United States Patent
US Patent 7512656: Voice chat system
US 7512656 · granted 2009-03-31
Abstract
An object of the present invention is to present a voice chat system suitable for networked games. The voice chat system of the present invention comprises a plurality of game apparatuses connected to a communications network and a server apparatus that manages voice chat between the game apparatuses. The server apparatus obtains from a game apparatus the IP address of the game apparatus which is to be the partner for the voice chat. The voice information inputted into the game apparatus is relayed over the IP network as a VoIP packet and is delivered to the chat partner's game apparatus via the server apparatus. Through this configuration, chat sounds are not outputted to all game apparatuses connected to the network but, instead, are outputted only to the game apparatuses specified by a player, so the object can be achieved without an increase in network traffic above what is necessary.
| Patent Number | 7512656 |
|---|---|
| Title | Voice chat system |
| Filed | 2003-02-05 |
| Granted | 2009-03-31 |
| Inventor(s) | Tsuchiya; Kouji |
| Assignee | Kabushiki Kaisha Sega |
| CPC Classification | G06F 15/16 |
| Number of Claims | 39 |
Abstract
An object of the present invention is to present a voice chat system suitable for networked games. The voice chat system of the present invention comprises a plurality of game apparatuses connected to a communications network and a server apparatus that manages voice chat between the game apparatuses. The server apparatus obtains from a game apparatus the IP address of the game apparatus which is to be the partner for the voice chat. The voice information inputted into the game apparatus is relayed over the IP network as a VoIP packet and is delivered to the chat partner's game apparatus via the server apparatus. Through this configuration, chat sounds are not outputted to all game apparatuses connected to the network but, instead, are outputted only to the game apparatuses specified by a player, so the object can be achieved without an increase in network traffic above what is necessary.
Claim 1
A voice chat system having a plurality of client apparatuses connected to a communications network and a server apparatus connected to each of said plurality of client apparatuses,wherein said server apparatus comprises: registration means for making a registration for conducting voice chat between each of said plurality of client apparatuses; and registration information transmitting means for transmitting to each of saidplurality of client apparatuses registration information for a registered client apparatus; and wherein each of said plurality of client apparatuses comprises: registration information receiving means for receiving registration information on anotherclient apparatus sent from said server apparatus; voice inputting means for inputting a talking party's voice information; object setting means for setting in a virtual space a first object corresponding to a first one of the plurality of clientapparatuses and a group of objects corresponding to the other of the plurality of client apparatuses based on the registration information; image generating means for generating an image for displaying on a screen said first object and said group ofobjects set by said object set
Claims
39 totalA voice chat system having a plurality of client apparatuses connected to a communications network and a server apparatus connected to each of said plurality of client apparatuses,wherein said server apparatus comprises: registration means for making a registration for conducting voice chat between each of said plurality of client apparatuses; and registration information transmitting means for transmitting to each of saidplurality of client apparatuses registration information for a registered client apparatus; and wherein each of said plurality of client apparatuses comprises: registration information receiving means for receiving registration information on anotherclient apparatus sent from said server apparatus; voice inputting means for inputting a talking party's voice information; object setting means for setting in a virtual space a first object corresponding to a first one of the plurality of clientapparatuses and a group of objects corresponding to the other of the plurality of client apparatuses based on the registration information; image generating means for generating an image for displaying on a screen said first object and said group ofobjects set by said object set