Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus

• US 8,180,029 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2008
• Issued: 05/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Voxer IP LLC (Voxer, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Voxer IP LLC (Voxer, Inc.)
• Inventors: Katis, Thomas E., Panttaja, James T., Panttaja, Mary G., Ranney, Matthew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US12/028,400
• Publication Number:
  US 20090003558A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,558 Days
• Field of Search: 379/93.01, 379/90.01, 379/88.04, 379 8806- 8808, 379 8822- 8828, 379/93.24, 709204-206
• US Class Current: 379/93.01
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 3/126 Foldable, retractable or tiltable tribunes E04H3/123 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• 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 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2503 Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4015 where at least one of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. white board sharing, collaboration or spawning of a subconference
• 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 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/64 Automatic arrangements for answering calls; Automatic arrangements for recording messages for absent subscribers; Arrangements for recording conversations centralised dictation systems H04M11/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/00 Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53 Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages , i.e. mailbox systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• 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 7/15 : Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A telecommunication and multimedia management apparatus and method that supports voice and other media communications and that enables users to: (i) participate in multiple conversation modes, including live phone calls, conference calls, instant voice messaging or tactical communications; (ii) review the messages of conversations in either a live mode or a time-shifted mode and to seamlessly transition back and forth between the two modes; (iii) participate in multiple conversations either concurrently or simultaneously; (iv) archive the messages of conversations for later review or processing; and (v) persistently store media either created or received on the communication devices of users. The latter feature enables users to generate or review media when either disconnected from the network or network conditions are poor and to optimize the delivery of media over the network based on network conditions and the intention of the users participating in conversations.

Claims

1. A communication method for communicating on a communication device, comprising:

progressively and persistently storing media created on the communication device as the media is created;

progressively transmitting the media over a network as the media is created and persistently stored;

progressively receiving media over the network at the communication device;

progressively and persistently storing the received media as the received media is received at the communication device over the network without having to first render the received media; and

selectively rendering, for the first time, the received media using one of two rendering options, the two rendering options including (i) a real-time mode as the media is received over the network and a (ii) time-shifted mode by retrieving and progressively rendering the retrieved media out of persistent storage some time after the media was received and stored.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted and received media further comprise streams of media segmented into time-indexed messages respectively.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising sequentially threading the messages together that share a common attribute.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein persistently storing the created media and the received media on the communication device means storing for a time period beyond what is needed to transmit the created media or render the received media in the real-time mode.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising periodically transmitting the stored created and received media from the communication device to a remote device for storage on the network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the created media out of storage when (i) the communication device was disconnected from the network when the media was created and (ii) the communication reconnects to the network.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising selectively transitioning on the communication device the rendering of the received media between the real-time mode and the time-shifted mode.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a plurality of rendering options for rendering the stored media in the time-shifted mode, the rendering options including one or more of the following:

play, pause, replay, play faster, play slower, jump backward, jump forward, catch up to the most recently received media, or jump to the most recently received media.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the ability to perform one or more of the following functions on the stored created and received media:

indexing;

searching;

transcribing;

or translating.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the media comprises one or more of the following types of media:

voice, video, text, photos, sensor data, radio signals position or GPS information, or a combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication device comprises one of the following:

a land-line phone, a wireless phone, cellular phone, a mobile phone, a computer, a radio, a satellite phone, a satellite radio, a tactical radio, or a tactical phone.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the media comprises one or more indexed media payloads each having a time stamp and identification number.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the received media is received from one or more remote sources over the network.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the progressively transmitting the created media over the network further comprises progressively transmitting the created media to one or more recipients over the network.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a packet-based network, a circuit-based network, a cellular network, a wireless network, a wired network, a radio network, a satellite network, a telephone network, or a combination thereof.

16. A communication device, comprising:

a storage element configured to progressively and persistently store media created on the communication device as the media is created;

a transmission element configured to progressively transmit the media over a network as the media is created and persistently stored;

a network receive element configured to progressively receive media over the network at the communication device;

the storage element further configured to progressively and persistently store the received media as the received media is received over the network without having to first render the received media; and

a rendering element configured to provide rendering options to selectively render the received media in both a real-time mode as the media is received over the network and in a time-shifted mode by retrieving and progressively rendering the retrieved media from persistent storage.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the transmitted and received media further comprise streams of media segmented into time-indexed messages respectively.

18. The device of claim 17, further comprising a conversation element configured to sequentially thread the messages together that share a common attribute.

19. The device of claim 16, wherein the storage element is further configured to persistently store the created media and the received media on the communication device for a time period beyond what is needed to transmit the created media or render the received media in the real-time mode.

20. The device of claim 16, wherein the storage element and the transmission element cooperate to periodically transmit the stored created and received media from the communication device to a remote device for storage on the network.

21. The device of claim 16, wherein the rendering module is further configured to selectively transition the rendering of the received media between the real-time mode and the time-shifted mode.

22. The device of claim 16, wherein the rendering element is configured to provide a plurality of rendering options for rendering the stored media in the time-shifted mode, the rendering options including one or more of the following:

play, pause, replay, play faster, play slower, jump backward, jump forward, catch up to the most recently received media, or jump to the most recently received media.

23. The device of claim 16, further comprising one or more of the following:

(i) an indexing element configured to index the stored created and/or received media;

(ii) a search element configured to search the created and/or received media;

(iii) a transcription element configured to transcribe the stored created and/or received media; and

(iv) translation element configured to translate the stored created and/or received media.

24. The device of claim 16, wherein the media comprises one or more of the following types of media:

voice, video, text, photos, sensor data, radio signals position or GPS information, or a combination thereof.

25. The device of claim 16, wherein the communication device comprises one of the following:

a land-line phone, a wireless phone, cellular phone, a mobile phone, a computer, a radio, a satellite phone, a satellite radio, a tactical radio, or a tactical phone.

26. The device of claim 16, wherein the media comprises one or more indexed media payloads each having a time stamp and identifier number.

27. The device of claim 16, wherein the transmission element and the storage element further cooperate to transmit created media out of storage when (i) the communication device is disconnected from the network when the media was created and (ii) the communication device reconnects to the network.

28. A computer readable application embedded in a non-transitory computer readable medium and intended to run a communication device, the application comprising:

a storage module configured to progressively and persistently store media created on the communication device as the media is created;

a transmission module configured to progressively transmit the media over a network as the media is created and persistently stored;

a network receive module configured to progressively receive media over the network at the communication device;

the storage module further configured to progressively and persistently store the received media as the received media is received over the network without having to first render the received media; and

a rendering module configured to provide rendering options to selectively render the received media in both a real-time mode as the media is received over the network and in a time-shifted mode by retrieving and progressively rendering the retrieved media from persistent storage.

29. The application of claim 28, wherein the transmitted and received media further comprise streams of media segmented into time-indexed messages respectively.

30. The application of claim 29, further comprising a conversation module configured to sequentially thread the messages together that share a common attribute.

31. The application of claim 28, wherein the storage module is further configured to persistently store the created media and the received media on the communication device for a time period beyond what is needed to transmit the created media or render the received media in the real-time mode.

32. The application of claim 28, wherein the storage module and the transmission module cooperate to periodically transmit the stored created and received media from the communication device to a remote device for storage on the network.

33. The application of claim 28, wherein the rendering module is further configured to selectively transition the rendering of the received media between the real-time mode and the time-shifted mode.

34. The application of claim 28, wherein the rendering module is configured to provide a plurality of rendering options for rendering the stored media in the time-shifted mode, the rendering options including one or more of the following:

play, pause, replay, play faster, play slower, jump backward, jump forward, catch up to the most recently received media, or jump to the most recently received media.

35. The application of claim 28, further comprising one or more of the following:

(i) an indexing module configured to index the stored created and/or received media;

(ii) a search module configured to search the created and/or received media;

(iii) a transcription module configured to transcribe the stored created and/or received media; and

(iv) translation module configured to translate the stored created and/or received media.

36. The application of claim 28, wherein the media comprises one or more of the following types of media:

voice, video, text, photos, sensor data, radio signals position or GPS information, or a combination thereof.

37. The application of claim 28, wherein the communication device comprises one of the following:

a land-line phone, a wireless phone, cellular phone, a mobile phone, a computer, a radio, a satellite phone, a satellite radio, a tactical radio, or a tactical phone.

38. The application of claim 28, wherein the media comprises one or more indexed media payloads each having a time stamp and identifier number.

39. The application of claim 28, wherein the transmission module and the storage module further cooperate to transmit created media out of storage when (i) the communication device is disconnected from the network when the media was created and (ii) the communication device reconnects to the network.