Method and system for providing multi-media data from various sources to various client applications
First Claim
1. A system for transparently providing multimedia data to a plurality of client applications, the system comprising:
- a data source which provides the multimedia data;
a first client application which uses the multimedia data;
a second client application which uses the multimedia data;
a virtual data source communicatively coupled to the data source and the first and second client applications, wherein the virtual source obtains the multimedia data from the data source, and provides the multimedia data to the first client application and the second client application.
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Abstract
The present invention seamlessly enables a single media stream to be exposed to as many clients/applications as desired, in a manner that is completely transparent to the client/application. Further, an embodiment of the present invention combines media streams from multiple devices (e.g., webcams, microphones, etc.) into a single virtual stream that can then be accessed by as many clients as desired. In some embodiments of the above invention, each client can request a different format and frame rate. Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, the ability to provide media data from one or more sources to one or more client applications is completely transparent to the applications, as well as to the users.
67 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A system for transparently providing multimedia data to a plurality of client applications, the system comprising:
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a data source which provides the multimedia data;
a first client application which uses the multimedia data;
a second client application which uses the multimedia data;
a virtual data source communicatively coupled to the data source and the first and second client applications, wherein the virtual source obtains the multimedia data from the data source, and provides the multimedia data to the first client application and the second client application. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for transparently providing multimedia data from a plurality of data sources to a client application, the system comprising:
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a first data source which provides first multimedia data;
a second data source which provides second multimedia data;
a virtual data source communicatively coupled to the first data source and the second data source and to the client application, wherein the virtual source obtains the first multimedia data from the first data source and the second multimedia data from the second data source, and provides a single data stream combining the first multimedia data and the second multimedia data, to the client application.
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11. A method for providing multimedia data to a plurality of client applications, wherein the multimedia data is provided by a data source, where the processing is transparent to the plurality of client applications, the method comprising:
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obtaining, by a virtual source, the data provided by the data source;
modifying one of the frame rate or the format of the data; and
providing the modified multimedia data to each of the plurality of client applications. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method for transparently providing multimedia data from a plurality of data sources to a client application, the method comprising:
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obtaining, by a virtual source, the first multimedia data from the first data source;
obtaining, by the virtual source, the second multimedia data from the second data source;
combining the first multimedia data and the second multimedia data to create a single data stream; and
providing the single data stream to the client application. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer useable medium including a computer program for causing the simultaneous sharing of an input device, said program comprising, code for invoking an input device control program in response to a first access request received from a first application program requesting access to said single input device;
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code for associating a single input device instance to said single input device upon creating said single input device instance according to said input device control program;
code for generating a first control instance in response to said first request, said first control instance being associated with said first application program;
code for associating said first control instance to said single input device instance, so that said first application program can access said single input device using said association between said first control instance and said single input device instance;
code for generating a second control instance in response a second access request received from a second application program requesting access to said single input device; and
code for associating said second control instance to said single input device instance, so that said second application program can access said single input device using said association between said second control instance and said single input device instance
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Specification