TV communication monitor system

TV call monitoring system

The invention relates to a multimedia communication system that uses an integrated service digital communication network (hereinafter referred to as ISDN network) for real-time two-way communication of audio, video, data, etc., and particularly relates to a television communication system suitable for multi-terminal communication and monitoring.

In the prior art, inquiring systems, call systems, monitoring systems, or their composite systems that use ISDN networks to communicate audio, video, data, etc., all fix the transmission capacity of the communication line for sending and receiving information, and the information that can be transmitted per unit time The amount is certain. For example: similar systems include the Metropolitan Police Department TV call system.

With the above-mentioned existing technology, because the transmission capacity of the dedicated line used in the communication line is fixed (for example: ISDN BRI (Basic Rate Interface) (64kb/s) and HO (384kb/s)), the unit time The amount of information that can be transmitted is certain. Because of the large amount of information in an image, the number of pixels or frames is usually reduced on the sender, that is, the amount of information is reduced before sending. When the receiver's business also requires the transmission of real-time images with high image resolution, it cannot be matched because of the limitation of the amount of information that can be transmitted.

The original monitoring system in which a central office monitors multiple terminal offices uses the same image resolution to receive images from multiple terminal offices, and the same display is always displayed on the monitor display device. There is no device that only performs special display for a certain terminal office.

Moreover, in the original system, dedicated lines were used on communication lines in order to keep secrets or prevent hoaxes, so the cost was high in most cases.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a TV call monitoring system that uses communication lines efficiently and optimizes the transmission of information. This system has a simple structure and can use public line networks through operations, and simultaneously Calls and monitors at locations, and the transmission capacity of information sent and received from multiple locations can also be changed as needed. In addition, it is possible to protect against operational disturbances caused by erroneous communication from general terminals.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the video call monitoring system according to the present invention has the following configuration.

The system has a central office and multiple terminal offices. The two-way communication of image, sound, and data signals is carried out between the central office and the terminal offices via the ISDN network to realize the call and monitoring services in the TV call monitoring system. Equipped with image and voice communication devices, image input and output devices, voice input and output devices, system control devices, and ISDN line terminal devices; on the terminal station side, there are image and voice communication devices, a first image input device, and a second image input device , Image input and output device, voice input and output device, state change detection device, system control device and ISDN line terminal device.

In addition, a call control device is installed in the central office, which changes the line capacity based on the state change information sent to the central office after detection by the state change detection device of the terminal office.

In order to use the public network, the central office and the terminal office have respectively registered numbers that can be connected. When the call is set up, each office will not connect to the unregistered numbers.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a block diagram of the overall structure of the television call monitoring system according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of the structure of the terminal system on the central office side; Figure 3 is a block diagram of the structure of the terminal system on the terminal office side;

Fig. 4 is an operation sequence diagram of the television call monitoring system according to the present invention; Fig. 5 is a processing flowchart when switching transmission capacity; Figs. 6A and 6B are processing flowcharts when a connection request from a general terminal is received.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the video call monitoring system according to the present invention will be explained with the drawings.

(1) System configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a video call monitoring system according to the present invention. The television call monitoring system of the present invention uses the centralized service digital communication network (ISDN network) 1 of the public line as the communication line, which is composed of the ISDN network 1 using PRI (primary rate interface) (24B+D) and BRI (basic rate interface) (2B+D). ) Is formed by connecting the central office terminal system 2 installed in the central office that performs monitoring and system control and the terminal office terminal systems 3-9 installed in the multiple monitoring target terminal offices away from the central office. . In this embodiment, the number of terminal office terminal systems 3-9 is 7, but the television call monitoring system of the present invention is not limited to the number of terminal office terminal systems 3-9 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 , And as described later, the television call monitoring system provided by the present invention can change the respective information transmission capacity of the multiple terminal office terminal systems 3-9 and the central office terminal system 2 to send and receive, and at the same time has an excellent economy And high-efficiency monitoring capabilities.

The police network is an example of such a system. The central bureau terminal is in the police station, and the terminal terminal is set in the police station. During the inspection, the police station was left unattended. In order to guard the police station and facilitate the visits of citizens, the above-mentioned network is very effective.

The central office terminal system 2 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to each terminal office to perform two-way call monitoring using audio and video. As a necessary component of the TV call monitoring, it is provided with: the central office audio and video call device 11 , The central office side system control device 12, the facsimile device 13, and the central office side ISDN line terminal device 14. The central office audio-visual communication device 11 is composed of a central office call monitor 15 that outputs the image of the terminal office and a central office call camera 16 that inputs the central office image sent to the terminal office. It can communicate with the terminal office. Perform audio and video calls; the central office system control device 12 is provided with a button for initiating a call at the beginning of communication with the terminal office, and the device has functions such as displaying the status of the terminal office; the fax device 13 is used to communicate text and graphic information with the terminal office Data communication terminal for sending and receiving. The structure will be described in detail later, and other devices (for example, a VTR that records images of a surveillance camera and a monitor that outputs surveillance images, etc.) can be installed depending on the type and structure of the call and monitoring. Similarly, the terminal office terminal system 3-9 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the central office to perform two-way conversation monitoring using audio and video. As the necessary components of the TV call monitoring, it is provided with a terminal station audiovisual communication device 23, a monitoring camera 24, a state detection setting unit 107, a facsimile device 28 similar to the central station, and a terminal station ISDN line terminal device 29. Among them, the terminal station audio-visual communication device 23 is provided with a terminal-side call monitor 19 as an image output device for providing general visitors with information such as inquiries and providing an image of a resident counterpart to the central office, and a terminal-side call monitor 19 as an input for general visitors The terminal station call camera 20, the terminal station system control device 21, and the terminal station speaker 22 of the image device; the surveillance camera 24 is used as an image input device to photograph the entire installation site of the terminal station terminal system 3-9; The detection setting unit 107 is composed of a room entry sensor 25, an unmanned state setting key 26, and an abnormal button 27. The room entry sensor 25 is a detection device that detects the entry and exit of a general visitor who comes to the installation site. The key 26 is the first notification device for notifying the central office that the installation site is unmanned, and the abnormal state button 27 is the second notification device for notifying the central office of the emergency state. Of course, like the central office terminal system 2, other devices (such as a VTR that records images of surveillance cameras and a monitor that outputs surveillance images, etc.) can be added according to the types and configurations of calls and surveillance, and other terminals The basic structure of the central office terminal system 4-9 and the terminal central office terminal system

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the detailed structure of an embodiment of the central office terminal system 2 used in the television call monitoring system of the present invention. This central office terminal system 2 is connected by ISDN network 1 to four terminal offices consisting of terminal office A, terminal office B, terminal office C, and terminal office D, and monitors each terminal office and communicates with visitors. call. It consists of a central office audio and video communication device 11, a central office system control device 12, a central office call monitor 15, a central office call camera 16, an image writing device 34, a VTR 35 for monitoring and recording, a microphone 36 for call, and a speaker for calls. 37 constitute. The central office system control device 12 is composed of the central office system controller main body 30, the system control device display 31, and the system control operation unit 32; taking into account the convenience of visitors to the terminal office, except for the central office telephone camera 16 provided In addition to images (moving images), the image writing device 34 provides images (still images) such as screens.

The transmitting side that transmits images and sounds to the terminal station terminal system 3-9 is provided with: (a) A moving image signal A/D that converts the moving image (analog signal) output from the central office telephone camera 16 into a digital signal The converter 39-a and the still image signal A/D converter 39-b that converts the still picture outputted by the image writing device 34 into a digital signal; (b) the animation surface encoder 41-a and the still picture are encoded The device 41-b is configured to encode the digitized image signal as the output of the image signal A/D converter 39-a and the A/D converter 39-b into a code suitable for the transmission of the ISDN network 1 (e.g., ITU Protocol H221 standard etc.) image encoder 41;

(c) Determine the image transmitted to each terminal station as a moving image or a still image, and output the encoded signal output by the image encoder 41 to the image switching matrix converter 38 of the multimedia multiplexer 42 described later; (d) A sound signal A/D converter 54 that converts the output of the microphone 36 for communication as a sound signal (analog signal) into a digital signal; (e) Inputs the digital sound signal from the sound signal A/D converter 54 and The voice encoder 55 that encodes the same as the image signal; (f) the encoded signal output by the voice encoder 55 is distributed and transmitted to the voice distributor 56 of each terminal station; (g) according to the image switching matrix converter 38 and The encoding method determined by the sound distributor 56 multiplexes the encoded sound, image, and control signal, and is provided in a plurality of multimedia multiplexers 42 in each connection terminal station; and (h) The signal output by the multiplexer 42 is distributed to the B-channel terminal office of the ISDN line (PRI), and is provided in a plurality of network interface communication controllers 43 connected to each terminal office to the ISDN network 1.

The receiving side that receives the image and sound from the terminal station terminal system 3-9 is provided with: (a) A plurality of devices installed in each connected terminal station are used to separate the communication frame received by the network interface communication controller 43 into sound , Image and control data multimedia separator 44; (b) installed in each connection terminal station, by the moving picture decoder 45-a that decodes the moving picture coded signal and decodes the still picture coded signal A plurality of image decoders 45 composed of the still picture decoder 45-b used to decode the image signal output by the multimedia separator 44; (c) used to decode the image output by the image decoder 45 The code data is sent to the screen distribution controller 47 of the subsequent stage, and is set up in a plurality of data selectors 46 in each connected terminal station; (d) First use the frame memory 53 to collect the image signals in one screen, and then combine the The image signal of one screen is collected and output to the screen distribution controller 47 of the subsequent D/A converter 48. The frame memory 53 first inputs and stores the image signals from the multiple terminal stations that have passed through the data selector 46 , And then gather it on the central office call monitor 15, and then process it to be displayed on a screen; (e) D/A converter that converts the digital image signal from the screen distribution controller 47 into an analog image signal 48; (f) The image signal adder 49 that combines the text from the central office system controller main body 30 to the output signal from the D/A converter 48; (g) A plurality of users installed at each connection terminal office The sound decoder 57 to decode the sound signal output by the multimedia separator 44; and (h) use the switch 59 to select one sound signal from the plurality of sound signals that have passed through the sound decoder 57, and then select one sound signal from the digital The D/A converter 58 converts the sound signal into an analog sound signal.

In addition, the system controller main body 30 is connected to the multimedia multiplexer 42, the multimedia separator 44, the picture distribution controller 47, and the sound switch 59, respectively. Information other than images and sounds sent from each terminal system of the terminal station, specifically the status information and status change information, is sent to the system controller main body 30 through the network interface communication controller 43 and the multimedia separator 44, and the system controller The main body 30 lights up the abnormal state indicator on the manipulator 32 according to the received state information and state change information. Furthermore, the system controller main body 30 outputs the transmission capacity switching and the originating call/cutting instruction to the multimedia multiplexer 42 in accordance with the operation of the operator (pressing a button on the operator 32, etc.) or in accordance with the status change information. The multimedia multiplexer 42 then generates control signals such as transmission capacity switching notifications based on these instructions, and the system controller main body 30 further outputs the instructions to the screen distribution controller 47 and the sound switch 59, and enlarges the image of a certain terminal station. /Amplification release and sound switching.

Figure 3 is a block diagram of the detailed structure of an embodiment of the terminal office terminal system 3-9 used in the television call monitoring system of the present invention. The terminal office terminal system is provided with: The terminal station audio-visual communication device 23, the terminal station system control device 21, the audio-visual switching control device 66, the room entry and exit sensor 25 shown in FIG. 1, and the unmanned state setting key 26 shown in FIG. The terminal station's state detection setting unit 107, the monitoring camera 24, the terminal station call camera 20, the terminal station monitoring and recording VTR 67, the terminal station monitoring monitor 68, and the monitor 68 for terminal station monitoring composed of the abnormal button 27 and the display image from the central station The communication device 69 composed of a monitor (corresponding to 19 in FIG. 1) and a speaker 22 of the terminal station, etc., this embodiment is an embodiment in which the structure of the terminal station terminal system shown in FIG. 1 is changed.

Here, the terminal station audiovisual terminal device 23 is constituted by the following specific devices.

The transmitting side that transmits images and sounds to the central office terminal system 2 is provided with: (a) An image signal A/D converter 70 (signal (Input via the image and sound switching controller 66); (b) the image signal encoding selector 71 that determines the encoding method of the digitized image signal output by the image signal A/D converter 70; (c) the motion picture encoder 72- a and a still picture encoder 72-b, an image encoder 72 that encodes a digitized image signal according to an encoding method determined by an image signal encoding selector 71;

(d) The sound signal A/D converter 79 that converts the sound signal input by the telephone microphone 80 of the terminal station from an analog sound signal into a digital sound signal (the signal is input via the sound and image switching controller 66); (e) the input is from the sound The digital audio signal output by the signal A/D converter 79 and the audio signal encoder 81 for encoding; (f) the multimedia multiplexer 87 that combines the encoded audio, image, and control encoded data; and ( g) The signal output by the multimedia multiplexer 87 is sent to the network interface/communication controller 73 of the ISDN network 1.

The receiving side is provided with: (a) a multimedia separator 88 that separates the communication frame received by the network connector communication controller 73 into sound, image, and control data; (b) decodes the motion picture coded signal The moving picture decoder 74-a and the still picture decoder 74-b for decoding the still picture coded signal are composed of the image signal decoding for decoding the image signal output by the multimedia separator 88 The decoder 74; (c) creates the decoded data of the path used to send the image decoded data output by the image signal decoder 74 to the subsequent D/A converter to the selector 75; (d) transfers the decoded data from the system An image signal adder 77 that combines the text and image signals of the controller 21 and the output signal from the decoded data selector 75; (e) Converts the output signal of the image signal adder 77 from a digital image signal to an analog image signal D/A converter 76; (f) a sound decoder 82 that decodes the sound signal output by the multimedia separator 88; and

(g) A D/A converter 83 that converts the audio signal output by the audio decoder 82 from a digital audio signal to an analog audio signal.

Regarding the encoding and decoding of the image signal, the same method as that of the image encoding and decoding method of the central office terminal system 2 is selected.

The status detection setting unit 107 creates status information and status change information based on the input from the auxiliary keys and sensors, and sends the status information and status change information to the multimedia multiplexer 87 via the audio-visual switching controller 66, and the multimedia multiplexer 87 transfers the status information And the status change information is carried on the D channel and sent out from the network interface communication controller 73. The system control device 21 is connected to the multimedia separator 88, the moving picture encoder 72-a, and the still picture encoder 72-b, respectively. The transmission capacity switching notification sent from the central office is sent to the system control device 21 via the multimedia separator 88, and the system control device 21 sends the image resolution to the animation/still image encoder 72-a/b according to the transmission capacity. /The still picture encoder 72-a/b changes the amount of coded signal according to the image resolution.

In Figures 1 and 2, the central office terminal is connected to four terminal office terminals at the same time. The number of simultaneously connected terminals can also be changed according to the configuration of the central office terminal.

(2) System operation FIG. 4 shows the operation sequence of monitoring multiple terminal stations with images. More specifically, as an ordinary terminal office monitoring, four terminal offices and one central office are connected by a transmission line with ISDN 2B capacity. This figure shows the transmission image (of course, it can also include sound). And the sequence of monitoring. The operation will be explained below. First, in the central office terminal system 2, select the terminal office to be monitored (terminal office A, terminal office B, terminal office C, terminal office D), for example, press the operation of the central office system control device 12 A button (not shown) provided on the device 32 to send a call to the terminal station A, the central office transmits a call setting signal to the terminal station A (94). Corresponding to this, the terminal station A transmits a D-channel call signal composed of status information such as the presence/absence of the manager and the manager of the terminal station A in an emergency state to the central office (108). On the central office side, the status information of the terminal office A that contains the D channel signal is received, and the indicator corresponding to the terminal office A is lit in each status indicator (not shown) provided in the central office system control device 12 , And at the same time, connect a line with 2B transmission capacity (109). The image signal input from the surveillance camera 24 in the terminal station A is transmitted from the terminal station to the central station through B-channel signal communication. In the same sequence, connect with terminal station B, terminal station C, and then with terminal station D, that is: use the same procedure as terminal station A to connect to the line with 2B transmission capacity (110-118), and the central The station receives monitoring images from each terminal station, so that the central station can perform image monitoring at 4 locations at the same time. The disconnection button of the operation unit 32 of the central station system control device 12 is connected to execute the disconnection (119-122). Not only monitoring, but also the same telegram communication from the central office to the terminal office or the conversation between two offices.

Fig. 5 shows the flow from the normal monitoring state of the four terminal stations to the switching of the transmission capacity.

The central office and the terminal office AD communicate with each other according to the transmission capacity of 2B (501). When the terminal office D generates sensor sensing or abnormal state button presses and other abnormal situations (502), the terminal office D carries the state change information Send to the central office on the D channel (503).

At the central office, upon receiving the state change information in the D channel (504), it displays the information on the display 31 or lights up the indicator light on the system control operation unit 32 (505) according to the state change information. Next, when the status change information belongs to the type that requires the transfer capacity switching, the central office's setting (specifically, the identifier set on the system controller main body 30) performs two types of processing (506), In the case of manually setting the transmission capacity switching control, the operator inputs an instruction to turn on the terminal D from the system control operation unit 32 (507); in the case of automatically setting the transmission capacity switching control, the system controller main body 30 according to the status The change information is connected to the processing. The central office transmits the transmission capacity switching notification to the terminal office on the D channel and sends it to the terminal office D (508). The system controller main body 30 switches the monitor 16 and the call speaker 37 to ON (509).

In the terminal station D, according to the transmission capacity, the resolution of the image is switched (511) by the reception of the transmission capacity switching notification on the D channel (510).

The transmission capacity is switched by sending and receiving a transmission capacity switching notification on the D channel (512).

In FIG. 5, because the transmission capacity is increased from 2B to 6B, the call in the setting of the terminal office and the central office is not cut off, so that the transmission capacity can be increased. However, when the transmission capacity is switched between 6B and HO, once the call setting between the terminal station D and the central office is disconnected in the process of 508, the call setting must be performed again.

Similarly, with the close-up state to close-up release, the transmission capacity must be switched.

In addition, without the status change information from the terminal office, and in the case where the central office is instructed by the operator, the capacity must be switched after 507-512.

In the example of Figure 5, the state change information is sent using the D channel, but the B channel can also be used to composite the sound and image before sending it out.

The switching transmission capacity is defined in the system controller main body 30 of the central office, and it can be changed as needed.

When the transmission capacity is increased, it may be automatically returned to the original capacity after a certain period of time.

When there is an originating call to the system from a general subscriber who joins an ISDN line, such as an ISDN corresponding terminal device such as a digital TV phone, the video call monitoring system according to the present invention is designed to maintain the video call monitoring system The function of detecting this originating call will not connect it to this system. Fig. 6 shows the procedure of this holding operation example. Fig. 6A is the communication procedure between the general terminal and the central office, and Fig. 6B is the communication procedure between the general terminal and the terminal office. When the number that can be reached is pre-registered in the memory in the main station 30 of the central office system controller and the terminal station system control device 21, and a certain terminal device uses the D channel to transmit the call settings to the central office or the terminal office Next (141), the central office system controller main body 30 or the terminal office system control device 21 checks whether the number information of the originating terminal included in the D channel call setting signal is a pre-registered office number, if it is unregistered Number, the release end signal is transmitted to the general terminal device, and the line connection is not performed (142, 143). Furthermore, while storing the unrecorded number information, each terminal office terminal system 3 can also transmit the number information to the central office terminal system 2. In this way, there is an effect of preventing the leakage of specific business content such as the inquiry system to which this system is applied, and preventing pranks.