SESSION MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL PROCEDURES FOR SUPPORTING MULTIPLE GROUPS OF SINK DEVICES IN A PEER-TO-PEER WIRELESS DISPLAY SYSTEM

• US 20150172757A1
• Filed: 12/13/2013
• Published: 06/18/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Kafle, Padam Lal, Shaukat, Fawad, Subramaniam, Vijay Naicker
• Granted Patent: US 9,699,500 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/65 Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1044 Group management mechanisms management of multicast group membership H04L12/185; reconfiguring of node membership in a computing system to eliminate errors G06F11/1425
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1046 Joining mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1048 Departure or maintenance mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4126 The peripheral being portable, e.g. PDAs or mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43637 involving a wireless protocol, e.g. Bluetooth, RF or wireless LAN [IEEE 802.11] arrangements for wireless networking or broadcasting of information in indoor or near-field type systems H04B10/114
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4516 involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4621 Controlling the complexity of the content stream or additional data, e.g. lowering the resolution or bit-rate of the video stream for a mobile client with a small screen arrangements for using the results of monitoring on user's side in broadcast systems H04H60/65; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/632 using a connection between clients on a wide area network, e.g. setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet for retrieving video segments from the hard-disk of other client devices broadcast-related systems characterised by transmission among terminal devices H04H60/80; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6405 Multicasting data broadcast and multicast in packet switching networks H04L12/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/106 for domestic distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/40 for selective distribution or broadcast
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

An apparatus and method for session management and control procedures for supporting multiple groups of sink devices in a peer-to-peer wireless display system are described. One implementation may include an apparatus configured to transmit multimedia content to a plurality of sink devices. The apparatus may comprise a processor configured to connect to each of the sink devices with a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection. The processor may further be configured to receive capability information from each of the sink devices. The processor may further be configured to generate a control message including a group session ID and a transport port number. The processor may further be configured to determine a set of streaming parameters for the sink devices. The processor may further be configured to transmit, using the transport port number and according to the set of streaming parameters, the particular multimedia content to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices.

Claims

1. An apparatus configured to transmit multimedia content to a plurality of sink devices, comprising a processor configured to:

connect to each of the plurality of sink devices with a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection;

receive capability information from each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices requesting a particular multimedia content;

generate a control message including a group session ID and a transport port number, the transport port number to be used for communicating to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices the particular multimedia content associated with the group;

transmit to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices the control message;

determine a set of streaming parameters for the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices associated with the group session ID; and

transmit, using the transport port number and according to the set of streaming parameters, the particular multimedia content to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set of streaming parameters includes at least one of a codec information, a display resolution, a video format, and an audio format.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control message also includes at least one of a multicast configuration, a unicast configuration, and a reliable groupcast configuration including a group MAC address for content streaming.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission of the particular multimedia content occurs by using a robust multicast frame delivery technique.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the robust multicast frame delivery technique is based on the acknowledgement and retry procedures of the 802.11aa standard.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

establish and maintain the group session over the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connections to a number of the plurality of sink devices; and

establish a control messaging scheme for broadcasting the group session ID, a port information, and a set of steaming parameters to unconnected sink devices for allowing them to be associated with the group session ID.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to periodically broadcast the group session ID, a port information, and the set of steaming parameters at a predetermined time interval.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to wait to receive the capability information from each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices for a predetermined amount of time before transmitting the control message or a subsequent control message.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

bypass the receiving of capability information from each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices; and

immediately generate the control message with a predetermined set of group session parameters for content streaming.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to add or remove one or more of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices from the associated group session ID based on at least one of a request initiated at the apparatus, a request initiated at the sink device, and an insufficient capability of the sink device.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the insufficient capability of the sink device includes at least its inability to support a session type or an inability to support at least one of the streaming parameters to be used for content streaming.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to establish a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connections with multiple groups of devices, wherein at least one of the particular multimedia content, the group session ID, a session type, a port information, and the set of streaming parameters is different for each of the groups of devices.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein establishing the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection includes an exchange of a Wi-Fi Display device discovery information, wherein the Wi-Fi Display device discovery information comprises at least an indication of a group session capability of the apparatus, a set of group session management control port data, a group session type, and a set of streaming parameters to be used for content streaming.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein at least a subset of the Wi-Fi Display device discovery information is further exchanged through an Application Service Platform of the Wi-Fi Direct Services standard over a pre-established Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection.

15. A method of transmitting multimedia content to a plurality of sink devices, comprising:

connecting to each of the plurality of sink devices with a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection;

receiving capability information from each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices requesting a particular multimedia content;

generating a control message including a group session ID and a transport port number, the transport port number to be used for communicating to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices the particular multimedia content associated with the group;

transmitting to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices the control message;

determining a set of streaming parameters for the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices associated with the group session ID; and

transmitting, using the transport port number and according to the set of streaming parameters, the particular multimedia content to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

establishing and maintaining the group session over the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connections to a number of the plurality of sink devices; and

establishing a control messaging scheme for broadcasting the group session ID, a port information, and a set of streaming parameters to unconnected sink devices for allowing them to be associated with the group session ID.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising adding or removing one or more of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices from the associated group session ID based on at least one of a request initiated at the apparatus, a request initiated at the sink device, and an insufficient capability of the sink device, wherein the insufficient capability of the sink device includes at least its inability to support a session type or an inability to support at least one of the streaming parameters to be used for content streaming.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising establishing a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connections with multiple groups of devices, wherein at least one of the particular multimedia content, the group session ID, a session type, a port information, and the set of streaming parameters is different for each of the groups of devices.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein establishing the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection includes an exchange of a Wi-Fi Display device discovery information, wherein the Wi-Fi Display device discovery information comprises at least an indication of a group session capability of the apparatus, a set of group session management control port data, a group session type, and a set of streaming parameters to be used for content streaming.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein at least a subset of the Wi-Fi Display device discovery information is further exchanged through an Application Service Platform of the Wi-Fi Direct Services standard over a pre-established Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection.

21. An apparatus for transmitting multimedia content to a plurality of sink devices, comprising:

means for connecting to each of the plurality of sink devices with a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection;

means for receiving capability information from each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices requesting a particular multimedia content;

means for generating a control message including a group session ID and a transport port number, the transport port number to be used for communicating to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices the particular multimedia content associated with the group;

means for transmitting to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices the control message;

means for determining a set of streaming parameters for the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices associated with the group session ID; and

means for transmitting, using the transport port number and according to the set of streaming parameters, the particular multimedia content to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

means for establishing and maintaining the group session over theWi-Fi peer-to-peer connections to a number of the plurality of sink devices; and

means for establishing a control messaging scheme for broadcasting the group session ID, a port information, and a set of streaming parameters to unconnected sink devices for allowing them to be associated with the group session ID.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising means for adding or removing one or more of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices from the associated group session ID based on at least one of a request initiated at the apparatus, a request initiated at the sink device, and an insufficient capability of the sink device, wherein the insufficient capability of the sink device includes at least its inability to support a session type or an inability to support at least one of the streaming parameters to be used for content streaming.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising means for establishing a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connections with multiple groups of devices, wherein at least one of the particular multimedia content, the group session ID, a session type, a port information, and the set of streaming parameters is different for each of the groups of devices.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein establishing the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection includes an exchange of a Wi-Fi Display device discovery information, wherein the Wi-Fi Display device discovery information comprises at least an indication of a group session capability of the apparatus, a set of group session management control port data, a group session type, and a set of streaming parameters to be used for content streaming.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein at least a subset of the Wi-Fi Display device discovery information is further exchanged through an Application Service Platform of the Wi-Fi Direct Services standard over a pre-established Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, causes an apparatus to transmit multimedia content to a plurality of sink devices and:

connect to each of the plurality of sink devices with a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection;

receive capability information from each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices requesting a particular multimedia content;

generate a control message including a group session ID and a transport port number, the transport port number to be used for communicating to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices the particular multimedia content associated with the group;

transmit to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices the control message;

determine a set of streaming parameters for the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices associated with the group session ID; and

transmit, using the transport port number and according to the set of streaming parameters, the particular multimedia content to each of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices.

28. The medium of claim 27, further comprising code that, when executed, causes an apparatus to add or remove one or more of the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connected sink devices from the associated group session ID based on at least one of a request initiated at the apparatus, a request initiated at the sink device, and an insufficient capability of the sink device, wherein the insufficient capability of the sink device includes at least its inability to support a session type or an inability to support at least one of the streaming parameters to be used for content streaming.

29. The medium of claim 27, wherein establishing the Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection includes an exchange of a Wi-Fi Display device discovery information, wherein the Wi-Fi Display device discovery information comprises at least an indication of a group session capability of the apparatus, a set of group session management control port data, a group session type, and a set of streaming parameters to be used for content streaming.

30. The medium of claim 29, wherein at least a subset of the Wi-Fi Display device discovery information is further exchanged through an Application Service Platform of the Wi-Fi Direct Services standard over a pre-established Wi-Fi peer-to-peer connection.