Wireless communications connection device

• US 7,707,250 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2006
• Issued: 04/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Callpod Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Callpod Incorporated
• Inventors: Guccione, Darren S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Quang N.
• Application Number:
  US11/381,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20070260682A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,456 Days
• Field of Search: 370/337, 707/10, 709/203, 709/217, 709/219, 709/230, 709/231
• US Class Current: 709/205
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting

Abstract

A method and apparatus is provided for setting up a wireless conference call, wireless non-call conference, and sharing audio and/or video content. The method includes the steps of providing an audio mixer that receives an audio input from each of at least three audio interfaces, mixes, cleans, and amplifies and/or de-amplifies the audio signal from the audio inputs and provides an equalized audio output to each of the at least three audio interfaces; providing a first local wireless interface between a first audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a wireless headset of a first local participant; providing a second local wireless interface between a second audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a wireless headset of a second local participant; and, providing a third wireless interface between a third audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a remote communications means for communicating with a remote participant, wherein the communication paths to the first local participant, second local participant and the remote participant are all discrete, so as to permit simultaneous two-way (incoming and outgoing) communications between each participant during wireless conferencing between the local participants and during wireless conferencing between the local participants and the remote participant, and so as to permit simultaneous one-way communications between an audio and/or video content source and each local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the local participants.

Claims

1. A method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment using an electronic device having audio capabilities, such method comprising:

providing an audio mixer disposed in the electronic device to receive an audio input from each of at least three audio interfaces, to mix and clean an audio signal from the audio inputs and to provide an equalized audio output to each of the at least three audio interfaces;

providing a first local wireless interface between a first audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a wireless headset of a first local participant;

providing a second local wireless interface between a second audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a wireless headset of a second local participant;

providing a third local wireless interface between a third audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a remote communications means for communicating with a remote participant;

providing simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and providing simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant; and

providing simultaneous one-way communications between an audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant, wherein a first communication path to the first local participant, a second communication path to the second local participant, and a third communication path to the remote participant are all discrete, and wherein the audio and/or video content source is integrated within the remote communications means,

wherein an antenna of the first local wireless interface, the second local wireless interface, and the third local wireless interface is disposed within the electronic device having audio capabilities.

2. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the audio mixer is a field-programmable gate array.

3. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the first local wireless interface, the second local wireless interface, and the third local wireless interface utilize a Bluetooth protocol.

4. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the remote communications means comprises a cellular phone.

5. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the remote communications means comprises a computer using VOIP technology.

6. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the remote communications means comprises a computer using a webcam.

7. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the remote communications means comprises a personal digital assistant (“

PDA”

).

8. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the simultaneous two-way, frill-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant utilize synchronous connection-oriented links under the Bluetooth protocol.

9. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the simultaneous one-way communications between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the first local participant and the second local participant utilize asynchronous connectionless links under the Bluetooth protocol.

10. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a cellular phone.

11. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a computer.

12. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a personal digital assistant (“

PDA”

).

13. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 wherein the wireless headset of the first local participant and the wireless headset of the second local participant are A2DP-compliant.

14. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 13 wherein the audio and/or video content comprises stereo audio.

15. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 1 farther comprising:

providing a means for switching between simultaneous two-way, fall-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant, simultaneous two-way, fall-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant, and simultaneous one-way communications between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the first local participant and the second local participant.

16. A method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment using an electronic device having audio capabilities, such method comprising:

providing an audio mixer, disposed in the electronic device, that receives an audio input from each of at least four audio interfaces, mixes and cleans an audio signal from the audio inputs and provides an equalized audio output to each of the at least four audio interfaces;

providing a first local wireless interface between a first audio interface of the at least four audio interfaces and a wireless headset of a first local participant;

providing a second local wireless interface between a second audio interface of the at least four audio interfaces and a wireless headset of a second local participant;

providing a third local wireless interface between a third audio interface of the at least four audio interfaces and a remote communications means for communicating with a remote participant;

providing a fourth local wireless interface between a fourth audio interface of the at least four audio interfaces and an audio and/or video content source;

providing simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and providing simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant; and

providing simultaneous one-way communications between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant, wherein a first communication path to the first local participant, a second communication path to the second local participant, and a third communication path to the remote participant are all discrete;

wherein an antenna of the first local wireless interface, the second local wireless interface, and the third local wireless interface is disposed within the electronic device having audio capabilities.

17. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the audio mixer is a field-programmable gate array.

18. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the first local wireless interface, the second local wireless interface, the third local wireless interface, and the fourth local wireless interface utilize a Bluetooth protocol.

19. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the remote communications means comprises a cellular phone.

20. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the remote communications means comprises a computer using VOIP technology.

21. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the remote communications means comprises a computer using a webcam.

22. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the remote communications means comprises a personal digital assistant (“

PDA”

).

23. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and providing simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant utilize synchronous connection-oriented links under the Bluetooth protocol.

24. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the simultaneous one-way communications between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant utilize asynchronous connectionless links under the Bluetooth protocol.

25. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a cellular phone.

26. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a computer.

27. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises an MP3 player.

28. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a personal digital assistant (“

PDA”

).

29. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the wireless headset of the first local participant and the wireless headset of the second local participant are A2DP-compliant.

30. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 wherein the audio and/or video content comprises stereo audio.

31. The method for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 16 farther comprising:

providing a means for switching between the simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant, the simultaneous two-way, frill-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant, and the simultaneous one-way communications between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the first local participant and the second local participant.

32. An apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment using an electronic device having audio capabilities, such apparatus comprising:

an audio mixer, disposed in the electronic device, that receives an audio signal from an audio input from each of at least three audio interfaces, mixes and cleans the audio inputs, and provides an equalized audio output to each of the at least three audio interfaces;

a first local wireless interface between a first audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a wireless headset of a first local participant;

a second local wireless interface between a second audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a wireless headset of a second local participant; and

a third local wireless interface between a third audio interface of the at least three audio interfaces and a remote communications means for communicating with a remote participant, wherein the audio mixer permits simultaneous two-way, frill-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and permits simultaneous two-way, frill-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant;

wherein the audio mixer provides simultaneous one-way communications between an audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the first local participant and the second local participant, and wherein a first communication path to the first local participant, a second communication path to the second local participant, and a third communication path to the remote participant are all discrete; and

wherein an antenna of the first local wireless interface, the second local wireless interface, and the third local wireless interface is disposed within the electronic device having audio capabilities.

33. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the audio mixer is a field-programmable gate array.

34. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the first local wireless interface, the second local wireless interface, and the third local wireless interface utilize a Bluetooth protocol.

35. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the remote communications means comprises a cellular phone.

36. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the remote communications means comprises a computer using VOIP technology.

37. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the remote communications means comprises a computer using a webcam.

38. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the remote communications means comprises a personal digital assistant (“

PDA”

).

39. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant utilize synchronous connection-oriented links under the Bluetooth protocol.

40. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the simultaneous one-way communications between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the first local participant and the second local participant utilize asynchronous connectionless links under the Bluetooth protocol.

41. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a cellular phone.

42. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a computer.

43. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the audio and/or video content source comprises a personal digital assistant (“

PDA”

).

44. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 wherein the wireless headset of the first local participant and the wireless headset of the second local participant are A2DP-compliant.

45. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 44 wherein the audio and/or video content comprises stereo audio.

46. The apparatus for wirelessly conferencing and sharing content among a number of participants in a mobile environment as in claim 32 further comprising:

a means for switching between simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless non-call conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant, simultaneous two-way, full-duplex communications between the first local participant, the second local participant, and the remote participant during wireless conferencing between the first local participant and the second local participant and the remote participant, and simultaneous one-way communications between the audio and/or video content source and the first local participant and the second local participant during wireless sharing of audio and/or video content between the first local participant and the second local participant.