Abstract:
In an electric conference system using a large-screen display, presentation in an environment with a plurality of portable terminals connected is not taken into consideration. To do this, a host computer for an electric conference system is arranged to store a member ID to specify a terminal, generate a password, display the generated password on a large-screen display and make the password open to participants of a conference, authenticate the terminal on the basis of a member ID and a password, which are contained in a connection request received from the terminal, and process a command received from the terminal on the basis of the authentication result.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to an electric conference system and a control method thereof and, more particularly, to an electric conference system using a large-screen display.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     An electric conference system using a large-screen display has been proposed, in which a terminal and a host computer (PC) are connected through a serial cable or the like, and presentation is done by controlling the host PC by the terminal. Only one terminal is connected, and no special procedures are necessary for connection between the terminal and the host PC.  
         [0003]     In recent years, however, environments which allow to simultaneously connect a plurality of terminals to a host PC by wireless LAN using IEEE802.11b or Bluetooth™ are becoming popular. For this reason, even a portable terminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) or cellular phone can easily be connected to a host PC by using radio communication.  
         [0004]     Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-175602 proposes a technique for generating a password and connecting a device to another device after visually confirming the password. However, this technique can cope with only one-to-one connection but not with connection between a plurality of devices.  
         [0005]     In the above-described electric conference system, presentation in an environment with a plurality of portable terminals connected is not taken into consideration.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     According to an aspect of the present invention, there is disclosed a host computer for an electric conference system, which stores a member ID to specify a terminal, generates a password, displays the generated password on a display and makes the password open to participants of a conference, authenticates the terminal on the basis of a member ID and a password, which are contained in a connection request received from the terminal, and processes a command received from the terminal on the basis of the authentication result.  
         [0007]     According to the electric conference system having such a host computer, connection from a terminal of the electric conference system is facilitated. The electric conference system can be operated from the terminal. In addition, password management by the participants of the conference can be made easy and safe.  
         [0008]     Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an electric conference system;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram for explaining the function of the electric conference system;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a host PC;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a remote PC;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a view for explaining the connection procedures to the host PC and the operation procedures of the host PC by the remote PC;  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a view showing the operation of the host PC by the remote PC after connection;  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart showing the outline of processing by the remote PC and host PC;  
         [0016]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart showing details of processing by the host PC; and  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing details of processing by the remote PC. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]     An electric conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing the arrangement of the electric conference system according to the embodiment.  
         [0020]     Remote PCs  101  are portable terminals such as pocket PCs, palmtop PCs, or notebook PCs, i.e., computer devices which participants carry to a conference hall. The participants of the conference can connect the terminals to a host PC  104  and control it.  
         [0021]     A wireless network interface (I/F)  103  is a radio communication apparatus for a wireless LAN  102  such as IEEE802.11a/b/g or Bluetooth™ and is used to connect each host PC  104  to the remote PC  101 . The host PC  104  is a computer which controls the electric conference system. The host PC  104  executes a program which controls connection authentication for terminals, execution of commands for, e.g., drawing on a display  105 , and the flow of the entire electric conference system.  
         [0022]     The display  105  is a large-screen display for the electric conference system. The display  105  has a display screen which is so large that all participants of the conference can simultaneously see it. A LAN  106  is a wire network which is used for connection to the main system.  
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram for explaining the function of the electric conference system.  
         [0024]     The remote PC  101  transmits a connection request or a drawing command to the host PC  104 . In requesting connection, the remote PC  101  transmits a member ID &amp; password  202 .  
         [0025]     The host PC  104  causes a comparison function  203  to compare the received member ID &amp; password  202  with a member ID list  205  registered in a memory in advance and a generated common password  209  and determines whether connection is possible. The authentication result is recorded by a member ID list updating function  204 .  
         [0026]     The host PC  104  displays the temporarily issued common password  209  on the display  105  by a host PC processing function  208  to notify the participants of the conference of the password. The member ID list  205  stores the ID list of members who can participate in the conference. A connection enabled/disabled state can also be recorded in correspondence with each member ID.  
         [0027]     The remote PC  101  can transmit a remote operation command  206  containing a drawing command or the like together with the member ID. Upon receiving the remote operation command  206 , the host PC  104  causes a remote command filter  207  to compare the member ID attached to the command with the record in the member ID list  205  to determine whether the command is received from an already authenticated terminal. A command which is received from an already authenticated terminal is sent to the host PC processing function  208 .  
         [0028]     The host PC processing function  208  covers the whole processing by the host PC  104 . In this embodiment, the host PC processing function  208  mainly executes display of the common password  209  and processing and display of a drawing command received from a terminal.  
         [0029]     With the above arrangement, the temporary common password  209  generated by the host PC  104  is displayed on the large-screen display  105  so that all the participants of the conference are notified of the password. Each participant sends a connection request by using his/her member ID and the common password  209 . Accordingly, the participant can control the host PC  104  and display on the large-screen display  105  from the remote PC  101  of his/her own. A plurality of participants can simultaneously be connected to the host PC  104 , as a matter of course.  
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the arrangement of the host PC  104 .  
         [0031]     A CPU  301  controls the entire host PC  104  in accordance with programs stored in a program memory  302  and disk  304  by using a work memory  303  as a work area. The CPU  301  executes generation of the common password  209 , terminal authentication processing, and the host PC processing function  208  including execution of a drawing command. The program memory  302  or disk  304  stores an operating system (OS), various kinds of application programs containing the series of processing procedures of the electric conference system, and various data of documents, photos, and sound.  
         [0032]     A keyboard/mouse  305  includes a keyboard and a mouse to operate the host PC  104 . A display  306  is used to operate the host PC  104  and can commonly be used as the large-screen display  105 . A LAN I/F  308  is a cable network interface to be connected to the main system.  
         [0033]     The above components and wireless network I/F  103  are connected to each other through a system bus  309 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing the arrangement of the remote PC  101 .  
         [0035]     A CPU  401  controls the entire remote PC  101  in accordance with programs stored in storage media such as a program memory  402  and a memory card  404  by using a work memory  403  as a work area. The CPU  401  executes processing such as issue of a connection request or drawing command. The program memory  402  or memory card  404  stores an operating system (OS), various kinds of application programs containing the series of processing procedures of the terminal function, and various data of documents, photos, and sound.  
         [0036]     A touch pad  405  is used to operate the remote PC  101  by a pen operation or the like. A display  406  is integrated with the touch pad  405  and used to operate the remote PC  101 . A result of pen operation is directly displayed on the display  406 . A wireless network I/F  407  is a structure to execute radio communication with the host PC  104 . A wireless network card can also be used, as a matter of course.  
         [0037]     The above components are connected to each other through a system bus  409   
         [0038]     The connection procedures to the host PC  104  and the operation procedures of the host PC  104  by the remote PC  101  will be described next.  
         [0039]     When the host PC  104  displays the host name and password on the display  105 , like a window  502  shown in  FIG. 5 , the user (the participant of the conference) of the remote PC  101  operates it to input the host name, member ID, and password, like a window  501 , and presses the “connect” button. In this case, since the member ID “Member-ID1” is registered in a member column  503  of the member ID list  205 , a status  504  corresponding to this member is updated to “OK” which represents that the member is already authenticated. “NG” in the status  504  represents an unconnected member or a member who has failed in connection.  
         [0040]     In, e.g., a Windows environment, the host PC  104  can be specified by the host name. If the host name cannot be used as the means for specifying the host PC  104 , the host PC  104  can be specified by inputting, e.g., a TCP/IP address or URL. In this embodiment, the host name is used assuming use of a Windows environment.  
         [0041]      FIG. 6  is a view showing the operation of the host PC  104  by the remote PC  101  after connection. In this example, the drawing operation on the remote PC  101  is directly reflected on display on the large-screen display  105  connected to the host PC  104 .  
         [0042]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart showing the outline of processing by the remote PC  101  and host PC  104 .  
         [0043]     When the electric conference system is activated, the host PC  104  generates the common password  209  (S 201 ) and displays the host name and password on the display  105  (S 202 ). When the user inputs the host name, member ID, and password, the remote PC  101  sends a connection request to the host PC  104  (S 101 ) and determines whether connection is permitted (S 102 ).  
         [0044]     The host PC  104  determines whether the member ID contained in the received connection request is present in the member ID list  205  (S 203 ) and also determines whether the password contained in the connection request coincides with the common password  209  (S 204 ). If the member ID and password coincide, the host PC  104  updates the member ID list  205  (changes the status of the member to “OK”) (S 205 ) and gives a permission for connection to the remote PC  101  which has issued the connection request (S 206 ).  
         [0045]     The remote PC  101  granted connection permission remote-operates the host PC  104  and issues a command including a drawing command (S 103 ). Upon receiving the command, the host PC  104  checks the status in the member ID list  205  corresponding to the member ID attached to the command (S 207 ). If the status is “OK”, the host PC  104  executes the received command and returns an end notification to the remote PC  101  (S 208 ). Upon receiving the end notification, the remote PC  101  further executes the remote operation (S 105 ).  
         [0046]     If the member ID contained in the connection request does not coincide, the host PC  104  denies connection (S 211 ). If the password contained in the connection request does not coincide, the host PC  104  changes the status for the member ID in the member ID list  205  to “NG” (S 210 ) and denies connection (S 211 ). If the status corresponding to the member ID contained in the command is “NG”, the host PC  104  denies the remote operation (S 209 ). Upon receiving the connection denial or remote operation denial, the remote PC  101  displays on the display  406  a message representing that connection or remote operation has failed (S 106 ). The user who is notified of the failure repeats the connection request or remote operation as needed.  
         [0047]      FIG. 8  is a flowchart showing details of processing by the host PC  104 .  
         [0048]     First, the common password  209  is generated (S 801 ). The generated common password  209  and host name are displayed on the display  105  (S 802 ). In automatic password generation, generally, a password having about four digits is generated by using a random number.  
         [0049]     Next, it is determined whether data is received from the remote PC  101  (S 803 ). If YES in step S 803 , it is determined whether the data is a connection request (S 804 ). If NO in step S 803 , the processing advances to step S 816 .  
         [0050]     If YES in step S 804 , it is determined whether the member ID contained in the connection request is present in the member ID list  205  (S 805 ). If NO in step S 805 , “connection denial” is returned (S 810 ). If YES in step S 805 , it is determined whether the password contained in the connection request coincides with the common password  209  (S 806 ). If YES in step S 806 , the status of the member ID is set to “OK” (S 807 ), and “connection permission” is returned (S 808 ). If NO in step S 806 , the status of the member ID is set to “NG” (S 809 ), and “connection denial” is returned (S 810 ).  
         [0051]     If data other than a connection request is received, it is determined whether the command is processible (S 811 ). If NO in step S 811 , the command is discarded, and the processing returns to step S 803 . If YES in step S 811 , it is determined on the basis of the corresponding status whether the member ID represents a member who is being connected (S 812 ). More specifically, when the corresponding status is “NG”, “remote operation denial” is returned (S 815 ). When the corresponding status is “OK”, the command is executed (S 813 ), and “operation end” is returned (S 814 ).  
         [0052]     Subsequently, an operation from the keyboard/mouse  305  of the host PC  104  is received (S 816 ). It is determined whether a normal command is input (S 817 ). If YES in step S 817 , the command is executed (S 819 ), and the processing returns to step S 803 . If NO in step S 817 , it is determined whether the command is an end command (S 818 ). If YES in step S 818 , the processing by the host PC  104  is ended. Otherwise, the processing returns to step S 803 . If the keyboard/mouse  305  is not operated for a predetermined time, the processing returns to step S 803 .  
         [0053]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing details of processing by the remote PC  101 .  
         [0054]     First, the user inputs the host name representing the address of the host PC  104 , the member ID, and the password (S 901  to S 903 ). As the member ID, an ID registered in the host PC  104  in advance must be input. If an unregistered member ID is input, connection is denied. The password is the common password  209  which is temporarily generated and displayed on the large-screen display  105 .  
         [0055]     Next, the remote PC  101  transmits a connection request to the host PC  104  (S 904 ), waits for a response from the host PC  104  (S 905 ), and determines whether the response is connection permission (S 906 ). If the response is connection denial, the processing advances to step S 911 .  
         [0056]     If the response from the host PC  104  is connection permission, the command is received (S 907 ). The input command is determined (S 908 ). If it is an end command, the processing by the remote PC  101  is ended. Otherwise, the input command is transmitted to the host PC  104  (S 909 ). It is determined whether the response from the host PC  104  is an operation end notification (S 910 ). If YES in step S 910 , the processing returns to step S 907  to repeat the series of command input and transmission.  
         [0057]     When connection denial or remote operation denial is returned from the host PC  104 , a message representing it is displayed on the display  406  (S 911 ) to notify the user that connection or remote operation has failed. It is determined whether an instruction that requests connection is input again (S 912 ). If YES in step S 912 , the processing returns to step S 901 . Otherwise, the processing by the remote PC  101  is ended.  
         [0058]     As described above, display on the host PC and large-screen display, which form the electric conference system, can be operated by using a portable terminal or the like. A plurality of terminals can also simultaneously be connected, as a matter of course. At this time, when the member ID registered in the host PC in advance and the common password which is made open to the public at the site of a conference are used, illicit access to the electric conference system can be prevented, and each participant need not manage the password. Hence, even when a participant forgets the password, he/she can access the electric conference system. In addition, the leakage of password can also be prevented.  
         [0059]     Even a computer which is connected to the host PC of the electric conference system through the LAN cannot know the password without participating in the conference. Hence, unnecessary connection of a non-participant through a network such as a LAN can be prevented.  
         [0060]     In place of the member ID, the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the wireless network I/F  407  of the remote PC  101  may be used. In this case, the MAC address of each remote PC  101  used by a participant of the conference is registered in the member ID list  205  of the host PC  104  in advance. When the MAC address is used, each user (participant) of the remote PC  101  need not manage the member ID.  
         [0061]     When a participant name field is added to the member ID list  205 , and a participant name corresponding to a member ID is registered, information (name) representing the participant who is operating display on the large-screen display  105  can also be displayed.  
         [heading-0062]     &lt;Other Embodiments&gt; 
         [0063]     Note that the present invention can be applied to an apparatus comprising a single device or to system constituted by a plurality of devices.  
         [0064]     Furthermore, the invention can be implemented by supplying a software program, which implements the functions of the foregoing embodiments, directly or indirectly to a system or apparatus, reading the supplied program code with a computer of the system or apparatus,. and then executing the program code. In this case, so long as the system or apparatus has the functions of the program, the mode of implementation need not rely upon a program.  
         [0065]     Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the claims of the present invention also cover a computer program for the purpose of implementing the functions of the present invention.  
         [0066]     In this case, so long as the system or apparatus has the functions of the program, the program may be executed in any form, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or scrip data supplied to an operating system.  
         [0067]     Example of storage media that can be used for supplying the program are a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile type memory card, a ROM, and a DVD (DVD-ROM and a DVD-R).  
         [0068]     As for the method of supplying the program, a client computer can be connected to a website on the Internet using a browser of the client computer, and the computer program of the present invention or an automatically-installable compressed file of the program can be downloaded to a recording medium such as a hard disk. Further, the program of the present invention can be supplied by dividing the program code constituting the program into a plurality of files and downloading the files from different websites. In other words, a WWW (World Wide Web) server that downloads, to multiple users, the program files that implement the functions of the present invention by computer is also covered by the claims of the present invention.  
         [0069]     It is also possible to encrypt and store the program of the present invention on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distribute the storage medium to users, allow users who meet certain requirements to download decryption key information from a website via the Internet, and allow these users to decrypt the encrypted program by using the key information, whereby the program is installed in the user computer.  
         [0070]     Besides the cases where the aforementioned functions according to the embodiments are implemented by executing the read program by computer, an operating system or the like running on the computer may perform all or a part of the actual processing so that the functions of the foregoing embodiments can be implemented by this processing.  
         [0071]     Furthermore, after the program read from the storage medium is written to a function expansion board inserted into the computer or to a memory provided in a function expansion unit connected to the computer, a CPU or the like mounted on the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs all or a part of the actual processing so that the functions of the foregoing embodiments can be implemented by this processing.  
         [0072]     As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims.