System and method for sharing computer screens over a telephony network

• US 6,741,586 B1
• Filed: 05/31/2000
• Issued: 05/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Valtrus Innovations Limited (f/k/a Dolya Holdco 9 Limited) (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: 3Com Corporation (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Grabiec, Jacek A., Sidhu, Ikhlaq S., Schuster, Guido M., Mahler, Jerry J., Dean, Frederick D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Steven H. D
• Application Number:
  US09/584,927
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 370/351-356, 370/493-495, 370/259-271, 370/400-401, 379/265-1-2, 379/900, 379/88.17, 725/106, 725/110, 709/204
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/08 specially adapted for terminal emulation, e.g. Telnet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/131 Protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/90 Internet, e.g. Internet phone, webphone, internet-based telephony

Abstract

A system and method for communicating screen display images on a computer to another computer using a telephony network. A screen share button on a data network telephone initiates a screen shot request to a first computer associated with the data network telephone. The first computer uses a screen shot application to retrieve the image on the computer display and send it to the data network telephone. The data network telephone receives the screen shot image and sends the image to another data network telephone which is a party to a telephone conversation with the first data network telephone. The first data network telephone preferably uses the SIP invite with a session description protocol that permits the transfer of image data on SIP messages. The second data network telephone implements the image data session description protocol and communicates the screen shot image to the second computer.

Claims

1. A system for communicating shared computer screens on a data network telephony system comprising:

a data network to provide data connectivity for a plurality of data communications channels using data transport protocols;

first and second data network telephones connected to the data network, each data network telephone operable to communicate a voice signal as voice-over-data packets on a voice-over-data channel, the voice over data channel being one of the plurality of data communications channels on the data network, the data network telephones operable to convert voice-over-data packets communicated on the voice-over-data channel to voice signals;

a screen share button and a screen share application in the first data network telephone, the screen share button operable to indicate a button press to the screen share application, the screen share application operable to send a screen share request on the data network, to receive a screen shot image from the data network and to send the screen shot image to the second data network telephone;

a first computer connected to the first data network telephone, the first computer comprising a computer screen share application operable to receive the screen share request, to retrieve a screen shot image, and to communicate the screen shot image on the data network; and

a second computer connected to the second data network telephone, the second computer operable to receive the screen shot image from the second data network telephone.