JP2655413B2 - Multimedia document communication method - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a multimedia document communication method, and more particularly to a text, voice, graphics, and still image in a conversational communication service such as video tex, database search and conference service. And a multimedia document communication method for communicating multimedia document information composed of multimedia information such as moving images.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, many document structures including temporally static non-real-time information such as characters, still images, and graphics have been proposed and standardized. On the other hand, as a method of communicating and displaying audio information, moving image information, and pointing information that are temporally continuous real-time information as a multimedia document mixed with non-real-time information such as character information, there is a method of synchronizing with a document information body. Methods for embedding control information have been proposed (Ishibashi et al.,
(Transactions of the IEICE Communications Division, National Convention, 1986, Volume 1, Part 1, 1-259, Private Digital Videotex Method.)

This is realized by embedding a reproduction stop command in non-real time information such as image information and character information, and inserting a reproduction stop release command in real time information such as audio information. In communication, non-real time information including a playback stop command is sent before the real time information, the terminal temporarily stores the information, the display is stopped by the playback stop command, and a playback stop release command is sent together with the real time information. Thus, the display is started, and the output of the real-time information and the synchronous output of the non-real-time information are realized.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the method in which the synchronization information between the media is mixed in the document information as described above, the synchronization setting is left to the creator of the document information, and information input work that is aware of the synchronization is required, It is difficult to set and define synchronization information.

Also, considering the reuse of document information such as storage and re-editing and re-transmission, such as storage and re-editing and re-sending as in databases and conference services, as well as video texes, synchronization information and document information are not separated. There is a problem that editing work such as division of information and change of output order becomes very difficult for anyone other than the first creator.

The present invention enables a user to easily set synchronous control of communication between document components in communication of a multimedia document in which real-time information and non-real-time information are mixed, and to easily perform synchronous control when reusing. A document structure and a communication method are provided.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention provides a multimedia document communication method for transmitting and receiving a multimedia document including non-real-time information and real-time information between a plurality of terminals connected to a network or between a terminal and a host computer. In the, using the non-real time information and the identifier assigned to the real time information, create a synchronous communication description section that describes the synchronous communication procedure of the non real time information and the real time information, The description of the synchronous communication procedure of the synchronous communication description section is interpreted, and the non-real-time information and the real-time information are transmitted to the receiving side of the multimedia document according to the result of the interpretation.

The present invention also provides a multimedia document communication method for transmitting and receiving a multimedia document including non-real time information and real time information between a plurality of terminals connected to a network or between a terminal and a host computer. On the transmitting side, a synchronous communication description section describing a synchronous communication procedure of the non-real-time information and the real-time information is created using an identifier assigned to the non-real-time information and the real-time information. Transmitting the created synchronous communication description section to the receiving side of the multimedia document, and further, on the transmitting side of the multimedia document, interpreting the description of the synchronous communication procedure of the synchronous communication description section, Transmitting the non-real-time information and the real-time information to a receiver of the multimedia document according to a result; Also in the receiving side, interprets the transmitted the synchronous communication describing unit, and performs the reception of the non-real-time information and the real-time information in accordance with the interpretation result.

[Action]

Content of text by adding temporally dynamic real-time information such as voice and moving images to temporally static non-real-time information such as character information, data, graphics, and still images via a network Synchronization control of multimedia information is indispensable for more advanced use, such as using audio and video to explain. As a method for realizing the synchronous control, a method using a semaphore or message passing is known, but what is important is to make it easy for a user to control these composite media. On the other hand, in the field of computer languages, languages for expressing semaphores and message passing are being developed in order to realize parallel processing and distributed processing.

Therefore, in the method of the present invention, a communication control method conventionally determined for each communication system between a plurality of terminals connected to a network or between a terminal and a host computer is implemented by a synchronization description language that describes parallel procedures and synchronization. The synchronous communication procedure between the identifiers assigned to the time information and the real-time information is described and configured as a part of the multimedia document. At the time of communication, the synchronous communication description section is translated and interpreted while executing the interpretation. It is based on realizing synchronous communication of contents.

In this way, the document body and the synchronization information are separated,
Since the creator can input the information and the synchronization information separately, there is no need to input the document while being aware of the synchronization. The input of the synchronization information is easily realized by the same method as the character input because of the description of the synchronization language.

When communicating as re-editable document information, at the time of communication, after transmitting and receiving the synchronous communication description section first, the transmitting and receiving sides translate and interpret the synchronous communication description section and execute the document synchronization. Realize communication. As a result, all document components including the synchronous communication description part are obtained on the receiving side, and re-editing is also separated into editing of document information and editing of synchronous information. Since the description section is modified, it is possible to easily change the synchronization information even by a person other than the creator.

As a result, since the specification of the response speed and the display order which are different for each communication service can be released to the user as the description of the synchronous communication procedure, the document creator has the flexibility to construct the optimum communication procedure.

Since the synchronous description part is character information, it can be created and maintained using a character information input and editing system. By standardizing the description format, data can be exchanged between different systems.

In the following description, audio information will be described as real-time information, but the present invention can also be applied to moving images and pointing information. Although text information is described as non-real time information, graphics and still images may be used. further,
When a synchronous communication description section is not required in a non-real time service such as an existing electronic mail, there is no problem if the communication is ignored as one of the character information ignoring the contents. In the following description of document communication, only the communication procedure will be described. It is assumed that the actual communication of the individual media information is communicated by a protocol to the network.

〔Example〕

1 (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) are diagrams for explaining an embodiment of the multimedia document communication method of the present invention.

FIG. 1A shows the data structure of a multimedia document handled by the present method. In the figure, 1 is a synchronous communication description section that describes synchronous information, 2a and 2b are character information, 3a and 3b are audio information, and 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d are identifiers for uniquely identifying each media information. is there. Here, it is assumed that the character information and the voice information are respectively encoded and stored.

FIG. 1 (b) is a specific example of the synchronous communication description unit 1. 10 is a sequential execution instruction indicating that the following instruction between ｛and ｛is executed sequentially, 12 is a parallel execution instruction that executes the following instruction between ｛and｝ in parallel, and 11a and 11b communicate character information. Non-real-time information communication commands to be transmitted, and 13a and 13b are real-time information communication commands for communicating voice information. The non-real-time information communication commands 11a and 11b and the real-time information communication commands 13a and 13b have identifiers 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4d of character information and voice information, respectively, as targets for performing actual operations.

FIG. 1C is a functional block diagram of this embodiment.
Reference numeral 20 denotes a document information storage unit that stores document information having the structure shown in FIG. 1A, reference numeral 21 denotes a synchronous communication control unit that interprets and executes the synchronous communication description unit 1, and reference numeral 22 denotes a character information communication control that executes communication of character information. The unit 23 is a voice information communication control unit that executes voice information communication.

FIG. 1 (d) is a diagram for explaining a communication control algorithm performed by the synchronous communication control unit 21 at the time of transmission. Synchronous communication control unit
21 (1) First, the control level is set to 0, and the starting point of the lexical analysis is set at the beginning of the synchronous communication description section 1 (100).
(2) It is determined whether the synchronous communication description section 1 has been processed to the end (101). (3) One word of the next instruction is read and determined (102). (4) In the case of a sequential execution instruction, the control level is increased by one and the sequential execution mode is set (103).
(5) In the case of a parallel execution instruction, raise the control level by one,
The parallel execution mode is set (104). (6) In the case of a text information communication command, a text information communication request is made to the text information communication control unit (105), and the execution mode is determined (10).
6) In the sequential execution mode, wait for the end of communication (107). (7) In the case of a voice information communication command, a voice information communication request is made to the voice information communication control unit (108),
The execution mode is determined (109), and in the case of the sequential execution mode, the end of the communication is waited for (110). (8) If the terminal symbol is "@", the parallel execution mode is determined (111),
In the case of the parallel execution mode, the end of the communication requested at that level is waited for (112), and the control level is lowered by one (11).
3). (9) Skip the terminal symbol “｛”. (10) After all processes, return to step 101. (11) When the interpretation of the synchronous communication description section is completed, the transmission is completed (114).

FIG. 1E is a view for explaining a second algorithm for executing document communication in a re-editable format. Prior to the communication of the document body, after transmitting the synchronous communication description unit 1 to the character information communication control unit 22 by request (200), synchronous communication is realized by the same method as the first method.

In either case, since synchronization control is performed on the transmission side, no special synchronization control is required on the reception side. Reeditable second
In the method described above, finer timing control may be realized on the receiving side according to the content of the synchronous communication description unit 1.

The operation of communicating a multimedia document represented by the structure shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a time chart at the time of communication of each media information for each communication channel. (1) The first sequential execution instruction 10 is read. (2) Next, the character communication command 11a is read and character information 2a is transmitted using the character information communication line for the identifier of "character 1". The communication and took ₁ hour t. (3) Next, the parallel execution instruction 12 is read, the parallel execution operation is started, and the instructions 11b and 13a to be executed in parallel are continuously read. (4) Transmission of character information 2b "character 2" and communication of voice information 3a "voice 1" are performed in parallel. (5) Wait for the completion of the execution of the two instructions, and proceed to the next instruction.
In the second figure, a character communication ends at t _2, voice communications
Since it takes t ₃ (t ₃ <t ₂ ), the execution of the next instruction is started from t ₃ . (6) Finally, the voice information 3b “voice 2” is transmitted, and the communication ends.

As described above, communication of a multimedia document is realized. Synchronous communication control information as shown in FIG. 1B is created by a character information editing system. Since synchronous communication control is performed by the system, there is no need to be conscious of temporal timing when the user creates the synchronous communication description unit 1. Communication of character information and communication of voice information are performed by independent management units using independent communication lines, so that parallel communication and synchronous output are realized. However, the two communication lines need only be logically independent, and it is possible to use two physical communication lines, or use one of multiplexing techniques such as bit multiplexing, frame multiplexing, and packet multiplexing. This can also be realized with a book line. In the above description, basic sequential execution and parallel execution are described as control instructions. However, if a more complicated grammar is introduced, a multimedia document display system having a complicated configuration such as waiting, conditional execution, and exceptional execution can be realized. It can be easily realized.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, in a multimedia document in which non-real time information such as character information and real time information such as voice information coexist, synchronization between media in communication is described by a synchronous description language. Can be easily set and changed without being aware of time, and synchronous communication can be set according to a user or service request. Further, synchronous communication can be realized in a re-editable format that can be easily reused. Further, by standardizing the format of the synchronous communication description section, synchronous communication of documents independent of services can be simultaneously realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) are diagrams for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining timing of synchronous communication in the embodiment. It is. 1 ... Synchronous communication description section, 2a, 2b ... Character information, 3a, 3b ...
Voice information, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d ... identifier, 10, 11a, 11b, 12, 13
a, 13b: Control command, 20: Document information storage unit, 21: Synchronous communication control unit, 22: Text information communication control unit, 23: Voice information communication control unit.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A multimedia document communication method for transmitting and receiving a multimedia document including non-real-time information and real-time information between a plurality of terminals connected to a network or between a terminal and a host computer. On the side, using the identifier given to the non-real time information and the real time information, to create a synchronous communication description section describing the synchronous communication procedure of the non real time information and the real time information, Multimedia which interprets a description of a synchronous communication procedure of the synchronous communication description unit and transmits the non-real time information and the real time information to a receiving side of the multimedia document according to the interpretation result. Document communication method. 2. A multimedia document communication method for transmitting and receiving a multimedia document including non-real-time information and real-time information between a plurality of terminals connected to a network or between a terminal and a host computer. On the side, using the identifier given to the non-real time information and the real time information, to create a synchronous communication description section describing the synchronous communication procedure of the non real time information and the real time information, The created synchronous communication description section is transmitted to the receiving side of the multimedia document, and the transmitting side of the multimedia document further interprets the synchronous communication procedure description of the synchronous communication description section, and the interpretation result Transmitting the non-real time information and the real time information to the receiving side of the multimedia document in accordance with Also in Shin side, interprets the transmitted the synchronous communication description unit, multimedia document communication method characterized by performing reception of the non-real-time information and the real-time information in accordance with the interpretation result.