Teleconferencing configuration based on proximity information

• US 8,503,651 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2006
• Issued: 08/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Saunamaki, Jukka, Virolainen, Jussi, Selin, Jari
• Primary Examiner(s): ZENATI, AMAL S
• Application Number:
  US11/616,492
• Publication Number:
  US 20080160976A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,414 Days
• Field of Search: 379/202, 379/209, 379/202.01, 379/209.01, 455/416, 455/456.1, 455/9, 455/456
• US Class Current: 379/202.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4038 with floor control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/2094 Proximity
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/14 with services dependent on location where the service is an information service H04M2242/15; services independent of location H04M3/42229
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/568 audio processing specific to telephonic conferencing, e.g. spatial distribution, mixing of participants echo suppression in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/02; sound field processing per se H04S7/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Teleconferencing systems may adapt to changes associated with participating terminals by monitoring characteristics of the terminals and modifying audio streams in accordance with detected changes. A terminal moving from a location shared with one or more other participating terminals may be detected in a variety of ways. In response to the location change, a teleconference server may modify the audio stream transmitted to the terminal so that audio originating from the one or more other participating terminals is included in the stream. Additionally, audio streams transmitted to the one or more other terminals may also be modified to include audio signals originating from the moved terminal. Other changes to a terminal that may also affect audio processing include activating a muting function. Muting a terminal while the terminal is among a group of participating terminals may cause the audio signals from the other terminals to also be muted.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting, by a teleconference server, a change to a terminal participating in a teleconference managed by the teleconference server, wherein the teleconference includes a plurality of terminals located in a plurality of locations including a first location and a second location and wherein the terminal is located in the first location prior to the change;

determining, by the teleconference server, whether the change corresponds to a location change of the terminal from the first location to another location, including;

receiving a first context fingerprint including first position coordinates indicating a position of the terminal;

receiving a second context fingerprint including second position coordinates indicating a position of a second terminal;

determining a physical distance between the terminal and the second terminal in the first location based on a difference between the first position coordinates and the second position coordinates, and determining whether the determined physical distance is within a threshold physical distance; and

in response to determining that the physical distance is not within the threshold physical distance, adding an audio signal received from the terminal to one or more audio streams to be generated for the first location;

in response to determining that the change does not correspond to the location change, determining whether the change corresponds to an activation of a local mute functionality of the terminal;

in response to determining that the change corresponds to activation of the local mute functionality, determining a location group of the terminal, wherein the location group corresponds to the first location and includes a plurality of terminals; and

generating at least one other audio stream for the second location, wherein generating the at least one other audio stream for the second location includes filtering out audio signals received from all terminals belonging to the location group, wherein the at least one other audio stream is different from the one or more audio streams to be generated for the first location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the change includes monitoring one or more context fingerprints of the terminal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more context fingerprints include information associated with at least one of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, camera sensor signals, acoustic sensor signals, wireless network characteristics, global system for mobile communications (GSM) base station identification information and BLUETOOTH neighborhood information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the location change of the terminal includes movement from the first location to the second location and wherein the method further comprises:

filtering out the audio signal received from the terminal from at least one other audio stream intended for one or more terminals in the second location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the change corresponds to a location change of the terminal includes determining that the change corresponds to a switch, by the terminal, from a local mode to a stand-alone mode, wherein the local mode indicates participation in the teleconference from a location having one or more other participants and the stand-alone mode indicates participation in the teleconference from a location independent of other participants.

16. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining whether at least one of the one or more context fingerprints is received from each terminal of the plurality of terminals; and

requesting a context fingerprint from each of one or more terminals from which a context fingerprint is not received.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the time at which the first context fingerprint is received is synchronized with the time at which the second context fingerprint is received.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause an apparatus to:

detect a change to a terminal participating in a teleconference managed by the apparatus, wherein the teleconference includes a plurality of terminals located in a plurality of locations including a first location and a second location and wherein the terminal is located in the first location prior to the change;

determine whether the change corresponds to a location change of the terminal from the first location to another location, including;

receiving a first context fingerprint including first position coordinates indicating a position of the terminal;

receiving a second context fingerprint including second position coordinates indicating a position of a second terminal;

determining a physical distance between the terminal and the second terminal in the first location based on a difference between the first position coordinates and the second position coordinates, and determining whether the determined physical distance is within a threshold physical distance; and

in response to determining that the physical distance is not within the threshold physical distance, add an audio signal received from the terminal to one or more audio streams to be generated for the first location;

in response to determining that the change corresponds to activation of the local mute functionality, determining a location group of the terminal, wherein the location group corresponds to the first location and includes a plurality of terminals; and

generating at least one other audio stream for the second location, wherein generating the at least one other audio stream for the second location includes filtering out audio signals received from all terminals belonging to the location group, wherein the at least one other audio stream is different from the one or more audio streams to be generated for the first location.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the instructions for detecting the change includes further instructions for monitoring one or more context fingerprints of the terminal.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the one or more context fingerprints include information associated with at least one of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, camera sensor signals, acoustic sensor signals, global system for mobile communications (GSM) base station identification information and BLUETOOTH neighborhood information.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the location change of the terminal includes movement from the first location to the second location and wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to:

filter out the audio signal received from the terminal from at least one other audio stream intended for one or more terminals in the second location.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the instructions for determining whether the change corresponds to a location change of the terminal includes further instructions for determining that the change corresponds to a switch, by the terminal, from a local mode to a stand-alone mode, wherein the local mode indicates participation in the teleconference from a location having one or more other participants and the stand-alone mode indicates participation in the teleconference from a location independent of other participants.

17. The method of claim 6, wherein, when the requesting includes transmitting more than one request for context fingerprints, the transmission of the requests are synchronized.

11. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

memory operatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the apparatus to;

detect a change to a terminal participating in a teleconference managed by the apparatus, wherein the teleconference includes a plurality of terminals located in a plurality of locations including a first location and a second location and wherein the terminal is located in the first location prior to the change;

determine whether the change corresponds to a location change of the terminal from the first location to another location, including;

receiving a first context fingerprint including first position coordinates indicating a position of the terminal;

receiving a second context fingerprint including second position coordinates indicating a position of a second terminal;

determining a physical distance between the terminal and the second terminal in the first location based on a difference between the first position coordinates and the second position coordinates, and determining whether the determined physical distance is within a threshold physical distance; and

in response to determining that the physical distance is not within the threshold physical distance, add an audio signal received from the terminal to one or more audio streams to be generated for the first location;

in response to determining that the change corresponds to activation of the local mute functionality, determining a location group of the terminal, wherein the location group corresponds to the first location and includes a plurality of terminals; and

generating at least one other audio stream for the second location, wherein generating the at least one other audio stream for the second location includes filtering out audio signals received from all terminals belonging to the location group, wherein the at least one other audio stream is different from the one or more audio streams to be generated for the first location.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein detecting the change is performed based on context fingerprint information received from the terminal, wherein the context fingerprint information is derived from one or more sensor readings taken by the terminal, and

wherein the context fingerprint information includes at least one of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, camera sensor signals, acoustic sensor signals, global system for mobile communications (GSM) base station identification information and BLUETOOTH neighborhood information.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed, further cause the apparatus to monitor for the change to the terminal using session initiation protocol (SIP).

14. An apparatus comprising:

means for detecting a change to a terminal participating in a teleconference managed by the apparatus, wherein the teleconference includes a plurality of terminals located in a plurality of locations including a first location and a second location and wherein the terminal is located in the first location;

means for determining whether the change corresponds to a location change of the terminal from the first location to another location, including;

means for receiving a first context fingerprint including first position coordinates indicating a position of the terminal;

means for receiving a second context fingerprint including second position coordinates indicating a position of a second terminal;

means for determining a physical distance between the terminal and the second terminal in the first location based on a difference between the first position coordinates and the second position coordinates, and means for determining whether the determined physical distance is within a threshold physical distance; and

means for adding, in response to determining that the physical distance is not within the threshold physical distance, an audio signal received from the terminal to one or more audio streams to be generated for the first location;

in response to determining that the change corresponds to activation of the local mute functionality, determining a location group of the terminal, wherein the location group corresponds to the first location and includes a plurality of terminals; and

generating at least one other audio stream for the second location, wherein generating the at least one other audio stream for the second location includes filtering out audio signals received from all terminals belonging to the location group, wherein the at least one other audio stream is different from the one or more audio streams to be generated for the first location.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the location change of the terminal includes moving from the first location to the second location and wherein the apparatus further comprises:

means for filtering out the audio signal received from the terminal from at least one other audio stream intended for one or more terminals in the second location.