Video Conferencing Camera MCU Introduction
May 29, 2018
Video Conferencing Camera MCU Introduction
The MCU is an abbreviation of the center control device of the video conference system. It is called Multipoint Control Unit. It is also called a multipoint conference controller and is a key device of a multipoint video conference system.
The MCU functions as a "switch" in a video conference. It will stream information from each conference site, and after synchronizing and separating, it extracts audio, video, data and other information and signaling, and then the conference site The information and signaling are sent to the same processing module to complete the corresponding audio mixing or switching, video mixing or switching, data broadcasting and routing, timing and conference control processes, and finally the various information required for each conference site. Reassembled and sent to the corresponding end system equipment.
The MCU mainly handles three types of data:
1. The video signal is mainly completed by the video processor
2. The audio signal is mainly completed by the audio processor
3. Data signal: mainly completed by the data processor
In addition, network interface modules and control processors in the MCU architecture are also essential. The control processor is mainly responsible for determining the correct routing, mixing or switching audio, video, and data signals and controlling the conference.
Today's MCUs use an advanced distributed processing architecture that consists of a central control unit, a high-speed data exchange unit, and a dedicated digital signal processing unit. This architecture integrates a CPU board, a media processing board, a communication interface board, and a backup power supply system of a traditional MCU into an independent conference processing platform to implement audio and video processing for multipoint conferences. The CPU board is responsible for system management and communication. Audio and video are handled by a dedicated DSP media board. Multiple DSP processing chips on the media board use distributed processing, resource sharing modes, and flexible allocation of system resources. Each system can be combined with his own independent system to form a multi-system distributed parallel processing architecture.
