Per-application remote volume control

• US 8,825,737 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2007
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Mahajan, Rajneesh, Stoyanov, Vladimir, Porter, Nelly
• Primary Examiner(s): Anwari, Maceeh
• Application Number:
  US11/685,922
• Publication Number:
  US 20080189355A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,729 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

In client-server architectures, systems and methods for per-application remote volume control are disclosed. In an implementation, one or more audio session are created between a client computing device and a server computing device corresponding to one or more media applications running on the server computing device. The volume of each of the media application is selectively changed at the server and the change in volume is synchronized at the client for the corresponding audio session.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising:

a memory;

one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory; and

an audio session proxy manager stored in the memory, wherein the audio session proxy manager receives an audio session notification, the audio session proxy manager being associated with a first application and a second application, and wherein the audio session proxy manager receives information that the first application and the second application are being executed simultaneously at a remote server, the first application and the second application being actively remoted on the computing device, the audio session proxy manager being configured to receive a volume change notification from the remote server, wherein the volume change notification is associated with at least one of the actively remoted first application and the actively remoted second application, and the audio session proxy manager being configured to apply a volume change identified in the volume change notification to the actively remoted first application and not apply the volume change identified in the volume change notification to the actively remoted second application when the volume change identified in the volume change notification is associated with the actively remoted first application.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the audio session notification is used to create a proxy audio session at the computing device.

3. The computing device of claim 2, wherein the proxy audio session corresponds to a remote media application.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the audio session proxy manager stores a set of audio session parameters that include one or more of the following:

volume, title, changes in volume or title, audio file extensions, icon for visual display and compression standards.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the audio session proxy manager receives a volume change notification from a corresponding audio session at the remote server.

6. The computing device of claim 1 further comprising a user interface to change volume of a remote application.

7. A method comprising:

receiving information of an instantiation of an audio session at a remote server, wherein the instantiation of the audio session is specific to an application resident on the remote server;

establishing a proxy audio session at a client based on the received information; and

sending received volume changes on the proxy audio session to the remote server, wherein at least one of the received volume changes is applied to an active first sound-producing application resident on the remote server and being remoted on the client and is not applied to a second sound-producing application resident on the remote server and being remoted on the client, wherein the first sound-producing application and the second sound-producing application are simultaneously active and are resident on the remote server, and wherein the at least one of the volume changes is applied to an audio stack of the client prior to sending information about the at least one of the volume changes to an audio stack of the remote server.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the instantiation of the audio session is performed from a client-server interface resident at a client.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the receiving information includes receiving an audio session notification.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising providing a volume control at the client for the application resident at the server.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising applying the volume changes at the remote server.

12. A method comprising:

changing a volume level of a remote application resident on a server, the changing the volume level of the remote application resident on the server being application-specific and not affecting the volume level of a second application resident on the server;

determining whether an active remote audio session exists between the server and a remote client that corresponds with the remote application; and

providing a volume change notification to a proxy audio session on the remote client when the active remote audio session is determined to exist, the volume change notification being specific to the remote application and identifying a volume change for the remote application and not affecting the volume of the second application when the remote application and the second application are simultaneously executed and are remoted to the remote client.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the changing is performed through a user interface.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising registering the volume change notification associated with the remote application.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the changing includes notifying an audio session monitor about change in volume.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the determining applies to the changing volume of the remote application.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the determining is performed by an audio session monitor.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the providing further comprises updating a volume slider associated with a proxy audio session.

19. The method of claim 12 further comprising providing an error message if determining shows that an audio session does not exist.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising recursively determining whether an audio session exists, until an audio session is found.