CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This U.S. non-provisional application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0099577, filed Aug. 14, 2019, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

One or more example embodiments relate to methods, systems, and/or non-transitory computer-readable record mediums for controlling audio using an asymmetric channel of an audio conference.

Related Art

An audio conference (audio conferencing) refers to a type of teleconference in which participants conduct a meeting through audio transmission in their respective offices or workplaces instead of gathering at a conference hall. In addition to teleconference using only audio data, a video conference (video conferencing) also delivers audio data with a multiway call in which a plurality of users simultaneously makes calls, and exchange an image and/or a media file. Accordingly, such video conference may be included in the category of the audio conference. That is, the audio conference may include any type of calls in which audio is delivered.

Here, in the case of the existing audio conference using mixing, a user in a listener's position may not control each audio source. For example, audio streams of a plurality of different audio sources are mixed. Thus, a server may control the individual audio streams before mixing the audio streams, but a user receiving a mixed audio stream may not control an individual audio stream of a specific audio source.

SUMMARY

Some example embodiments provide an audio control methods and/or systems that allows a user in a listener's position to control audio for each audio data source while using mixing in an audio conference.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, an audio control method of a computer apparatus including at least one processor may include establishing, by the at least one processor, a bi-directional media session having an asymmetric channel structure between a first participant among a plurality of participants participating in an audio conference and a mixer, receiving, by the at least one processor, first audio data from the first participant through a media session of a first channel structure in the bi-directional media session, mixing, by the at least one processor, second audio data of at least two participants excluding the first participant from among the plurality of participants, using a multichannel, and transferring, by the at least one processor, the mixed second audio data of the at least two participants mixed using the multichannel to the first participant through a media session of a second channel structure in the bi-directional media session.

The first channel structure may include a mono channel structure, and the second channel structure may include a multichannel structure.

The establishing may include determining at least one of a channel type, a channel coding scheme, and a processing unit of audio data for each direction by exchanging media processing information with the first participant.

The establishing may include determining a channel type between a fixed channel and a variable channel and a number of channels.

The establishing may include determining a channel coding scheme as one of a codec coding that uses a codec supporting a multichannel encoding and an iterated coding that represents the multichannel based on a processing unit of audio data, in response to setting the media session of the second channel structure to the multichannel.

The establishing may include determining a processing unit of audio data for an iterated coding, in response to using the iterated coding as a channel coding scheme.

The first participant and the mixer may communicate according to a transfer protocol of a real-time transport protocol (RTP), and, in response to setting the media session of the second channel structure to the multichannel, an order of a channel may be represented through an order of a synchronization source (SSRC) represented in a contributing source (CSRC) defined according to the transfer protocol of the RTP, and a number of channels may be represented through a CSRC count defined according to the transfer protocol of the RTP.

The transferring may include transmitting the mixed second audio data of the at least two participants including n participants, through n channels as the multichannel, where n denotes a natural number of 2 or more.

The audio control method further may further include classifying at least two participants into m groups, where m denotes a natural number of 2 or more, and the transferring may include transmitting the mixed second audio data of the at least two participants for each group through m channels formed for the m groups.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, an audio control method of a computer apparatus including at least one processor may include establishing, by the at least one processor, a bi-directional media session having an asymmetric channel structure between a mixer included in a server providing an audio conference and a first participant, transmitting by the at least one processor, first audio data of the first participant to the mixer through a media session of a first channel structure in the bi-directional media session, receiving, by the at least one processor, from the mixer that is configured to mix two or more pieces of audio data of a plurality of participants using a multichannel, second audio data of at least two participants from among the plurality of participants mixed using the multichannel through a media session of a second channel structure in the bi-directional media session, the at least two participants excluding the first participant, and individually controlling, by the at least one processor, a specific piece of the mixed second audio data of a select channel selected from the multichannel.

The individually controlling may include at least one of controlling a volume of the specific piece of the mixed second audio data of the select channel, removing noise in the specific pieces of the audio data of the select channel, or modulating the specific piece of the second audio data of the select channel.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable record medium storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to implement the aforementioned audio control method.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there is provided a computer apparatus including at least one processor configured to execute a computer-readable instruction. The at least one processor may be configured to establish a bi-directional media session having an asymmetric channel structure between a first participant among a plurality of participants participating in an audio conference and a mixer, receive first audio data from the first participant through a media session of a first channel structure in the bi-directional media session, mix second audio data of at least two participants excluding the first participant from among the plurality of participants, using a multichannel, and transfer the second audio data of the at least two participants mixed using the multichannel to the first participant through a media session of a second channel structure in the bi-directional media session.

According to an aspect of at least one example embodiment, there is provided a computer apparatus including at least one processor configured to execute a computer-readable instruction. The at least one processor may be configured to establish a bi-directional media session having an asymmetric channel structure between a mixer included in a server providing an audio conference and a first participant, transmit first audio data of the first participant to the mixer through a media session of a first channel structure in the bi-directional media session, receiving from the mixer that is configured to mix two or more pieces of audio data of a plurality of participants from among the plurality of participants using a multichannel, second audio data of at least two participants from among the plurality of participants, mixed using the multichannel through a media session of a second channel in the bi-directional media session, the at least two participants excluding the first participant, and individually control a specific piece of the mixed second audio data of a select channel selected from the multichannel.

According to some example embodiments, a user in a listener's position may control audio for each audio data source while using a mixing capability associated with an audio conference service.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

