Display and Service Adjustments to Enable Multi-Tasking During a Video Call

• US 20140184723A1
• Filed: 12/31/2012
• Published: 07/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Morrison, Andrew R., Park, Christopher S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,973,729 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.07
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q

Abstract

A telecommunication device configured to enable a user to engage in a telecommunication device activity while participating in a video call is described herein. The telecommunication device concurrently displays user interfaces for the video call and the activity. The user interfaces may be displayed adjacent to each other, or one may be presented as an overlay in front of the other. The telecommunication device also informs a video call service that the video call user interface is not displayed in full-screen and, as a result, receives video call data at a reduced frame rate or reduced quality-of-service.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

during a video call, receiving, by a telecommunication device, input initiating a telecommunication device activity that is different from the video call;

responsive to the input, concurrently displaying, by the telecommunication device, an activity interface associated with the telecommunication device activity and a video call interface associated with the video call, the concurrently displaying including reducing a display size of the video call interface to accommodate the activity interface; and

receiving, by the telecommunication device, user input related to the telecommunication device activity while a user of the telecommunication device engages in the video call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the concurrently displaying includes displaying the activity interface adjacent to the reduced-display-size video call interface or displaying the reduced-display-size video call interface as an overlay to a portion of the activity interface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the telecommunication device activity is unrelated to the video call.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the input is user input or is a prompt from a telecommunication device application or from a remote service.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying a video call server of the reducing of the display size.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising, in response to the notifying, receiving video call data at a reduced frame rate or reduced quality of service.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a magnitude of the reduction in the display size of the video call interface is based on a type of the telecommunication device activity.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling the user to resize either or both of the concurrently displayed interfaces.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the activity interface or the video call interface has a minimum display size.

10. One or more tangible computer-readable media having stored thereon computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a telecommunication device, perform operations comprising:

while enabling a user to engage in a telecommunication device activity, initiating a video call that is separate and distinct from the telecommunication device activity;

concurrently displaying an activity interface associated with the telecommunication device activity and a video call interface associated with the video call, the concurrently displaying including either reducing a display size of the activity interface to accommodate the video call interface or overlaying the video call interface in front of a portion of the activity interface; and

receiving user input related to the telecommunication device activity while the user engages in the video call.

11. The one or more tangible computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the initiating is responsive to receiving an incoming voice call or is responsive to user input.

12. The one or more tangible computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the telecommunication device activity is unrelated to the video call.

13. The one or more tangible computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise notifying a video call server that the video call interface will have a display size that is less than a total display size of a display of the telecommunication device.

14. The one or more tangible computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise, in response to the notifying, receiving video call data at a reduced frame rate or reduced quality of service.

15. The one or more tangible computer-readable media of claim 10, wherein a magnitude of the reduction in the display size of the activity interface is based on a type of the telecommunication device activity.

16. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a video call service, an indication that a display size of a video call interface rendered on a telecommunication device has been reduced;

in response to the indication, reducing, by the video call service, a frame rate or quality of service associated with transmission of video call data to the telecommunication device; and

transmitting, by the video call service, the video call data at the reduced frame rate or the reduced quality of service.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the indication specifies the reduced display size.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein reducing the quality of service comprises marking packets transmitting the video call data with the reduced quality of service or requesting that a network operator reduce the quality of service used in transmitting the video call data.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the reducing is performed conditionally based on a service plan or service agreement with a user of the telecommunication device.

20. A computing device comprising:

a processor; and

a video call service configured to be operated by the processor to reduce a frame rate or a quality of service associated with transmission of a video call to a video call client and to instruct the video call client to reduce a display size of a video call interface responsive to the reduced frame rate or quality of service.

21. The computing device of claim 20, wherein the instruction to reduce the display size of the video call interface specifies the reduced display size.

22. The computing device of claim 20, wherein the instruction to reduce the display size of the video call interface causes a telecommunication device associated with the video call client to suggest the reduction to a user of the telecommunication device.