Enhanced discovery for AD-HOC meetings

• US 10,439,832 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2017
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Cutler, Ross Garrett, Sinclair, Andrew Peter, Kauffman, Jonathan Adam, Krantz, Anton
• Primary Examiner(s): Greene, Joseph L
• Application Number:
  US15/849,221
• Publication Number:
  US 20180115432A1
• Time in Patent Office: 657 Days
• Field of Search: 709227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1093 by adding participants; by removing participants
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Systems, methods, and software are disclosed herein for enhancing ad-hoc online meetings. A service client, when executed by a computing system, directs the computing system to at least detect an in-room discovery signal, identify a room from the in-room discovery signal, identify a session based on the room associated with the in-room discovery signal, and join the session.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

transmitting a first in-room discovery signal from a first hardware component of an in-room conferencing system to a client device, wherein the in-room conferencing system comprises hardware components located in the same room for execution of an electronic meeting;

transmitting a second in-room discovery signal from a second hardware component of the in-room conferencing system to the client device;

validating, by the in-room conferencing system, the first in-room discovery signal using data from the second in-room discovery signal; and

maintaining a connection to a service based on the validation of the first in-room discovery signal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first hardware component is a first speaker of a set of speakers of the in-room conferencing system, and wherein the second hardware component is a second speaker of the set of speakers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a first temporary in-room identifier is encoded in the first in-room discovery signal and the data in the second in-room discovery signal is a second temporary in-room identifier, and wherein the validating comprises validating that the first temporary in-room identifier is still valid based on issuance of subsequent temporary in-room identifiers including the second temporary in-room identifier.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first in-room discovery signal and the second in-room discovery signal comprises one of:

a wireless signal, a modulated light signal, an audible sound, an inaudible sound, and ambient noise.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a first in-room identifier is encoded in the first in-room discovery signal and a second in-room identifier is encoded in the second in-room discovery signal, and wherein the validating comprises comparing the first in-room discovery identifier and the second in-room discovery identifier when a communication is returned from the client device executing the service.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the connection is maintained when one of the first temporary in-room identifier and the second temporary in-room identifier is returned, within a predetermined time period, from the client device executing the service and validated by the in-room conferencing system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the connection is a session of the electronic meeting, and wherein the validation determines that the client device, in a room of the in-room conferencing system, remains connected to the session of the electronic meeting.

8. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory operatively connected with the at least one processor storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to execute a method that comprises;

transmitting a first in-room discovery signal from a first hardware component of an in-room conferencing system to a client device, wherein the in-room conferencing system comprises hardware components located in the same room for execution of an electronic meeting;

transmitting a second in-room discovery signal from a second hardware component of the in-room conferencing system to the client device;

validating, by the in-room conferencing system, the first in-room discovery signal using data from the second in-room discovery signal; and

maintaining a connection to a service based on the validation of the first in-room discovery signal.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first hardware component is a first speaker of a set of speakers of the in-room conferencing system, and wherein the second hardware component is a second speaker of the set of speakers.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein a first temporary in-room identifier is encoded in the first in-room discovery signal and the data in the second in-room discovery signal is a second temporary in-room identifier, and wherein the validating comprises validating that the first temporary in-room identifier is still valid based on issuance of subsequent temporary in-room identifiers including the second temporary in-room identifier.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the first in-room discovery signal and the second in-room discovery signal comprises one of:

a wireless signal, a modulated light signal, an audible sound, an inaudible sound, and ambient noise.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein a first in-room identifier is encoded in the first in-room discovery signal and a second in-room identifier is encoded in the second in-room discovery signal, and wherein the validating comprises comparing the first in-room discovery identifier and the second in-room discovery identifier when a communication is returned from the client device executing the service.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the connection is maintained when one of the first temporary in-room identifier and the second temporary in-room identifier is returned, within a predetermined time period, from the client device executing the service and validated by the in-room conferencing system.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the connection is a session of the electronic meeting, and wherein the validation determines that the client device, in a room of the in-room conferencing system, remains connected to the session of the electronic meeting.

15. A computer-readable storage device including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to execute a method comprising:

transmitting a first in-room discovery signal from a first hardware component of an in-room conferencing system to a client device, wherein the in-room conferencing system comprises hardware components located in the same room for execution of an electronic meeting;

transmitting a second in-room discovery signal from a second hardware component of the in-room conferencing system to the client device;

validating, by the in-room conferencing system, the first in-room discovery signal using data from the second in-room discovery signal; and

maintaining a connection to a service based on the validation of the first in-room discovery signal.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the first hardware component is a first speaker of a set of speakers of the in-room conferencing system, and wherein the second hardware component is a second speaker of the set of speakers.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein a first temporary in-room identifier is encoded in the first in-room discovery signal and the data in the second in-room discovery signal is a second temporary in-room identifier, and wherein the validating comprises validating that the first temporary in-room identifier is still valid based on issuance of subsequent temporary in-room identifiers including the second temporary in-room identifier.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the first in-room discovery signal and the second in-room discovery signal comprises one of:

a wireless signal, a modulated light signal, an audible sound, an inaudible sound, and ambient noise.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the connection is maintained when one of the first temporary in-room identifier and the temporary second in-room discovery identifier is returned, within a predetermined time period, from the client device executing the service and validated by the in-room conferencing system.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein the connection is a session of the electronic meeting, and wherein the validation determines that the client device, in a room of the in-room conferencing system, remains connected to the session of the electronic meeting.