Video conferencing system using video manager to provide picture-in-picture image to display devices located remotely from co-located computing systems

• US 7,325,033 B2
• Filed: 04/11/2003
• Issued: 01/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ClearCube Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ClearCube Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Thornton, Barry W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Le Hien
• Application Number:
  US10/411,908
• Publication Number:
  US 20040015597A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,754 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/246, 709/224, 463/42, 370/260, 345/716, 382/284, 434/276, 348/468, 348/584, 348/565
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0227 Cooperation and interconnection of the input arrangement with other functional units of a computer G06F3/023 - G06F3/037 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1438 using more than one graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/125 wherein one of the images is motion video
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

System and method for operating a system including one or more co-located computers, e.g., rack-mounted blades, coupled to one or more remote human interfaces (RHIs), and where content or communication is received from sources, e.g., external content sources, internal or external communications sources, etc., and distributed to the RHIs. A first computing system generates first video signals corresponding to a first image for transmission to a display device in a first RHI. The video manager receives a second image from a source, and inserts second video signals corresponding to the second image with the first video signals to form third video signals. The display device of the first RHI displays a third image based on the third video signals, e.g., a picture-in-picture presentation of the second and first images. The first, second, and third video signals may include video streams and/or audio signals, and may be analog, digital, or both.

Claims

1. A system comprising a plurality of computing systems, the system comprising:

a plurality of computing systems, wherein the plurality of computing systems are located at a common location;

a plurality of human interfaces, wherein each of the human interfaces is located remotely from the common location, wherein each of the human interfaces includes a display device for displaying images, and wherein a first computing system is operable to generate a first image to be displayed on a first display device in a respective first human interface;

a plurality of communication mediums coupling each of the plurality of computing systems to at least one of the plurality of human interfaces; and

a video manager coupled to each of the plurality of computing systems, wherein the video manager is operable to selectively insert a second image into the first image generated by the first computing system for display on the first display device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first display device is operable to display the first image including the second image.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein, in being operable to display the first image including the second image, the first display device is operable to display a PIP (Picture-In-Picture) image including at least a portion of the first image and at least a portion of the second image.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the second image is received from a content source.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the second image is received from an external image source over a network.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the first image comprises first analog video signals, and wherein the second image received from the content source comprises second analog video signals in a scan line format.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the video manager is operable to:

store the second image in the memory medium;

receive the first analog video signals from the first computing system;

retrieve the stored second image from the memory medium in digital form;

convert the second image from digital form to the second analog video signals; and

insert the second analog video signals into the first analog video signals on a scan line basis, thereby generating the third video signals.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein each of at least a subset of the plurality of human interfaces includes an audio device, wherein the video manager is further operable to:

receive audio signals corresponding to the first analog video signals; and

transmit the audio signals with the third analog video signals to the first human interface for presentation to a user of the first human interface.

9. The system of claim 4, wherein the video manager is further operable to:

modify format, protocol, size, and/or resolution of the second image for display on the display device of the first human interface.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the second image is received from a communication source.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein each of the human interfaces includes a camera for acquiring an image.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the second image is received from a camera comprised in a second human interface of the plurality of human interfaces.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the second image comprises a video-conferencing image of a user of another one of the computing systems.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the video manager is operable to selectively insert a plurality of second images into the first image generated by the first computing system for display on the first display device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the plurality of second images comprise video-conferencing images of users of other ones of the computing systems.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the second image is received from an external camera over a network.

17. The system of claim 1,

wherein the first computing system is operable to generate a sequence of first images to be displayed on the first display device in the respective first human interface;

wherein the video manager is operable to selectively insert a sequence of second images into the sequence of first images generated by the first computing system for display on the first display device, wherein each second image of the sequence of second images is inserted into a respective one of the sequence of first images.

18. The system of claim 1,

wherein the video manager comprises a frame buffer;

and

wherein the video manager is further operable to;

store the received second image in the frame buffer, wherein the frame buffer corresponds to a display screen of the display device of the first human interface; and

retrieve the second image from the frame buffer for insertion into the first image.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the video manager is further operable to:

modify format, protocol, size, and/or resolution of the second image for display on the display device of the first human interface.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of computing systems comprises a computer-on-a-card.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of computing systems comprises a computer blade.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the plurality of computing systems are comprised in one or more rack-mount structures.

23. The system of claim 1, where at least one of the plurality of human interfaces comprises a plurality of display devices.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein each of the plurality of display devices comprises a computer monitor.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the video manager is operable to selectively insert the second image into the first image without using any CPU cycles of the computing systems.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the second image is received from a content source.

27. A video manager, comprising:

a video switch comprising;

a memory medium; and

a processor coupled to the memory medium; and

a content processor coupled to the video switch through one or more video buses;

wherein the video switch is operable to couple to a plurality of co-located computing systems, and to further couple to a plurality of human interfaces, wherein each of the human interfaces is located remotely from the co-located computing systems, wherein each of the human interfaces includes a display device for displaying images;

wherein the video switch is further operable to;

receive a first image generated by a first computing system to be displayed on a first display device in a respective first human interface, wherein the first image comprises first analog video signals in a scan line format;

receive a second image from the content processor, wherein the second image comprises second analog video signals in the scan line format; and

selectively insert the second image into the first image generated by the first computing system for display on the first display device by inserting the second analog video signals into the first analog video signals.

28. The video manager of claim 27, wherein the video manager is further operable to:

select a first video bus from the one or more video buses;

receive the second image from the content processor over the first video bus; and

store the second image in the memory medium;

wherein, in selectively inserting a second image into the first image generated by the first computing system for display on the first display device, the video manager is operable to retrieve the second image from the memory medium and insert the second image into the first image.

29. A video manager, comprising:

a video switch comprising;

a memory medium; and

a processor coupled to the memory medium; and

a communications processor coupled to the video switch through one or more video buses;

wherein the video switch is operable to couple to a plurality of co-located computing systems, and to further couple to a plurality of human interfaces, wherein each of the human interfaces is located remotely from the co-located computing systems, wherein each of the human interfaces includes a display device for displaying images, and wherein each of the human interfaces includes a camera for acquiring an image;

wherein the communications processor is operable to receive a first image from a camera comprised in a respective first human interface;

wherein the video switch is further operable to;

receive a second image generated by a first computing system to be displayed on a first display device in a respective second human interface;

receive the first image from the communications processor; and

selectively insert the first image into the second image generated by the first computing system for display on the first display device.

30. The video manager of claim 29, wherein the video manager is further operable to:

select a first video bus from the one or more video buses;

receive the first image from the communications processor over the first video bus; and

store the first image in the memory medium;

wherein, in selectively inserting a first image into the second image generated by the first computing system for display on the first display device, the video manager is operable to retrieve the first image from the memory medium and insert the first image into the second image.

31. A videoconferencing system, comprising:

a plurality of computing systems, wherein the plurality of computing systems are located at a common location;

a plurality of human interfaces, wherein each of the human interfaces is located remotely from the common location, wherein each of the human interfaces includes a display device for displaying images and a camera for acquiring an image, and wherein each computing system is operable to generate a respective first image to be displayed on a display device in a respective human interface;

a plurality of communication mediums coupling each of the plurality of computing systems to at least one of the plurality of human interfaces; and

a video manager coupled to each of the plurality of computing systems, wherein, for each human interface, the video manager is operable to;

receive the respective first image from a respective one of the plurality of computer systems;

receive one or more respective second images from a respective one or more cameras of a respective one or more human interfaces of the plurality of human interfaces;

selectively insert the respective second images into the first image, thereby generating a third image comprising at least a portion of the respective first image and at least a portion of each of the respective second images; and

transmit the third image to the human interface for display on the display device.

32. The system of claim 31,

wherein the video manager is further coupled to one or more external cameras over a network, wherein each of the one or more external cameras is operable to acquire a respective fourth image;

and

wherein the video manager is further operable to;

receive one or more respective fourth images respectively from the one or more external cameras;

selectively insert the one or more respective fourth images into the first image, thereby generating the third image comprising at least a portion of the respective first image and at least a portion of each of the respective second images, and at least a portion of each of the respective fourth images; and

transmit the third image to the human interface for display on the display device.