SELECTING A VIDEO DATA STREAM OF A VIDEO CONFERENCE

• US 20140122657A1
• Filed: 10/31/2012
• Published: 05/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wallace, Mark E., Crawley, John A., Havens, Dalia M., Meda, Lakshmi S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,363,092 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/152 Multipoint control units therefor

Abstract

Computer program code receives input information for setup a video conference, and attributes of participants associated with one or more video endpoints in the video conference. The program code parses the input information to determine whether there are video data streams available for broadcast, and parameters in an access control file granting one or more of the participants a right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view. The program code extracts parameters from the input information. The program code stores the parameters that are extracted as metadata. The program code compares the metadata with the attributes of the participants associated with the one or more video endpoints to determine matches. The program code requests a multipoint control unit to send one or more of the video data streams based on the access control file, criteria specified by the participants, and the matches determined.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for selecting a video data stream of a video conference to send to a video endpoint comprising:

receiving input information and attributes of participants associated with one or more video endpoints in a video conference;

parsing the input information for parameters representing attributes selected from a configurable predefined list of values to determine whether there are video data streams available for broadcast, and whether there are parameters in an access control file granting one or more of the participants a right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view;

extracting from the input information, based on the parsing, the parameters representing the attributes selected from the configurable predefined list of values, wherein the parameters representing the attributes selected define the video data streams available for broadcast;

storing the parameters that are extracted from the input information, as metadata associated with the video conference;

comparing the metadata with the attributes of the participants associated with the one or more video endpoints to determine matches; and

requesting a multipoint control unit to send one or more of the video data streams available for broadcast to the one or more video endpoints based on the access control file, criteria specified by the participants, and the matches that are determined.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the input information includes at least one of the following:

a room identifier, a code for an owner to host a video conference, a code for the participants to join the video conference, one or more parameters representing each of the participants'"'"' right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view, and parameters representing attributes that define video data streams available for broadcast to the one or more video endpoints.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the attributes that define video data streams available for broadcast includes at least one of the following:

an internet protocol address (IP address) associated with the one or more video endpoints, a physical address of each of the participants, a job description of each the participants, and a membership in a collaborative network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the access control file includes at least one record for each of the participants in the video conference in which each record has a field for a participant identifier (ID), a field for a video endpoint ID that is associated with the participant ID, and a field for a video data stream control parameter that is also associated with the participant ID.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the participant ID identifies a participant, the video endpoint ID identifies at least one of the one or more video endpoints that are associated with the participant, and the video data stream control parameter determines the participant'"'"'s right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the multipoint control unit sends the one or more of the video data streams available for broadcast to the video endpoints in which there is a match between the metadata and the attributes of participants associated with the video endpoints.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the multipoint control unit sends the one or more video data streams available for broadcast that each of the participants prefer to view to the video endpoints associated with the participants.

8. A computer program product for selecting a video data stream of a video conference to send to a video endpoint comprising:

a computer readable storage medium and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage medium, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to receive input information for setup a video conference, and attributes of participants associated with one or more video endpoints in the video conference;

program instructions to parse the input information for parameters representing attributes selected from a configurable predefined list of values to determine whether there are video data streams available for broadcast, and whether there are parameters in an access control file granting one or more of the participants a right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view;

program instructions to extract from the input information, based on the parse, the parameters representing the attributes selected from the configurable predefined list of values, wherein the parameters representing the attributes selected define the video data streams available for broadcast;

program instructions to store the parameters that are extracted from the input information, as metadata associated with the video conference;

program instructions to compare the metadata with the attributes of the participants associated with the one or more video endpoints to determine matches; and

program instructions to request a multipoint control unit to send one or more of the video data streams available for broadcast to the one or more video endpoints based on the access control file, criteria specified by the participants, and the matches that are determined.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the input information includes at least one of the following:

a room identifier, a code for an owner to host a video conference, a code for the participants to join the video conference, one or more parameters representing each of the participants'"'"' right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view, and parameters representing attributes that define video data streams available for broadcast to the one or more video endpoints.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the attributes that define video data streams available for broadcast includes at least one of the following:

an internet protocol address (IP address) associated with the one or more video endpoints, a physical address of each of the participants, a job description of each the participants, and a membership in a collaborative network.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the access control file includes at least one record for each of the participants in the video conference in which each record has a field for a participant identifier (ID), a field for a video endpoint ID that is associated with the participant ID, and a field for a video data stream control parameter that is also associated with the participant ID.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the participant ID identifies a participant, the video endpoint ID identifies at least one of the one or more video endpoints that are associated with the participant, and the video data stream control parameter determines the participant'"'"'s right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the multipoint control unit sends the one or more of the video data streams available for broadcast to the video endpoints in which there is a match between the metadata and the attributes of participants associated with the video endpoints.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the multipoint control unit sends the one or more video data streams available for broadcast that each of the participants prefer to view to the video endpoints associated with the participants.

15. A computer system for selecting a video data stream of a video conference to send to a video endpoint comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer readable memories, one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions stored on the one or more storage media for execution by the one or more processors via the one or more memories, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to receive input information for setup a video conference, and attributes of participants associated with one or more video endpoints in the video conference;

program instructions to parse the input information for parameters representing attributes selected from a configurable predefined list of values to determine whether there are video data streams available for broadcast, and whether there are parameters in an access control file granting one or more of the participants a right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view;

program instructions to extract from the input information, based on the parse, the parameters representing the attributes selected from the configurable predefined list of values, wherein the parameters representing the attributes selected define the video data streams available for broadcast;

program instructions to store the parameters that are extracted from the input information, as metadata associated with the video conference;

program instructions to compare the metadata with the attributes of the participants associated with the one or more video endpoints to determine matches; and

program instructions to request a multipoint control unit to send one or more of the video data streams available for broadcast to the one or more video endpoints based on the access control file, criteria specified by the participants, and the matches that are determined.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the input information includes at least one of the following:

a room identifier, a code for an owner to host a video conference, a code for the participants to join the video conference, one or more parameters representing each of the participants'"'"' right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view, and parameters representing attributes that define video data streams available for broadcast to the one or more video endpoints.

17. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the attributes that define video data streams available for broadcast includes at least one of the following:

an internet protocol address (IP address) associated with the one or more video endpoints, a physical address of each of the participants, a job description of each the participants, and a membership in a collaborative network.

18. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the access control file includes at least one record for each of the participants in the video conference in which each record has a field for a participant identifier (ID), a field for a video endpoint ID that is associated with the participant ID, and a field for a video data stream control parameter that is also associated with the participant ID.

19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein the participant ID identifies a participant, the video endpoint ID identifies at least one of the one or more video endpoints that are associated with the participant, and the video data stream control parameter determines the participant'"'"'s right to control which of the video data streams available for broadcast they view.

20. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the multipoint control unit sends the one or more of the video data streams available for broadcast to the video endpoints in which there is a match between the metadata and the attributes of participants associated with the video endpoints.

21. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the multipoint control unit sends the one or more video data streams available for broadcast that each of the participants prefer to view to the video endpoints associated with the participants, or a combination thereof.