Multi-network architecture for media data exchange

• US 8,570,907 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2010
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Garcia, Roberto Jr., Jeong, Hyeonkuk, Patel, Nirav, Tung, Berkat S., Abuan, Joe S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sam, Phirin
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wong, Blanche
• Application Number:
  US12/832,049
• Publication Number:
  US 20110252319A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,210 Days
• Field of Search: 370/259, 370/260, 455/414.1, 455/416
• US Class Current: 370/259
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2514 between local and global IP addresses
• 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: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

Some embodiments use several different types of networks to relay several different types of media content among several different computing devices. The media content of some embodiments is data that a computing device can process in order to provide a presentation of the media content to a user of the device. Examples of types of such media content include audio data, video data, text data, picture data, game data, and/or other media data. In some embodiments, two different networks relay media content of two different types among multiple computing devices. Specifically, in some embodiments, a first network routes among the computing devices one type of media data content (e.g., game data), while a second network routes among the computing devices another type of media data content (e.g., audio and/or video data of game participants). The two networks differ in some embodiments based on their topology.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium of a first computing device that participates in a communication session among a plurality of computing devices, the computer readable medium storing a computer program that is executable by at least one processing unit, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

joining a first network that is established for transferring a first type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the first network connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices;

through the first network, receiving media content data of the first type;

from the received media content data of the first type, producing a first media presentation on the first computing device;

joining a second network that has a different network topology than the first network and that is established for transferring a second type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the second network connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices;

through the second network, receiving media content data of the second type while concurrently receiving media content data of the first type through the first network;

from the received media content data of the second type, producing a second media presentation on the first computing device;

wherein the first network is a mesh network and the second network is a focus point network that has one computing device of the plurality of computing devices serve as a network hub that receives media content data from other ones of the plurality of computing devices, composites the received media content data and distributes the composited media content data to the other ones of the plurality of computing devices.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises sets of instructions for:

through the first network, transmitting media content data of the first type; and

through the second network, transmitting media content data of the second type while concurrently transmitting media content data of the first type through the first network.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the sets of instructions for producing the first and second media presentations comprises sets of instructions for:

providing the first media presentation on the first computing device; and

providing the second media presentation on the first computing device concurrently with the first media presentation.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for using the first network to set up the second network.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 4,

wherein the second network is a star network that uses one of the plurality of computing devices as a central network hub for receiving content from each computing device in the second network and distributing the received content to other computing devices in the second network,

wherein the computer program further comprises sets of instructions for:

using the first network to identify one computing device out of the plurality of computing devices that is designated as the central network hub;

designating the identified computing device as the hub of the star network.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 5, wherein central network hub capabilities comprises at least one of (i) device type of the computing device, (ii) Network Address Translation (NAT) router type of a router coupled to the computing device, (iii) number of links that a computing device can establish with the other computing devices, and (iv) quality of the links.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the device type comprises at least one of (i) speed of the computing device'"'"'s Central Processing Unit (CPU), and (ii) memory capacity of the computing device.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 6, the quality of links comprises at least one of (i) bandwidth of each link, and (ii) bit error rate of each link.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the different network topologies of the first and second networks provide different schemes for distributing media content data among the plurality of computing devices.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first network provides multiple paths for providing media content data from one computing device to at least another computing device;

wherein the second network provides at most only one path for providing media content data from any one computing device to any other computing device.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the media content data of the first type comprises media content data generated by the plurality of computing devices to perform a particular task, while the media content data of the second type comprises media content data captured from users of the plurality of computing devices.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the media content data of the first type is generated from input provided by the users through user input mechanisms of the plurality of computing devices, while the media content data of the second type is captured through audio or video capture modules of the plurality of computing devices.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the touch input mechanisms comprise at least one of tactile input keys and touch screen input keys.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the media content data of the first type comprises data regarding a game being played by the users through the plurality of computing devices and the first network, while the media content data of the second type comprises audio data of the users playing the game.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the media content data of the first type comprises data regarding a game being played by the users through the plurality of computing devices and the first network, while the media content data of the second type comprises video data of the users playing the game.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for:

exchanging, through the first network, the media content data of the second type with other ones of the plurality of computing devices, while also exchanging the media content data of the first type with the other ones of the plurality of computing devices through the first network, when the first computing device cannot join the second network.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the media content data of the first and second types are not control data for establishing or maintaining the communication session among the plurality of computing devices.

18. A method for a first computing device to participate in a communication session among a plurality of computing devices, the method comprising:

the first computing device joining a first network that is established for routing a first type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the first network connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices;

through the first network, the first computing device receiving media content data of the first type;

from the received media content data of the first type, the first computing device producing a first media presentation on the first computing device;

the first computing device joining a second network that has a different network topology than the first network and that is established for sharing a second type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the second network connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices;

through the second network, the first computing device receiving media content data of the second type while concurrently receiving media content data of the first type through the first network;

from the received media content data of the second type, the first computing device producing a second media presentation on the first computing device;

wherein the first network is a mesh network and the second network is a focus point network that has one computing device of the plurality of computing devices serve as a network hub that receives media content data from other ones of the plurality of computing devices, composites the received media content data and distributes the composited media content data to the other ones of the plurality of computing devices.

19. The method of claim 18, the method further comprising:

through the first network, the first computing device transmitting media content data of the first type; and

through the second network, the first computing device transmitting media content data of the second type while concurrently transmitting media content data of the first type through the first network.

20. The method of claim 18, the method further comprising:

the first computing device providing the first media presentation on the first computing device; and

the first computing device providing the second media presentation on the first computing device concurrently with the first media presentation.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the different network topologies of the first and second networks provide different schemes for distributing media content data among the plurality of computing devices.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the first network provides multiple paths for providing media content data from one computing device to at least another computing device, while the second network provides at most only one path for providing media content data from anyone computing device to any other computing device.

23. A computing device to participate in a communication session among a plurality of computing devices, the computing device comprising:

a first module (i) to set up a first network for routing a first type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, wherein the first network is connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices, (ii) through the first network, to receive media content data of the first type, and (iii) from the received media content data of the first type, to produce a first media presentation on the computing device; and

a second module (i) to set up a second network for sharing a second type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the second network having a different network topology than the first network, wherein the second network is connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices, (ii) through the second network, to receive media content data of the second type, while the first module is concurrently receiving media content data of the first type through the first network, and (iii) from the received media content data of the second type, to produce a second media presentation on the computing device;

wherein the first module transmits media content data of the first type through the first network while the second module concurrently transmits media content data of the second type.

24. The computing device of claim 23, wherein the different network topologies of the first and second networks provide different schemes for distributing media content data among the plurality of computing devices.

25. The computing device of claim 23, wherein the first network has a mesh topology that provides multiple paths for providing media content data from one computing device to at least another computing device, while the second network is a non-mesh topology that provides at most only one path for providing media content data from any one computing device to any other computing device.

26. The computing device of claim 23, wherein the media content data of the first type comprises media content data generated by the computing devices to perform a particular task, while the media content data of the second type comprises media content data captured from users of the computing devices.

27. The computing device of claim 23, wherein the media content data of the first and second types are not control data for establishing or maintaining the communication session along the first and second networks.

28. A non-transitory computer readable medium of a first computing device that participates in a communication session among a plurality of computing devices, the computer readable medium storing a computer program that is executable by at least one processing unit, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

joining a first network that is established for transferring a first type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the first network connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices;

through the first network, receiving media content data of the first type;

from the received media content data of the first type, producing a first media presentation on the first computing device;

joining a second network that has a different network topology than the first network and that is established for transferring a second type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the second network connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices;

through the second network, receiving media content data of the second type while concurrently receiving media content data of the first type through the first network;

from the received media content data of the second type, producing a second media presentation on the first computing device;

wherein the media content data of the first type comprises media content data generated by the plurality of computing devices regarding a game being played by the users through the plurality of computing devices and the first network, while the media content data of the second type comprises at least one of audio data of the users playing the game or video data of the users playing the game.

29. A non-transitory computer readable medium of a first computing device that participates in a communication session among a plurality of computing devices, the computer readable medium storing a computer program that is executable by at least one processing unit, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

joining a first network that is established for transferring a first type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the first network connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices;

through the first network, receiving media content data of the first type;

from the received media content data of the first type, producing a first media presentation on the first computing device;

joining a second network that has a different network topology than the first network and that is established for transferring a second type of media content data among the plurality of computing devices, the second network connected to each computing device of the plurality of computing devices;

through the second network, receiving media content data of the second type while concurrently receiving media content data of the first type through the first network;

from the received media content data of the second type, producing a second media presentation on the first computing device;

exchanging, through the first network, the media content data of the second type with other ones of the plurality of computing devices, while also exchanging the media content data of the first type with the other ones of the plurality of computing devices through the first network, when the first computing device cannot join the second network.