Automated Real-Time Data Stream Switching in a Shared Virtual Area Communication Environment

• US 20120159354A1
• Filed: 02/24/2012
• Published: 06/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sococo, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Social Communications Company
• Inventors: Van Wie, David, Brody, Paul J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,762,641 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/758
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality

Abstract

Switching real-time data stream connections between network nodes sharing a virtual area is described. In one aspect, the switching involves storing a virtual area specification. The virtual area specification includes a description of one or more switching rules each defining a respective connection between sources of a respective real-time data stream type and sinks of the real-time data stream type in terms of positions in the virtual area. Real-time data stream connections are established between network nodes associated with respective objects each of which is associated with at least one of a source and a sink of one or more of the real-time data stream types. The real-time data stream connections are established based on the one or more switching rules, the respective sources and sinks associated with the objects, and respective positions of the objects in the virtual area.

Claims

1-22. -22. (canceled)

23. A computer-implemented method of constructing a virtual area, comprising:

in response to user input, creating a model of the virtual area in a display monitor, wherein the model comprises geometric elements of the virtual area that are presented in the display monitor;

in response to user input, associating switching rules with the model of the virtual area, wherein the switching rules define instructions for connecting sources of a respective real-time data stream type and sinks of the real-time data stream type in terms of positions in the virtual area;

generating a virtual area specification describing the model of the virtual area and the one or more associated switching rules; and

storing the virtual area specification in a computer-readable storage medium.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the virtual area comprises zones, and the switching rules define instructions for connecting sources of a respective realtime data stream type associated with a designated source one of the zones with sinks of the respective realtime data stream type associated with a designated sink one of the zones.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the switching rules designate a particular one of the zones as both the source zone and the sink zone of the respective realtime data stream type.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the switching rules designate a first one of the zones as the source zone of a given realtime data stream type and designate a second one of the zones as the sink zone of the given realtime data stream type.

29. The method of claim 26, wherein the switching rules are associated with a role attribute value identifying a particular role of sources of a given realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone that are to be connected with respective ones of the sinks of the given realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated sink zone.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein the switching rules are associated with a respective stream priority attribute value for prioritizing connections of sources of a given realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone with sinks of the given realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated sink zone in relation to other connections between sources and sinks that are associated with the virtual area.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein the switching rules are associated with a respective network routing topology attribute value for routing connections of sources of a given realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone with sinks of the given realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated sink zone.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein the switching rules are associated with a respective bandwidth attribute value for allocating bandwidth to connections of sources of a given realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone with sinks of the given realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated sink zone.

24-25. -25. (canceled)

33. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-readable program code embodied therein, the processor-readable program code adapted to be executed by a processor to perform operations comprising:

based on user input, creating a model of a virtual area in a display monitor, wherein the model comprises geometric elements of the virtual area that are presented in the display monitor;

based on user input, associating switching rules with the model of the virtual area, wherein the switching rules define instructions for connecting sources of a respective real-time data stream type and sinks of the real-time data stream type in terms of positions in the virtual area;

generating a virtual area specification describing the model of the virtual area and the one or more associated switching rules; and

storing the virtual area specification in a computer-readable storage medium.

34. A method, comprising:

administering one or more real-time data stream connections between network nodes associated with respective objects based on a virtual area specification defining zones of a virtual area and switching rules, the switching rules defining instructions for connecting sources of a respective realtime data stream type associated with a designated source one of the zones with sinks of the respective realtime data stream type associated with a designated sink one of the zones;

wherein each of the zones is associated with a respective geometric boundary, each of the objects is associated with at least one of a source and a sink of one or more real-time data stream types, and the administering is based on the switching rules, the respective sources and sinks associated with the objects, and the respective zones of the virtual area in which the objects are located.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein:

the switching rules designate a particular one of the zones as both the source zone and the sink zone of the respective realtime data stream type; and

the administering comprises administering realtime data stream connections between respective ones of the network nodes that have sources of the respective realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the particular zone and respective ones of the network nodes that have sinks of the respective realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the particular zone.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein:

the switching rules designate a first one of the zones as the source zone of a given realtime data stream type and designates a second one of the zones as the sink zone of the given realtime data stream type; and

the administering comprises administering realtime data stream connections between respective ones of the network nodes that have sources of the given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the first zone and respective ones of the network nodes that have sinks of the given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the second zone.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the geometric boundary of the first zone is outside the geometric boundary of the second zone.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the switching rules designate the first zone as both the source zone and the sink zone of a second given realtime data stream type;

and

the administering comprises administering realtime data stream connections between respective ones of the network nodes that have sources of the second given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the first zone and respective ones of the network nodes that have sinks of the second given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the first zone.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the first and second given realtime data stream types are identical.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the first and second given realtime data stream types are different.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein the switching rules specify connection of any data streams of the first given realtime data stream type that are sourced from the first zone to any sinks of the first given realtime data stream type that are in the second zone and are associated with a particular role.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the switching rules specify connection of any data streams of the second given realtime data stream type that are sourced from the first zone to any sinks of the second given realtime data stream type that are in the first zone and are associated with a second particular role.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the first and second particular roles are different.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the first role is a moderator and the second role is a participant.

45. The method of claim 38, wherein the switching rules designate the second zone as both the source zone and the sink zone of a third given realtime data stream type;

and

the administering comprises administering realtime data stream connections between respective ones of the network nodes that have sources of the third given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the second zone and respective ones of the network nodes that have sinks of the third given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the second zone.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the first and second given realtime data stream types are identical and the third realtime data stream type is different from the first and second realtime data stream types.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the first and second given realtime data stream types are a voice data stream type, and the third given realtime data stream type is a chat data stream type.

48. The method of claim 45, wherein:

the switching rules specify connection of any data streams of the first given realtime data stream type that are sourced from the first zone and area associated with a first role to any sinks of the first given realtime data stream type that are in the second zone and are associated with a second role;

the switching rules specify connection of any data streams of the second given realtime data stream type that are sourced from the first zone and are associated with the first role to any sinks of the first given realtime data stream type that are in the first zone and are associated with a third role role; and

the switching rules specify connection of any data streams of the third given realtime data stream type that are sourced from the second zone and are associated with the second role to any sinks of the third given realtime data stream type that are in the second zone and area associated with the second role.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the virtual area is a virtual concert hall.

50. The method of claim 38, wherein the switching rules designate the second zone as a source zone of a third given realtime data stream type and designates the first zone as a sink zone of the third given realtime data stream type;

and

the administering comprises administering realtime data stream connections between respective ones of the network nodes that have sources of the third given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the second zone and respective ones of the network nodes that have sinks of the third given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the first zone.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein the first and third given realtime data stream types are identical.

52. The method of claim 50, wherein the first and third given realtime data stream types are different.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein:

the switching rules specify connection of any data streams of the first given realtime data stream type that are sourced from the first zone to any sinks of the first given realtime data stream type that are in the second zone and are associated with a first role;

the switching rule specify connection of any data streams of the second given realtime data stream type that are sourced from the first zone to any sinks of the first given realtime data stream type that are in the first zone and are associated with a second role; and

the switching rule specify connection of any data streams of the third given realtime data stream type that are sourced from the second zone and are associated with the first role to any sinks of the third given realtime data stream type that are in the first zone and area associated with the second role.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the first and second roles are different.

55. The method of claim 53, wherein the first and second data stream types are a voice data stream type, and the third data stream type is an audio data stream type.

56. The method of claim 36, wherein the specification of the virtual area is free of any switching rule that designates the second zone as a source zone and designates the first zone as a sink zone.

57. The method of claim 36, wherein the geometric boundary of the second zone is inside the geometric boundary of the first zone.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the switching rules designate the second zone as both the source zone and the sink zone of a second given realtime data stream type;

and

the administering comprises administering realtime data stream connections between respective ones of the network nodes that have sources of the second given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the second zone and respective ones of the network nodes that have sinks of the second given realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the second zone.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the specification of the virtual area is free of any switching rule that designates the second zone as a source zone and designates the first zone as a sink zone.

60. The method of claim 58, wherein the first and third given realtime data stream types are identical.

61. The method of claim 58, wherein the first and third given realtime data stream types are different.

62. The method of claim 34, wherein the administering comprises connecting respective ones of the network nodes that have sources of the respective realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the designated source zone with respective ones of the network nodes that have sinks of the respective realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the designated sink zone.

63. The method of claim 34, further comprising moving ones of the objects into and out of respective ones of the zones responsive to user input.

64. The method of claim 34, wherein the objects are avatars respectively representing communicants operating respective ones of the network nodes.

65. The method of claim 34, wherein the virtual area is a virtual art gallery comprising a visualization of images on walls of the virtual area, and ones of the images are associated with particular ones of the zones that are associated with respective ones of the switching rules that designate the respective zone as both the source zone and the sink zone of the respective realtime data stream type;

and

for each particular one of the zones, the administering comprises administering realtime data stream connections between respective ones of the network nodes that have sources of the respective realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the particular zone and respective ones of the network nodes that have sinks of the respective realtime data stream type and are associated with objects located in the particular zone.

66. The method of claim 34, wherein:

a role attribute value identifies a particular role of sources of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone; and

the administering comprises identifying ones of the sources of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone that are associated with the particular role, and administering connections of the identified sources with respective ones of the sinks of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated sink zone.

67. The method of claim 34, wherein the administering comprises prioritizing connections of sources of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone with sinks of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated sink zone in relation to other connections between sources and sinks that are associated with the virtual area based on a respective stream priority attribute value associated with at least one of the designated source zone and the designated sink zone.

68. The method of claim 34, wherein the administering comprises managing connections of sources of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone with sinks of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated sink zone based on a network routing topology attribute value associated with at least one of the designated source zone and the designated sink zone.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the routing topology attribute value identifies a server-mediated routing topology, and the administering comprises directing the managed connections over server-mediated network links.

70. The method of claim 68, wherein the routing topology attribute value identifies a direct routing topology, and the administering comprises directing the managed connections over peer-to-peer network links.

71. The method of claim 68, wherein the administering comprises, in accordance with the given switching rule, managing allocation of bandwidth to connections of sources of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated source zone with sinks of the respective realtime data stream type that are associated with the designated sink zone based on a bandwidth attribute value associated with at least one of the designated source zone and the designated sink zone.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein the bandwidth attribute value identifies a preferred bandwidth level, and the administering comprises attempting to allocate the preferred bandwidth level to the managed connections.

73. The method of claim 71, wherein the bandwidth attribute value identifies a minimum bandwidth level, and the administering comprises allocating no less than the minimum bandwidth level to the managed connections.

74. Apparatus, comprising:

a memory storing processor-readable instructions; and

a processor coupled to the memory, operable to execute the instructions, and based at least in part on the execution of the instructions operable to perform operations comprising administering one or more real-time data stream connections between network nodes associated with respective objects based on a virtual area specification defining zones of a virtual area and switching rules, the switching rules defining instructions for connecting sources of a respective realtime data stream type associated with a designated source one of the zones with sinks of the respective realtime data stream type associated with a designated sink one of the zones;

wherein each of the zones is associated with a respective geometric boundary, each of the objects is associated with at least one of a source and a sink of one or more real-time data stream types, and the administering is based on the switching rules, the respective sources and sinks associated with the objects, and the respective zones of the virtual area in which the objects are located.

75. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-readable program code embodied therein, the processor-readable program code adapted to be executed by a processor to perform operations comprising:

administering one or more real-time data stream connections between network nodes associated with respective objects based on a virtual area specification defining zones of a virtual area and switching rules, the switching rules defining instructions for connecting sources of a respective realtime data stream type associated with a designated source one of the zones with sinks of the respective realtime data stream type associated with a designated sink one of the zones;

wherein each of the zones is associated with a respective geometric boundary, each of the objects is associated with at least one of a source and a sink of one or more real-time data stream types, and the administering is based on the switching rules, the respective sources and sinks associated with the objects, and the respective zones of the virtual area in which the objects are located.

76. A method, comprising:

based on a virtual area specification defining zones of a virtual area and switching rules defining instructions for connecting sources of a respective realtime data stream type associated with a respective designated source one of the zones with sinks of the respective realtime data stream type associated with a respective designated sink one of the zones,

locating network nodes in respective ones of the zones, wherein each of the network nodes has at least one of a source and a sink of a respective realtime data stream type, and

for each of one or more of the switching rules, administering connections of sources of respective ones of the network nodes located in the respective designated source zone with sinks of respective ones of the network nodes located in the respective designated sink zone.

77. A method, comprising:

administering one or more real-time data stream connections between network nodes in a virtual area comprising zones and having a spatial visualization, wherein each of the network nodes respectively has at least one of a source and a sink of one or more data types and is associated with a respective object in a respective one of the zones of the virtual area;

wherein each of the zones is associated with a respective geometric boundary located in relation to the spatial visualization of the virtual area, and the administering comprises administering connections between sources of ones of the network nodes associated with respective objects in a first one of the zones and outside a second one of the zones and sinks of respective ones of the network nodes associated with respective objects in the second zone and outside the first zone.

78. A method, comprising:

on a display, presenting a spatial layout of zones of a virtual area in a network communication environment, wherein

each zone supports establishment of communication sessions between network nodes associated with the zone,

for each of multiple ones of the zones, realtime conferencing data streams transmitted in communication sessions between network nodes associated with the zone are independent of realtime conferencing data streams transmitted in communication sessions between network nodes associated with other ones of the multiple zones, and

the presenting comprises displaying a graphic visualization of multiple simultaneous communication sessions occurring between network nodes in different respective ones of the zones of the virtual area;

providing navigation controls and interaction controls, wherein the navigation controls enable a user to specify where to establish a presence in the virtual area and the interaction controls enable the user to manage interactions with one or more other communicants in the virtual area;

based on input received via the navigation controls, establishing a respective presence of the user in a particular one of the zones; and

based on the presence of the user in the particular zone, administering one or more real-time data stream connections between a network node being operated by the user and respective ones of the network nodes associated with the particular zone.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein for each of multiple ones of the zones, realtime audio data streams transmitted in communication sessions between network nodes associated with the zone are independent of realtime audio data streams transmitted in communication sessions between network nodes associated with other ones of the multiple zones.

80. The method of claim 78, wherein for each of multiple ones of the zones, realtime video data streams transmitted in communication sessions between network nodes associated with the zone are independent of realtime video data streams transmitted in communication sessions between network nodes associated with other ones of the multiple zones.

81. The method of claim 78, wherein for each of multiple ones of the zones, realtime chat data streams transmitted in communication sessions between network nodes associated with the zone are independent of realtime chat data streams transmitted in communication sessions between network nodes associated with other ones of the multiple zones.