Viewing data as part of a video conference

• US 20080059581A1
• Filed: 09/05/2006
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Codian Limited (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Codian Limited (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pepperell, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 9,065,667 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation

Abstract

The integration of data and video conference data allows presentations to be given more effectively and people to write down things which are hard to deliver using speech alone, for example mathematical formulae. Often when giving a presentation though it can be advantageous to be able to interact not only with a person verbally but also on a written level, for example a user may wish to draw on slides being used in a presentation to illustrate a point. At present only one user can transmit this type of data to the participants at any one time and only to participants having an H.239 compatible endpoint. The presentation invention enables multiple users to interact using written rather than spoken means without having to pass permission to transmit written data from one participant to another.

Claims

1. A Multi-Conference Unit (MCU) for use in transmitting a video conference to endpoints connected to the video conference, the MCU comprising:

(a) a video input for receiving a video data stream including video data;

(b) a presentation input for receiving a presentation data stream including presentation data;

(c) processing means adapted to combine the data in the video and presentation data streams to produce a combined data stream; and

(d) an output adapted to transmit the combined data stream from the MCU to an endpoint connected to the video conference.

2. An MCU as claimed in claim 1 wherein the endpoint receiving the combined data stream includes two display devices, the first device displaying the video data and the second device displaying the presentation data.

3. An MCU as claimed in claim 1 wherein the endpoint receiving the combined data stream includes one display device, wherein the presentation data and video data is displayed upon the same display device.

4. An MCU as claimed in claim 1 wherein the MCU further comprises a second presentation input for receiving a presentation data stream including mark-up data from an endpoint remote from that transmitting the presentation data stream received by the first presentation input, the MCU also comprising a second processing means adapted to combine the presentation data received from the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

5. An MCU as claimed in claim 1 wherein the presentation data in the presentation data stream is received by the MCU in an H.239 format.

6. An MCU as claimed in claim 1 wherein the wherein the presentation data in the presentation data stream is received by the MCU in a VNC format.

7. An MCU as claimed in claim 1 wherein the combined data stream is transmitted in a format selected from a group including H.323, H.320 and SIP.

8. A method for integrating data from two data channels during a video conference, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a video data stream from a video input the video data stream including video data;

(b) receiving a presentation data stream from a presentation input the presentation data stream including presentation data;

(c) combining the data in the video and presentation data streams to produce a combined data stream; and

(d) transmitting the combined data stream to an endpoint connected to the video conference.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 further comprising the step of transcoding the presentation data stream from a first format into a second format prior to combining the video and presentation data streams.

10. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the combined data stream is transmitted in one of the group of formats comprising H.323, H.320 and SIP.

11. A computer program stored on a data carrier, the computer program being executable on an MCU to cause the MCU to:

(a) combine a video data stream and a presentation data stream to produce a combined data stream; and

(b) transmit the combined data stream to an endpoint connected to the video conference;

wherein the video data stream includes video data and the presentation data stream includes presentation data.

12. A multi-conference unit (MCU) for use in transmitting a video conference to endpoints connected to the video conference, the MCU comprising:

(a) an input adapted to receive a presentation data stream using a first protocol from an endpoint, the presentation data stream including presentation data and being in a first format;

(b) encoding means adapted to convert the presentation data from a first format to a second format;

(c) processing means adapted to encapsulate the presentation data using a transmission protocol; and

(d) an output adapted to transmit the converted presentation data using the transmission protocol from the MCU to an endpoint connected to the video conference.

13. An MCU as claimed in claim 12 wherein the presentation data stream is received from a VNC server.

14. An MCU as claimed in claim 12 wherein the presentation data in the converted data stream comprises a series of JPEG images.

15. An MCU as claimed in claim 12 wherein the transmission protocol is H.239.

16. An MCU as claimed in claim 12 wherein the MCU further includes a second input adapted to receive a video data stream and a second output adapted to transmit a video data stream.

17. An MCU as claimed in claim 16 wherein the outputs transmit the converted presentation data stream and video data stream to an endpoint including two display devices, the first display device displaying the presentation data in the converted data stream and the second display device displaying the video data in the video data stream.

18. An MCU as claimed in claim 12 wherein the MCU further comprises a second input for receiving a presentation data stream including mark-up data from a second endpoint and a second processing means adapted to combine the presentation data received from the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

19. A method for processing presentation data during a video conference the method comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a presentation data stream from a first endpoint, the presentation data stream including presentation data and being in a first format;

(b) converting the presentation data from the first format to a second format;

(c) encoding means adapted to encapsulate the presentation data using a transmission protocol; and

(d) transmitting the converted presentation data using the transmission protocol from the MCU to an endpoint connected to the video conference.

20. A method for processing presentation data as claimed in claim 19 wherein the method further comprises receiving a second data stream including mark-up data from a second endpoint and combining the presentation data received from the first endpoint and the second endpoint.

21. A method for processing presentation data as claimed in claim 19, the presentation data in the converted data stream comprising a series of JPEG images.

22. A computer program stored on a data carrier, the computer program being executable on an MCU and adapted to cause an MCU to:

(a) on receipt of a presentation data stream in a first format, the presentation data stream including presentation data, convert the presentation data from the first format to a second format and encapsulate the presentation data using a transmission protocol; and

(b) transmit a converted data stream comprising presentation data in the second format from the MCU to an endpoint connected to the video conference using the transmission protocol.

23. A personal computer adapted to participate in a video conference comprising:

(a) a first input adapted to receive video data;

(b) a presentation input adapted to receive presentation data;

(c) processing means adapted to detect mark-up data entered by a user; and

(d) an output adapted to transmit the mark-up data to a multi conference unit.