Portable devices as videoconferencing peripherals

• US 8,896,651 B2
• Filed: 10/27/2011
• Issued: 11/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Polycom Incorporated (Plantronics, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chu, Peter L., Sai, Krishna
• Primary Examiner(s): Anwah, Olisa
• Application Number:
  US13/282,582
• Publication Number:
  US 20130106976A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,125 Days
• Field of Search: 348/14.01, 348/14.02, 348/14.03, 348/14.04, 348/14.05, 348/14.08
• US Class Current: 348/14.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• 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: H04M 2250/62 user interface aspects of conference calls
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/002 Applications of echo suppressors or cancellers in telephonic connections in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/08, echo suppressors or cancellers per se H04B3/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems
• 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 7/148 Interfacing a video terminal to a particular transmission medium, e.g. ISDN
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

A videoconferencing system has a videoconferencing unit that use portable devices as peripherals for the system. The portable devices obtain near-end audio and send the audio to the videoconferencing unit via a wireless connection. In turn, the videoconferencing unit sends the near-end audio from the loudest portable device along with near-end video to the far-end. The portable devices can control the videoconferencing unit and can initially establish the videoconference by connecting with the far-end and then transferring operations to the videoconferencing unit. To deal with acoustic coupling between the unit'"'"'s loudspeaker and the portable device'"'"'s microphone, the unit uses an echo canceller that is compensated for differences in the clocks used in the A/D and D/A converters of the loudspeaker and microphone.

Claims

1. A videoconferencing method, comprising:

connecting a portable device in a videoconference connection to a far-end;

outputting at the portable device far-end video and far-end audio received from the far-end via the videoconference connection;

sending near-end video and near-end audio obtained with the portable device to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

connecting the portable device in a wireless connection to a videoconferencing unit;

transferring the videoconference connection from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit, wherein transferring comprises obtaining the near-end audio with a microphone of the portable device and sending the near-end audio via the wireless connection from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit for sending to the far-end; and

cancelling the far-end audio output by a loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit and present in the near-end audio obtained with the microphone of the portable device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the videoconference connection comprises an Ethernet connection, a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection, a wireless connection, an Internet connection, a cellular connection, a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) connection, or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless connection comprises a Local Area Network (LAN) connection, an intranet connection, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection, a Personal Area Network (PAN) connection, a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) connection, a wireless connection, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transferring comprises switching output of at least one of the far-end video and the far-end audio from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein switching output of at least one of the far-end video and the far-end audio from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit comprises:

receiving the far-end video and the far-end audio from the far-end at the videoconferencing unit;

outputting the far-end video to a display operatively coupled to the videoconferencing unit; and

outputting the far-end audio to the loudspeaker operatively coupled to the videoconferencing unit.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transferring comprises switching obtaining the near-end video from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising compensating for a frequency difference between a first clock of an analog-to-digital converter for the microphone of the portable device and a second clock of a digital-to-analog converter for the loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising controlling a function of the videoconferencing unit with an application operating on the portable device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending content residing at the portable device to the videoconferencing unit via the wireless connection for incorporation into the videoconference.

10. A programmable storage device having program instructions stored thereon for causing a programmable control device to perform a videoconferencing method, the method comprising:

connecting a portable device in a videoconference connection to a far-end;

outputting at the portable device far-end video and far-end audio received from the far-end via the videoconference connection;

sending near-end video and near-end audio obtained with the portable device to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

connecting the portable device in a wireless connection to a videoconferencing unit;

transferring the videoconference connection from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit, wherein transferring comprises obtaining the near-end audio with a microphone of the portable device and sending the near-end audio via the wireless connection from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit for sending to the far-end; and

cancelling the far-end audio output by a loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit and present in the near-end audio obtained with the microphone of the portable device.

26. The programmable storage device of claim 10, wherein transferring comprises switching output of at least one of the far-end video and the far-end audio from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit.

27. The programmable storage device of claim 10, wherein transferring comprises switching obtaining the near-end video from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit.

28. The programmable storage device of claim 10, further comprising compensating for a frequency difference between a first clock of an analog-to-digital converter for the microphone of the portable device and a second clock of a digital-to-analog converter for the loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit.

29. The programmable storage device of claim 10, further comprising controlling a function of the videoconferencing unit with an application operating on the portable device.

30. The programmable storage device of claim 10, further comprising sending content residing at the portable device to the videoconferencing unit via the wireless connection for incorporation into the videoconference.

11. A portable device, comprising:

a plurality of interfaces communicatively connecting to a videoconferencing unit, a camera, a first loudspeaker, a display, a microphone, and a far-end; and

a processing unit communicatively connected to the interfaces and configured to;

connect in a videoconference connection to the far-end;

output far-end video with the display and far-end audio with the first loudspeaker;

send near-end video obtained with the camera and near-end audio obtained with the microphone to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

connect in a wireless connection to the videoconferencing unit;

obtain the near-end audio with the microphone of the portable device and send the near-end audio via the wireless connection from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit for sending to the far-end to transfer the videoconference connection from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit; and

cancel the far-end audio output by a second loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit and present in the near-end audio obtained with the microphone of the portable device.

31. The portable device of claim 11, wherein to transfer the videoconference connection, the processing unit is configured to switch output of at least one of the far-end video and the far-end audio from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit.

32. The portable device of claim 11, wherein to transfer the videoconference connection, the processing unit is configured to switch obtaining the near-end video from the portable device to the videoconferencing unit.

33. The portable device of claim 11, wherein the processing unit is configured to compensate for a frequency difference between a first clock of an analog-to-digital converter for the microphone of the portable device and a second clock of a digital-to-analog converter for the second loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit.

34. The portable device of claim 11, wherein the processing unit is configured to control a function of the videoconferencing unit with an application operating on the portable device.

35. The portable device of claim 11, wherein the processing unit is configured to send content residing at the portable device to the videoconferencing unit via the wireless connection for incorporation into the videoconference.

12. A videoconferencing method, comprising:

connecting a videoconferencing unit in a videoconference connection to a far-end;

connecting the videoconferencing unit in a wireless connection to a portable device in an environment of the videoconferencing unit;

obtaining first audio captured with the videoconferencing unit in the environment;

sending the first audio to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

obtaining, at the videoconferencing unit via the wireless connection, second audio captured with the portable device in the environment; and

switching to sending the second audio to the far-end via the videoconference connection when the second audio has a greater level than the first audio.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the videoconference connection comprises an Ethernet connection, a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection, a wireless connection, an Internet connection, a cellular connection, a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) connection, or a combination thereof;

and wherein the wireless connection comprises a Local Area Network (LAN) connection, an intranet connection, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection, a Personal Area Network (PAN) connection, a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) connection, a wireless connection, or a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the second audio captured with the portable device in the environment comprises audio captured with a microphone of the portable device.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

obtaining first video captured with the videoconferencing unit;

sending the first video to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

obtaining, at the unit via the wireless connection, second video captured with the portable device in the environment; and

switching to sending the second video to the far-end via the videoconference connection.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second video captured with the portable device in the environment comprises video captured with a camera of the portable device.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein switching comprises sending the second video when the second audio has a greater level than the first audio.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

obtaining, at the videoconferencing unit via the wireless connection, content residing at the portable device; and

incorporating the obtained content into the videoconference.

36. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

outputting far-end audio with a loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit;

capturing the second audio with a microphone of the portable device; and

cancelling the far-end audio output by the loudspeaker and present in the second audio captured with the microphone.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising compensating for a frequency difference between a first clock of an analog-to-digital converter for the microphone of the portable device and a second clock of a digital-to-analog converter for the loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit.

19. A programmable storage device having program instructions stored thereon for causing a programmable control device to perform a videoconferencing method, the method comprising:

connecting a videoconferencing unit in a videoconference connection to a far-end;

connecting the videoconferencing unit in a wireless connection to a portable device in an environment of the videoconferencing unit;

obtaining first audio captured with the videoconferencing unit in the environment;

sending the first audio to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

obtaining, at the videoconferencing unit via the wireless connection, second audio captured with the portable device in the environment; and

switching to sending the second audio to the far-end via the videoconference connection when the second audio has a greater level than the first audio.

38. The programmable storage device of claim 19, wherein the second audio captured with the portable device in the environment comprises audio captured with a microphone of the portable device.

39. The programmable storage device of claim 19, further comprising:

obtaining first video captured with the videoconferencing unit;

sending the first video to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

obtaining, at the videoconferencing unit via the wireless connection, second video captured with the portable device in the environment; and

switching to sending the second video to the far-end via the videoconference connection.

40. The programmable storage device of claim 39, wherein the second video captured with the portable device in the environment comprises video captured with a camera of the portable device.

41. The programmable storage device of claim 39, wherein switching comprises sending the second video when the second audio has a greater level than the first audio.

42. The programmable storage device of claim 19, further comprising:

obtaining, at the videoconferencing unit via the wireless connection, content residing at the portable device; and

incorporating the obtained content into the videoconference.

43. The programmable storage device of claim 19, further comprising cancelling far-end audio output by a loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit and present in the second audio obtained with a microphone of the portable device.

44. The programmable storage device of claim 43, further comprising compensating for a frequency difference between a first clock of an analog-to-digital converter for the microphone of the portable device and a second clock of a digital-to-analog converter for the loudspeaker of the videoconferencing unit.

20. A videoconferencing apparatus, comprising:

a first microphone for capturing audio of the environment;

one or more interfaces for communicatively connecting to a portable device and a far-end; and

a processing unit communicatively connected to the first microphone and the one or more interfaces, the processing unit configured to;

connect in a videoconference connection to the far-end;

connect in a wireless connection to the portable device in the environment;

obtain first audio captured with the first microphone;

send the first audio to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

obtain, via the wireless connection, second audio captured with the portable device; and

switch to sending the second audio to the far-end via the videoconference connection when the second audio has a greater level than the first audio.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a camera for capturing first video, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

obtain the first video captured with the camera;

send the first video to the far-end via the videoconference connection;

obtain, via the wireless connection, second video captured with the portable device in the environment; and

switch to sending the second video to the far-end via the videoconference connection.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein to switch, the processing unit is configured to send the second video when the second audio has a greater level than the first audio.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, the processing unit is configured to:

obtain, via the wireless connection, content residing at the portable device; and

incorporate the obtained content into the videoconference.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a loudspeaker for outputting far-end audio from the far-end, wherein the processing unit is configured to cancel the far-end audio output by the loudspeaker and present in the second audio captured with a second microphone of the portable device.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the processing unit is configured to compensate for a frequency difference between a first clock of an analog-to-digital converter for the second microphone of the portable device and a second clock of a digital-to-analog converter for the loudspeaker.