METHOD OF IMPLEMENTING A COMMUNICATIONS SESSION BETWEEN A PLURALITY OF TERMINALS

• US 20150100639A1
• Filed: 10/07/2014
• Published: 04/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Original Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Inventors: Cazeaux, Stephane, Bertin, Emmanuel
• Granted Patent: US 11,025,683 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of initializing a communications session between a plurality of terminals. According to the invention, the initialization method is adapted, as a function of capacity data for at least one terminal, to determine a set of at least one stream transmission channel to be set up between entities of a group of entities comprising said terminals, each channel being for setting up between a first entity and a second entity of the group either directly, or indirectly via at least one third entity of said group, and to transmit at least one entity identifier to at least one first entity of the group in order to set up at least one channel of the set. The invention also relates to a method of accessing a communications session, the method being adapted to receive at least one identifier of at least one entity with which at least one channel is to be set up and to set up at least one channel with at least one entity for which said at least one identifier has been received. The invention also relates to a server (S) and to a terminal (TA) respectively for performing the initialization method and the method of accessing a communications session.

Claims

1. An initialization method for initializing a communications session between a plurality of terminals, said method comprising the following steps performed by a server:

obtaining capacity data for at least one of said terminals, said capacity data relating to capacity of the terminal to receive and/or transmit a plurality of streams simultaneously;

determining, as a function of said obtained capacity data, a set of at least one stream transmission channel to be set up between entities of a group of entities comprising said terminals, each stream transmission channel of said set being for setting up between a first entity and a second entity of the group either directly, or else indirectly via at least one third entity of said group acting as a communications relay between the first entity and the second entity; and

transmitting at least one entity identifier to at least one said first entity of said group for the purpose of setting up at least one stream transmission channel of said set.

2. The initialization method according to claim 1, wherein determining said set of channels comprises the following steps:

calculating, on the basis of the obtained capacity data, a number of stream transmission channels that can be set up between said terminals for said communications session;

calculating a number of necessary stream transmission channels needed for interconnecting all of the terminals of the plurality of terminals; and

comparing said number of stream transmission channels that can be set up between said terminals with said number of necessary stream transmission channels; and

wherein said set of stream transmission channels comprises stream transmission channels directly interconnecting two terminals of the plurality of terminals if the number of stream transmission channels that can be set up between said terminals is greater than or equal to said number of necessary stream transmission channels.

3. The initialization method according to claim 2, wherein, if the number of stream transmission channels that can be set up between said terminals is less than said number of necessary stream transmission channels, said set of stream transmission channels comprises at least one stream transmission channel to be set up between one of the terminals and a communications device.

4. The initialization method according to claim 1, wherein, after receiving a notification that a terminal of the plurality has been disconnected, or a request for connecting an additional terminal, the determining step is reiterated with a second group of entities comprising the remaining terminals of the plurality, or comprising a third group of entities comprising the terminals of the plurality of terminals plus said additional terminal.

5. The initialization method according to claim 4, wherein, when reiterating the determining step, the channels between a first entity and a second entity as determined during a preceding iteration are maintained if both of the first and second entities remain connected.

6. The initialization method according to claim 1, wherein the method further includes a step of determining secondary channels used in the event of a terminal being disconnected.

7. The initialization method according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting step comprises transmitting information about each channel of said set to each of the terminals, said information comprising at least an identifier of a first entity and a second entity identifier.

8. An initialization method according to claim 7, wherein the transmitting step further comprises transmitting service data to each terminal, the service data relating to at least one terminal.

9. An access method of accessing a communications session between a plurality of terminals, the method comprising the following steps, performed by a terminal of said plurality of terminals:

receiving at least one identifier of at least one entity with which at least one stream transmission channel is to be set up, the stream transmission channel forming part of a set of at least one stream transmission channel to be set up between entities of a group of entities comprising said terminals, each stream transmission channel of said set being for setting up between a first entity and a second entity of the group either directly, or else indirectly via at least one third entity of said group acting as a communications relay between the first entity and the second entity, said set being determined as a function of capacity data obtained for at least one of said terminals, said capacity data relating to the capacity of the terminal to receive and/or transmit a plurality of streams simultaneously; and

setting up at least one stream transmission channel with said at least one entity for which said at least one identifier has been received.

10. An access method according to claim 9, wherein the setting-up step is followed, after obtaining at least one stream, by a step of transmitting said at least one obtained stream over at least one of the set-up channels, an obtained stream being a stream coming from a stream pick-up device connected to said terminal or a stream received from an entity of said group.

11. An access method according to claim 9, wherein said set of channels includes at least two channels involving said terminal and wherein a stream transmitted over a first channel is a stream obtained by aggregating at least one stream obtained via at least one second channel with a stream received from a stream pick-up device connected to said terminal.

12. An access method according to claim 9, wherein said set of channels includes at least three channels involving said terminal and wherein the stream transmitted over one of said at least three channels is a stream obtained by aggregating streams obtained via the other channels.

13. A server, which comprises:

an obtaining module configured to obtain capacity data for at least one terminal of a plurality of terminals, said capacity data obtained relating to the capacity of the terminal to receive and/or transmit a plurality of streams simultaneously;

a determination module configured to act as a function of said obtained capacity data to determine a set of at least one stream transmission channel to be set up between entities of a group of entities comprising said terminals, each stream transmission channel of said set being for setting up between a first entity and a second entity of the group, either directly or else indirectly via at least one third entity of said group acting as a communications relay between the first entity and the second entity; and

a transmitter configured to transmit at least one entity identifier to at least one said first entity of said group for the purpose of setting up at least one stream transmission channel of said set.

14. A terminal, which comprises:

a reception module configured to receive at least one identifier of at least one entity with which at least one stream transmission channel is to be set up, the stream transmission channel forming part of a set of at least one stream transmission channel for setting up between entities of a group of entities comprising a plurality of terminals, each stream transmission channel of said set being for setting up between a first entity and a second entity of the group, either directly or else indirectly via at least one third entity of said group acting as a communications relay between the first entity and the second entity, said set being determined as a function of capacity data obtained for at least one terminal of said plurality of terminals, said capacity data relating to the capacity of the terminal to receive and/or transmit a plurality of streams simultaneously; and

a set-up module configured to set up at least one communications channel with said at least one entity for which said at least one identifier has been received.