it can be positioned near the listener(s). Now, also noise at the listening location can be taken into account. Further, the quality detection takes into account the distance of the particular listener to the sound source (usually one or more loudspeakers).

In an embodiment as claimed in claim 6, the quality information is displayed on a display at the transmitting location to provide a visual feedback to the transmitting party. In an embodiment as claimed in claim 7, the communication system is a video conference system. Both at the transmitting location and the receiving location, displays, loudspeakers and microphones are present to provide a visual and audible reproduction of the other location. The quality indication is displayed on the display which is present anyhow at the transmitting location. These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the communication system,

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the remote unit of the communication system,

Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of the quality feedback to the transmitting party, and Fig. 4 shows a schematic representation of another embodiment of the quality feedback to the transmitting party. Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the communication system. The communication system 1 comprises a local unit 10 at a first location Ll which is also referred to as the local or transmitting location and a remote unit 20 at a remote, second location L2 which is also referred to as remote or receiving location. Although the first location L 1 is referred to as the transmitting location and the second location L2 is referred to as the receiving location, actually, a signal may be transmitted at the second location which is received at the first location. In the now following, it is assumed that audio and/or video information Il is sent from the first location Ll to the second location L2 and that information on the quality QI of the information received at the second location L2 is transmitted back to the first location L to be presented to a first party Pl at the first location Ll. The first party may comprise a single member or a plurality of members.

The local unit 10 comprises an information retrieval unit 101, a local transmitter 102, and a feedback device 103. The information retrieval unit 101 retrieves the audio and/or video information Il at the first location Ll to supply audio and/or video information 13. For example, the retrieval unit 101 comprises a camera which provides images from the first location Ll . The camera may capture a person or a party present at the first location Ll. Alternatively, the retrieval unit 101 may comprise a microphone to supply audio information 13 representing the sound generated at the first location Ll. In a conferencing system, the retrieval unit 101 comprises both a camera and a microphone to supply the audio and video information 13.

The local transmitter 102 receives the information 13 and transmits the transmitted signal TI. The transmitted signal TI may be identical to the information 13 which, for example is transmitted via internet, a telephone line, or via another wired or wireless path. Alternatively, the transmitted signal TI may be the information 13 modulated on a high frequent carrier, such as for example is common in television or radio broadcast, or in mobile phone systems. The local transmitter 102 receives the information IQ transmitted by the remote unit 20. The information IQ comprises feedback information F on the quality with which the transmitted signal TI is received by the remote unit 20 at the remote location L2. The feedback device 103 receives the feedback information F and provides feedback to the first party Pl indicating the quality of the transmitted signal TI received by the remote unit 20. For example, the feedback device 103 may indicate audibly or visually how the quality of the transmitted signal TI is, or is perceived, at the remote location L2. For example, the feedback device 103 may comprise a lamp which flashes if the quality of the transmitted signal TI is too low, and/or the feedback device 103 may generate an audible warning of the quality is too low. It is also possible to indicate the quality on a display screen. This is especially interesting if such a display screen is present anyhow because images (which also may be video information) is transmitted from the remote location L2 to the first location Ll, which, for example, occurs in video conferencing systems. The remote unit 20 comprises a remote receiver 202, a remote retrieval unit

201, a user input device 204, and a presenting device 203. The remote receiver 202 receives the transmitted information TI. In a practical implementation this information may deviate from the information transmitted due to disturbances in the transmission channel. It is commonly known how to handle the received information to retrieve the original information at the best possible manner. Therefore, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the remote receiver 202 supplies a received information IR which is identical to the information 13 supplied by the retrieval unit 101. The device 203 presents the information IR to the second party (or person) at the remote location L2. The presenting device 203 may comprise a loudspeaker to make the audio signal of the information IR audible, and/or a display to display the images or video signal of the information IR.

The user input device 204 receives a user input UI indicating a user perceived quality of the information presented by the presenting device 203. The user may be a person of the remote party P2. For example, if the presenting device 203 comprises a loudspeaker to supply the speech produced by the first party Pl, a member of the remote party P2 may push a button when the speech is not understandable. The speech may not be understandable because the person of the first party who is speaking, speaks too soft or too loud, or if too much background noise is present. In a same manner, if the quality of the images displayed on a display drops below a level that a member of the remote party cannot interpret its content, a button may be pressed. The quality of the images may be too bad because the camera at the first location Ll is out of focus, or is not covering the members of the party, or is zoomed out too much.

The user input device 204 receives the user input UI and supplies quality information QI which reflects the perceived quality by the user to the remote receiver 202. The remote receiver 202 transmits the quality information as transmitted information IQ to the local transmitter 102. The local transmitter 102 retrieves the feedback information F from the received transmitted information IQ. Ideally, the feedback information F is identical to the quality information QI. The feedback circuit 103 receives the feedback information F and provides the feedback information F to the first party Pl . Now the first party Pl is aware of the quality problem perceived by the second party P2 and may take action to solve the quality problem. The feedback information F may comprise a single indication which is the same for all possible quality problems, or may comprise different indications for different quality problems.

In a conferencing system, the feedback information F draws the attention of the first party Pl without requiring the second party P2 to make the problem verbally known which is very disruptive. Preferably, the feedback circuit 103 provides a visible feedback, preferably on the display which is displaying the second party P2. The images 12 representing the second party P2 are retrieved by the remote retrieval unit 201 which may comprise a camera. These images 12 are transmitted by the remote receiver 202 from the location L2 to the location Ll.

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the remote unit of the communication system. The same items having the same references as in Fig. 1 are identical and have the same function as in Fig. 1 , and are therefore not elucidated again. The presenting device 203 comprises a loudspeaker 207 which makes the sounds originating from the first location Ll audible at the second location L2. The remote microphone 206 picks up the sound generated by the loudspeaker 207. Preferably, the remote microphone 206 is arranged near the member or members of the second party P2 such that the detected sound level L is representative for the sound level experienced by the members of the second party P2. The quality detector 205 receives the signal L from the microphone 206 and supplies the quality information QI to the receiver 202 which transmits the quality information to the location Ll.

The quality detector 205 may perform any process suitable for determining the quality of images, videostreams, or audiostreams. For example, as shown, in a simple embodiment, the quality detector 205 compares the signal level LE received from the microphone with a reference level LR. If the signal level LE is below the reference level LR longer than a predetermined period in time the quality information QI indicates a too low quality. In a more complex approach, the quality detector discriminates between speech and background noise. A too low quality is only signaled of the loudness of the speech is too low. Such an automatic system has the advantage that the members of the party P2 do not need to actively indicate a too low quality of the information received from the party Pl.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of the quality feedback to the transmitting party. Fig. 3 shows the image displayed on a display 103 at the location Ll. This image shows the second party P2 at the remote location L2. The quality feedback information F is made visible as a textual warning, which, for example, as shown, reads "Can't Hear You".

Fig. 4 shows a schematic representation of another embodiment of the quality feedback to the transmitting party. Fig. 3 shows the image displayed on a display 103 at the location Ll . This image shows the second party P2 at the remote location L2. The feedback information F is made visible as a "VU" meter display indicating a sound level measured at the remote location L2.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. If the term transmitter/receiver or receiver/transmitter is used, this includes a combined circuit which both is able to receive information and to transmit information, or two separate circuits. What counts is that a signal has to be transmitted to from the first to the second location. That at the second location the quality of this signal is evaluated. And, at least if the quality determined is too low, that a quality indication is transmitted to from the second to the first location, to attract the attention of a person at the first location.

The present invention is not limited to two parties, and thus can also be implemented in a conference setup of more than two parties.

In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. Use of the verb "comprise" and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim. The article "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A communication system (1) comprising a local unit (10) comprising an information retrieval unit (101) for retrieving audio and/or video information (II) at a first location (Ll), a local transmitter/receiver (102) for transmitting said retrieved information (II) as transmitted information (TI) to a second party (P2) at a remote, second location (L2), and a remote unit (20) at the second location (L2) comprising a remote receiver/transmitter (202) for receiving said transmitted information (TI) to retrieve received information (IR) representing said retrieved information (II), and for receiving a quality indication (QI) indicating a quality of said received information (IR) to transmit the quality indication (QI) to the first location (Ll), wherein the local unit (10) further comprises feedback means (103) for providing feedback (F) to a first party (Pl) at the first location (Ll) indicating the quality indication

(Qi)-

2. A communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote unit (20) further comprises a user input device (204) for receiving a user input (UI) from a member of the second party (P2) indicating the quality of said received information (IR) received at the second location (L2) to supply the quality indication (QI).

3. A communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote unit (20) further comprises a user input device (204) for receiving a user input (UI) from a member of the second party (P2) indicating whether the member considers the quality of said received information (IR) at the second location (L2) to be insufficiently audible and/or visible, and for supplying the quality indication (QI) dependent on the member's consideration.

4. A communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote unit (20) further comprises a quality detector (205) for receiving said received information (IR) to determine said quality indicator (QI).

5. A communication system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the received information (IR) is audio information and wherein the remote unit (20) further comprises a remote microphone (206), the quality detector (205) being coupled to the remote microphone (206) for determining a level (LE) of the audio information at the second location (L2) to provide the quality indicator (QI) indicating whether said level (LE) is below a predetermined level (PR).

6. A communication system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the feedback means (103) comprises a display for displaying the feedback (F) indicating the quality indication (QI).

7. A communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information retrieval unit (101) comprises a microphone, the audio and/or video information (II) is audio information of a voice of a person at the first location (Ll), the remote unit (20) comprises a remote display (203) for displaying a visual representation of the first location (Ll), and wherein the feedback means (103) comprises a local display for displaying the feedback (F) indicating the quality indication (QI) and for displaying a visual representation of the second location (L2).

8. A local unit (10) at the first location (Ll) of a communication system as claimed in claim 1, the local unit (10) comprising an information retrieval unit (101) for retrieving audio and/or video information (II) generated by a first party (Pl), a local transmitter/receiver (102) for transmitting said retrieved information (II) as transmitted information (TI) to a second party (P2) at the second location (L2), and a feedback means (103) for providing feedback (F) to the first party (Pl) indicating a quality indication (QI) received from a remote unit (20) of the communication system, wherein the quality indication (QI) is indicative for a quality of the transmitted information (TI) at the second location (L2).

9. A remote unit (20) at a second location (L2) of a communication system as claimed in claim 1, the remote unit (20) comprises a remote receiver/transmitter (202) for receiving transmitted information (TI) transmitted by a local transmitter (102) of the communication system at a first location (Ll), and for receiving a quality indication (QI) indicating a quality of said transmitted information (TI) to transmit the quality indication (QI) to the local transmitter/receiver (102) at the first location (Ll).

10. A method of communicating comprising - at a first location (Ll), retrieving (101) audio and/or video information (II) generated by a first party (Pl), transmitting (102) said retrieved information (II) as transmitted information (TI) to a second party (P2) at a remote, second location (L2), receiving (202) said transmitted information (TI) at the second location to retrieve received information (IR), transmitting (202) a quality indication (QI) indicating a quality of said received information (IR) to the first location (Ll), providing (103) feedback (F) to the first party (Pl) indicating the quality indication (QI).