Multi-participant conference adjustments

• US 8,861,701 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2005
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Abuan, Joe, Jeong, Hyeonkuk, Tung, Berkat Shing
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoque, Nafiz E
• Application Number:
  US11/118,932
• Publication Number:
  US 20060245379A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,456 Days
• Field of Search: 370260-262, 348 1408- 1409, 379/202.01
• US Class Current: 379/202.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation

Abstract

Some embodiments provide an architecture for establishing a multi-participant conference. This architecture has one participant'"'"'s computer in the conference act as a central content distributor for the conference. The central distributor receives data (e.g., video and/or audio streams) from the computer of each other participant, and distributes the received data to the computers of all participants. In some embodiments, the central distributor receives A/V data from the computers of the other participants. From such received data, the central distributor of some embodiments generates composite data (e.g., composite image data and/or composite audio data) that the central distributor distributes back to the participants.

Claims

1. A method of establishing a conference among a plurality of computers comprising at least first, second, and third computers, said method comprising:

the first computer performing a focus-point assessment process including determining that a bandwidth capability of the first computer meets a predefined conferencing capability;

the first computer determining that the first computer can serve as a central distributor for said conference based on the bandwidth capability of the first computer;

in response to the determining that the first computer can serve as the central distributor, designating the first computer as the central distributor and designating the second and third computers as non-central distributors, wherein the second computer has a first set of default conferencing parameters including a first codec configuration and the third computer has a further set of default conferencing parameters including a further codec configuration;

setting up among the plurality of computers said conference based on the first and further sets of default conferencing parameters and the focus-point assessment process, wherein said conference has the central distributor

(i) receiving conference content from a first conference participant that is using the central distributor to participate in the conference,

(ii) receiving conference content from the second and third computers,

(iii) encoding the received conference content from the second computer based on the first codec configuration,

(iv) encoding the received conference content from the third computer based on the further codec configuration, and

(v) distributing the encoded conference content to the non-central distributors, wherein conference content sent between the central distributor and each of the non-central distributors does not pass through any other computer that is participating in the conference;

after the conference is set up, measuring bandwidth between the central distributor and at least one of the non-central distributors; and

adjusting at least one of said parameters based on said measured bandwidth.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said adjusting comprises downgrading at least one of said parameters, wherein downgrading comprises changing said parameter to a lower quality level that requires fewer data bits.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said adjusting comprises upgrading at least one of said parameters, wherein upgrading comprises changing said parameter to a higher quality level that requires more data bits.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said measuring comprises determining packet delay between the central distributor and at least one of the non-central distributors.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said measuring comprises determining packet loss between the central distributor and at least one of the non-central distributors.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a quality of data at one of said computers; and

adjusting at least one of said parameters based on said determination of the quality of data.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said quality of data comprises packet delay.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein said quality of data comprises packet loss.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said measuring occurs as a result of the second computer leaving the conference.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said measuring occurs as a result of another computer joining the conference after the conference is set up.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said set of parameters comprises at least one of (i) a frame size of content provided from the first computer to the second computer and (ii) an identification of an encoder used by the first computer to encode content sent from the first computer to the second computer.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the conference content distributed to a first non-central distributor does not include the conference content that the first non-central distributor sent to the central distributor.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program executable by at least one processor contained in a first computer, the computer program for establishing a conference among the first computer and at least two other computers, said computer program comprising:

a set of instructions for performing a focus-point assessment process including determining that a bandwidth capability of the first computer meets a predefined conferencing capability;

a set of instructions for determining that the first computer can serve as a central distributor based on the bandwidth capability of the first computer;

a set of instructions for designating a second computer and a third computer as non-central distributors while designating the first computer as a central distributor, in response to the determining that the first computer can serve as the central distributor, wherein the second computer has a first set of default conferencing parameters including a first codec configuration and the third computer has a further set of default conferencing parameters including a further codec configuration;

a set of instructions for setting up said conference among the computers based on the first and further sets of default conferencing parameters and the focus-point assessment process so that the central distributor (i) receives conference content from each of the second and a third computers, (ii) encodes the received conference content from the second computer based on the first codec configuration, (iii) encodes the received conference content from the third computer based on the further codec configuration, and (iv) distributes the encoded conference content to each of the non-central distributors, wherein conference content sent between the central distributor and non-central distributors does not pass through intervening non-central distributors;

a set of instructions for measuring, after the conference is set up, bandwidth between the central distributor and at least one of said non-central distributors; and

a set of instructions for adjusting at least one of said parameters based on said measured bandwidth.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of instructions for said adjusting comprises a set of instructions for downgrading at least one of said parameters, wherein the set of instructions for downgrading comprises a set of instructions for changing said parameter to a lower quality level that requires fewer data bits.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of instructions for said adjusting comprises a set of instructions for upgrading at least one of said parameters, wherein the set of instructions for upgrading comprises a set of instructions for changing said parameter to a higher quality level that requires more data bits.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of instructions for said measuring comprises a set of instructions for determining packet delay between the central distributor and one of the non-central distributors.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the set of instructions for said measuring comprises a set of instructions for determining packet loss between the central distributor and one of the non-central distributors.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein said computer program further comprises:

a set of instructions for determining the quality of data at one of said computers; and

a set of instructions for adjusting said at least one of said parameters based on said determination of data quality.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein said quality of data comprises packet delay.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein said quality of data comprises packet loss.

21. A method of adjusting a conference among at least three participant computers, the method comprising:

at a first participant computer, performing a focus-point assessment process including determining that a bandwidth capability of the first participant computer meets a predefined conferencing capability and determining that the first participant computer can serve as a central distributor based on the bandwidth capability of the first computer;

at the first participant computer, receiving conference content from a conference participant that is using the first participant computer as the central distributor to participate in the conference, wherein the conference participant includes a first set of default conferencing parameters and a first codec configuration based on the focus-point assessment process;

at the first participant computer, receiving conference content from each of the remaining plurality of participant computers, wherein each of the remaining plurality of participant computers include further sets of defaults conferencing parameters and further codec configurations;

from the first participant computer, encoding the received conference content for each of the first and further codec configurations and distributing the encoded conference content to the remaining plurality of participant computers based on the codec configuration of the each participant computer, wherein conference content sent between any two participant computers does not pass through an intervening participant computer;

at the first participant computer, receiving a notification that at least one participant computer has joined or left the conference; and

adjusting a parameter of the conference in response to said participant computer joining or leaving the conference, the adjusted parameter affecting a rate at which conference content is sent between participant computers.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said adjusted parameter is an upload rate from the first participant computer to one or more of the remaining plurality of participant computers of the conference.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said upload rate to said one or more participant computers is increased after said at least one participant computers has left the conference.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said first participant computer has a maximum upload rate capability, wherein said maximum upload rate is utilized after adjusting the upload rate to said one or more of the remaining plurality of participant computers.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein said upload rate to said one or more of the remaining plurality of participant computers is decreased after said at least one participant computers has joined the conference.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein said first participant computer has a maximum upload rate capability, wherein said maximum upload rate is utilized prior to the said at least one participant computer joining or leaving the conference.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein said parameter is adjusted equally for each of said participant computers.

28. The method of claim 21, the method further comprising sending a message to at least one participant computer of the conference indicating that a participant computer has left the conference in order to allow the at least one participant computer to deallocate resources used for decoding and displaying data of the participant computers that left the conference.

29. A method of adjusting a conference among at least three participant computers, the method comprising:

a first participant computer performing a focus-point assessment process including determining that a bandwidth capability of the first participant computer meets a predefined conferencing capability and determining that the first participant computer can serve as a central distributor based on the bandwidth capability of the first computer;

in response to the determining that the first computer can serve as the central distributor, designating the first participant computer as the central distributor and designating a second computer and a third computer as non-central distributors, wherein the second computer has a first set of default conferencing parameters including a first codec configuration and the third computer has a further set of default conferencing parameters including a further codec configuration;

receiving conference content at the central distributor from a first conference participant using the central distributor to participate in the conference, wherein the conference includes default conferencing parameters based on the focus-point assessment process;

receiving conference content at the central distributor from each of the second and third computers;

encodes the received conference content from the second computer based on the first codec configuration;

encodes the received conference content from the third computer based on the further codec configuration;

distributing the encoded conference content from the central distributor to the non-central distributors, wherein conference content sent between any two participant computers does not pass through an intervening participant computer;

at the central distributor, making a determination that a transmission rate between the central distributor and a first non-central distributor should be changed, said determination based on a set of criteria comprising at least one of (i) a participant computer joining the conference, (ii) a participant computer leaving the conference, and (iii) detecting packet loss between the central distributor and the first non-central distributor; and

changing the transmission rate between the central distributor and the first non-central distributor based on said determination.

30. The method of claim 29 further comprising receiving a message from the first non-central distributor that the first non-central distributor has detected packet loss from the central distributor, wherein said determination is made upon said receiving.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein said message indicates a requested transmission rate.

32. The method of claim 29 further comprising:

receiving a first message from the first non-central distributor indicating that the first non-central distributor has detected packet loss from the central distributor, said first message comprising a first requested transmission rate;

receiving a second message from a second non-central distributor indicating that the second non-central distributor has detected packet loss from the central distributor, said second message comprising a second requested transmission rate;

computing an average of the first and second requested transmission rates; and

transmitting data to the first and second non-central distributors at the computed average transmission rate.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein said adjusting of the transmission rate comprises adjusting at least one of a frame rate and a frame size of an encoder of the central distributor.

34. A method of adjusting a conference among a plurality of participant computers comprising at least first, second, and third computers, wherein the first computer is designated as a central distributor in response to the first computer performing a focus-point assessment process including determining that a bandwidth capability of the first computer meets a predefined conferencing capability and determining that the first computer can serve as the central distributor based on the bandwidth capability of the first computer, the second computer having a first set of default conferencing parameters including a first codec configuration is designated as a first non-central distributor, and the third computer having a further set of default conferencing parameters including a further codec configuration is designated as a second non-central distributor, and wherein the central distributor (i) receives conference content from a first conference participant that is using the central distributor to participate in the conference, wherein the conference includes default conferencing parameters based on the focus-point assessment process, (ii) receives conference content from the first non-central distributor of a second conference participant using the first codec configuration, and (iii) receives conference content from the second non-central distributor of a third conference participant using the further codec configuration, wherein conference content sent between any two participant computers does not pass through an intervening participant computer, the method comprising:

making a determination at the second non-central distributor that a transmission rate between the second non-central distributor and the central distributor should be changed, said determination based on detecting packet loss between the central distributor and the second non-central distributor; and

sending a message to the central distributor to change the transmission rate from the central distributor to the second non-central distributor based on said determination.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the indicated adjusted transmission rate is an average transmission rate of data received by the central distributor from one or more of the non-central distributors.

36. A method of participating in a conference among at least three participant computers, the method comprising:

joining the conference by a first participant computer;

performing, at the first participant computer, a focus-point assessment process including determining a codec configuration of the first participant computer and determining that a bandwidth capability of the first participant computer meets a predefined conferencing capability;

determining, at the first participant computer, that the first participant computer cannot serve as a central distributor for the conference based on the bandwidth capability of the first computer;

in response to the determining that the first computer cannot serve as the central distributor, designating the first participant computer as a first non-central distributor and a further participant computer as the central distributor;

configuring a codec module of the central distributor based on the codec configuration of the first non-central distributor;

detecting, at the first non-central distributor, loss between the first non-central distributor and one of the participant computers designated as a central distributor; and

sending a message from the first non-central distributor to the central distributor to adjust a transmission bit rate for transmitting conference data, the message comprising a requested transmission bit rate, the message for causing the central distributor to adjust the transmission bit rate to the requested transmission bit rate when sending conference data to the first non-central distributor.

37. The method of claim 36 further comprising receiving, at the first non-central distributor from the central distributor, data comprising conference data of each of the participant computers.

38. The method of claim 36 further comprising receiving, at each of the participant computers from the central distributor, conference data of other participant computers, wherein the detected loss is detected at a plurality of participant computers from the central distributor, wherein a message is sent from the plurality of participant computers to the central distributor requesting the central distributor to adjust the transmission bit rate.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the messages from the plurality of participant computers causes the central distributor to adjust the transmission bit rate to the plurality of computers to an average transmission bit rate, wherein the average transmission bit rate is an average of the requested transmission bit rates in the messages sent from the plurality of participant computers.