Sharing an image

• US 20120005301A1
• Filed: 09/21/2010
• Published: 01/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Skype S.Ã R.L. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Skype Limited (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Braghis, Florin, Lindblom, Jonas
• Application Number:
  US12/924,147
• Publication Number:
  US 20120005301A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/213
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1462 with means for detecting differences between the image stored in the host and the images displayed on the remote displays
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/122 Tiling
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/022 Centralised management of display operation, e.g. in a server instead of locally
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/132 Sampling, masking or truncation of coding units, e.g. adaptive resampling, frame skipping, frame interpolation or high-frequency transform coefficient masking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/137 Motion inside a coding unit, e.g. average field, frame or block difference
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/17 the unit being an image region, e.g. an object
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/176 the region being a block, e.g. a macroblock
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/23 with coding of regions that are present throughout a whole video segment, e.g. sprites, background or mosaic
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/60 using transform coding

Abstract

Method, server, network and computer program product for sharing an image between a first terminal and a second terminal. An original version of the image is received at the server from the first terminal. Tiles are then received at the server from the first terminal, each tile representing at least a section of the image and including a change made to the image at the first terminal. An image state is maintained at the server identifying which tiles are required for forming a latest version of the image. On determining that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal, tiles based on the image state for forming the latest version of the image are transmitted from the server to the second terminal.

Claims

1. A method of sharing an image between a first terminal and a second terminal, the method comprising:

receiving an original version of the image at a server from the first terminal;

receiving tiles at the server from the first terminal, each tile representing at least a section of the image and including a change made to the image at the first terminal;

maintaining an image state at the server identifying which tiles are required for forming a latest version of the image; and

on determining that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal, transmitting, from the server to the second terminal, tiles based on the image state for forming the latest version of the image.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the tiles which are transmitted from the server to the second terminal are identified by the image state and are not already stored at the second terminal.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the method is used for screen sharing between the first terminal and the second terminal wherein the image is displayed on a first display at the first terminal and changes to the image displayed on the first display are also displayed on a second display at the second terminal.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining, at the server, which of the received tiles are to be identified by the image state as being required for forming the latest version of the image.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, at the first terminal, which tiles are to be identified by the image state as being required for forming the latest version of the image; and

transmitting the image state with the tiles to the server from the first terminal.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the tiles are compressed using a compression algorithm.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising combining at least two of the tiles identified by the image state to form a combined tile, the combined tile representing the sections of the image represented by the at least two of the tiles.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least two of the tiles are combined when either (i) the amount of data contained in the tiles identified by the image state exceeds a threshold, or (ii) the number of tiles identified by the image state exceeds a threshold.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least two of the tiles are combined in dependence upon:

the amount of data contained in the tiles identified by the image state, and

the number of tiles identified by the image state.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein all of the tiles identified by the image state are combined to form a single tile.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein either:

(i) the second terminal determines that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal, and the method further comprises receiving a notification at the server from the second terminal that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal, or

(ii) the server determines that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising transmitting the image state from the server to the second terminal in response to determining that the image is to be formed at the second terminal.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

using the image state at the second terminal to determine which of the tiles identified by the image state are not already stored at the second terminal; and

transmitting a request from the second terminal to the server for the determined tiles to be transmitted to the second terminal.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising, in response to determining that the image is to be formed at the second terminal, using the image state at the server to determine which of the tiles identified by the image state are not already stored at the second terminal, wherein the server keeps a record of the tiles stored at the second terminal.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining which tiles are transmitted from the server to the second terminal in dependence upon attributes of the second terminal.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising transmitting the attributes from the second terminal to the server.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising transmitting the attributes from the server to the first terminal.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the attributes comprise at least one of a hardware capability of the second terminal, a bandwidth capability of the second terminal and a software capability of the second terminal for use in displaying images.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the image state identifies different sets of at least one tile representing the image at different resolutions.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the tiles identified by the image state are adapted in accordance with the dimensions of a screen of the second terminal.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the second terminal is a mobile terminal and the image state identifies a single tile representing the entire image.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of second terminals.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein different tiles are transmitted to different ones of the second terminals in dependence upon attributes of the respective second terminal.

24. A server for use in sharing an image between a first terminal and a second terminal, the server comprising:

a receiver configured to receive an original version of the image from the first terminal, the receiver being further configured to receive tiles from the first terminal, each tile representing at least a section of the image and including a change made to the image at the first terminal;

maintaining means configured to maintain an image state at the server identifying which tiles are required for forming a latest version of the image; and

a transmitter configured to transmit to the second terminal, on determining that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal, tiles based on the image state for forming the latest version of the image.

25. A network comprising:

a server;

a first terminal; and

a second terminal,

wherein the server is for use in sharing an image between the first terminal and the second terminal, and wherein the server comprises;

a receiver configured to receive an original version of the image from the first terminal, the receiver being further configured to receive tiles from the first terminal, each tile representing at least a section of the image and including a change made to the image at the first terminal;

maintaining means configured to maintain an image state at the server identifying which tiles are required for forming a latest version of the image; and

a transmitter configured to transmit to the second terminal, on determining that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal, tiles based on the image state for forming the latest version of the image.

26. A computer program product comprising computer readable instructions for execution by computer processing means at a server for sharing an image between a first terminal and a second terminal, the instructions comprising instructions for:

receiving an original version of the image at the server from the first terminal;

receiving tiles at the server from the first terminal, each tile representing at least a section of the image and including a change made to the image at the first terminal;

maintaining an image state at the server identifying which tiles are required for forming a latest version of the image; and

on determining that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal, transmitting, from the server to the second terminal, tiles based on the image state for forming the latest version of the image.

27. A server for use in sharing an image between a first terminal and a second terminal, the server comprising:

receiving means for receiving an original version of the image from the first terminal, the receiving means being further for receiving tiles from the first terminal, each tile representing at least a section of the image and including a change made to the image at the first terminal;

maintaining means for maintaining an image state at the server identifying which tiles are required for forming a latest version of the image; and

transmitting means for transmitting to the second terminal, on determining that the latest version of the image is to be formed at the second terminal, tiles based on the image state for forming the latest version of the image.