Management of stored conference data

• US 7,836,163 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2007
• Issued: 11/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pixion Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Pixion Incorporated
• Inventors: Wells, Benjamin, Madams, Peter, Flower, John, Kaul, Clint, Salesky, Joseph, Janne, Edward Arthur Ho-Ming
• Primary Examiner(s): Jean; Frantz B
• Application Number:
  US11/926,052
• Publication Number:
  US 20080195704A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,115 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/217, 709/204, 709/231
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24 Querying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1415 with means for detecting differences between the image stored in the host and the images displayed on the displays
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1836 with heterogeneous network architecture
• 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 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

An improved networked computer communications system handles arbitrary streams of data, and transports at varying speeds those streams where intermediate updates can be dropped if they are obsoleted by later arriving data updates, optimizing the utilization of network and node resources. Complex buffering by system server software allows distributed, parallel, or redundant processing, transmission, and storage for performance, reliability, and robustness. Various parameters of the system can be monitored, and the system can be reconfigured automatically based on the observations. Varied techniques reduce the perceived end-to-end latency and take advantage of software and hardware capabilities that assets connected to the system may possess. One conferencing system allows conference participants to share all or a portion of the display seen on their computer screens. The conferees may be at sites removed from each other, or may view a recorded presentation or archived conference at different times. Conference participants are either “presenters” who can modify the display or “attendees” who cannot modify the display. A pointer icon, which can be labeled to identify the conferee, is displayed on the shared image area. Each conferee can modify the position of his or her own pointer, even when not presenting, so that every participant can see what each conferee is pointing to, should a conferee choose to point to an element of the display. These and other features apply to other data streams shared in the conference or in meetings where there is no shared-image data stream.

Claims

1. A method for managing stored conferencing data, comprising:

receiving a live stream of conference data generated during a video conference;

storing data associated with the live stream of conference data in a storage medium, storage occurring in response to a conferee request, wherein storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data automatically begins in response to a triggering event in the video conference;

retrieving the data associated with the live stream of conference data from the storage medium in response to a retrieval request, wherein retrieval of the data occurs subsequent to that portion of the video conference associated with the live stream; and

providing the retrieved data as a stream of conference data to a requesting user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the conferee is authorized to store data associated with the live stream of conference data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the authorization is associated with a particular live stream of conference data.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the retrieved data as a stream of conference data is provided to the requesting user with rewind capability.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the retrieved data as a stream of conference data is provided to the requesting user with fast-forward capability.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving a second live stream of conference data generated during the video conference; and

storing data associated with the second live stream of conference data in a storage medium.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data associated with the live stream of conference data and the data associated with the second live stream of conference data are different types of data associated with the video conference.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising retrieving the data associated with the second live stream of conference data in conjunction with retrieving the data associated with the live stream of conference data.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising synchronizing the different data types when providing the retrieved data as a stream of conference data to the requesting user, the retrieved data provided in conjunction with the retrieved data associated with the second live stream of conference data.

10. The method of claim 2, further comprising billing for storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data.

11. The method of claim 2, further comprising billing for providing the data associated with the live stream of conference data in response to the user request.

12. The method of claim 2, further comprising searching for the stored conference data in the storage medium in response to the user request prior to providing the stored conference data, the stored conference data provided after having been located in response to a search parameter in the user request.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the search parameter includes a user-provided key.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the search parameter includes an access list.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the search parameter includes a privilege level.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the search parameter includes a user-provided payment option.

17. The method of claim 2, wherein the retrieved data as a stream of conference data is provided to the requesting user with jump playback control.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein jump playback control is associated with an index marking.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein jump playback control is associated with a time code.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining how much data associated with the live stream of conference data can be stored in the storage medium.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the determination corresponds to a time limit.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the determination corresponds to an amount of disk capacity.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the conferee request identifies the storage medium where storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data is to take place.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the conferee requests identifies when storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data is to begin.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data automatically begins when a particular conferee joins the video conference.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data automatically begins when a certain number of conferees join the video conference.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data automatically begins when a first conferee presents during the video conference.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data automatically begins when a particular conferee presents during the video conference.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data automatically begins at a particular real time during the video conference.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data automatically begins after a particular period of time elapsed subsequent the beginning of the video conference.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising terminating storage of the data associated with the live stream of conference data.