Network-attached display device as an attendee in an online collaborative computing session

• US 8,909,704 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2010
• Issued: 12/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Flannagan, Michael E., Skipper, Chad R.
• Primary Examiner(s): SCOTT, RANDY A
• Application Number:
  US12/770,324
• Publication Number:
  US 20110271129A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,685 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1822 Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4015 where at least one of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. white board sharing, collaboration or spawning of a subconference
• 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

Abstract

In one embodiment, a network-attached display device (e.g., projector) may join an online collaborative computing session as an attendee. The display device may then receive data for the online collaborative computing session as an attendee over the computer network. As such, the display device may render images associated with being an attendee of the online collaborative computing session from the received data, and then visually display the images associated with the online collaborative computing session.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

obtaining information to allow a computer network-attached display device to receive data to operate as an attendee device of an online collaborative computing session;

signing the network-attached display device into the online collaborative computing session as an attendee device using the obtained information, wherein no user is associated with the network-attached display device and wherein a plurality of other attendee devices and a presenter device each associated with a user are also signed into the online collaborative computing session;

receiving, at the network-attached display device, data associated with a display of the presenter device in the online collaborative computing session;

rendering, at the network-attached display device, images associated with the display of the presenter device from the received data; and

visually displaying the images associated with the display of the presenter device at the network-attached display device.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein obtaining comprises:

receiving the information over the computer network from a server configured to push the information to the network-attached display device.

3. The method as in claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, at the server, a request to include the network-attached display device as an attendee in the online collaborative computing session.

4. The method as in claim 1, wherein obtaining comprises:

receiving, at the network-attached display device, manually entered information.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein obtaining comprises:

obtaining information to allow the network-attached display device to receive data for a plurality of online collaborative computing sessions as an attendee device of each online collaborative computing session; and

prompting, at the network-attached display device, for selection of a particular online collaborative computing session into which the network-attached display device is to sign in as an attendee device.

6. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the presenter device is now an attendee device and that one of the other attendee devices is now a new presenter device;

receiving, at the network-attached display device, data associated with a display of the new presenter device in the online collaborative computing session;

rendering, at the network-attached display device, images associated with the display of the new presenter device from the received data; and

visually displaying the images associated with the display of the new presenter device at the network-attached display device.

7. The method as in claim 1, wherein signing in comprises:

obtaining the information at a server in the computer network; and

signing in the network-attached display device from the server.

8. The method as in claim 1, wherein there is no user intervention at the network-attached display device to obtain the information or sign the network-attached display device into the online collaborative computing session.

9. The method as in claim 1, wherein signing in comprises:

prompting for user acceptance of signing the network-attached display device into the online collaborative computing session.

10. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

scheduling the network-attached display device as an attendee device for the online collaborative computing session in advance of the online collaborative computing session.

11. The method as in claim 10, further comprising, prior to receiving the data:

transitioning the network-attached display device to a power on and ready state in response to an impending online collaborative computing session in which the network-attached display device is scheduled to be an attendee device.

12. The method as in claim 10, wherein scheduling comprises:

receiving, by a scheduling application, a user request to include the network-attached display device as an attendee device in the online collaborative computing session.

13. The method as in claim 1, wherein the data received at the network-attached display device comprises different data than is received by other attendee devices of the online collaborative computing session such that the network-attached display device visually displays images that are different than images displayed by display devices of the other attendee devices.

14. The method as in claim 1, further comprising:

rendering audio associated with the online collaborative computing session from the received data at the network-attached display device; and

playing the audio associated with the online collaborative computing by speakers associated with the network-attached display device.

15. The method as in claim 1, wherein all attendee devices of the online collaborative computing session are physically located within a same room.

16. The method as in claim 1, wherein a presenter computer of the online collaborative computing session is physically located within a same room as the network-attached display device, and wherein the presenter computer transmits the data for the online collaborative computing session over the computer network via the online collaborative computing session to the network-attached display device as an attendee device of the online collaborative computing session.

17. The method as in claim 1, wherein the network-attached display device is a projector.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a visual display generator configured to visually display rendered images;

a network interface adapted to receive data over a computer network;

a processor coupled to the network interface and visual display generator and adapted to execute one or more processes; and

a memory adapted to store instructions for a process executable by the processor, the instructions for the process when executed operable to;

join the apparatus into an online collaborative computing session as an attendee device of the online collaborative computing session, wherein no user is associated with the apparatus and wherein a plurality of other attendee devices and a presenter device each associated with a user also join the online collaborative computing session;

receive data for the online collaborative computing session as an attendee device over the computer network, wherein the data is associated with a display of the presenter;

render images associated with the display of the presenter device in the online collaborative computing session from the received data; and

visually display the images associated with the display of the presenter device via the visual display generator.

19. The apparatus as in claim 18, wherein the process when executed is operable to join the online collaborative computing session by obtaining information over the computer network from a server configured to push the information to the apparatus and by signing into the online collaborative computing session as an attendee device using the obtained information.

20. The apparatus as in claim 18, further comprising:

a user interface, wherein the process when executed is operable to join the online collaborative computing session by obtaining manually entered information and by signing into the online collaborative computing session as an attendee device using the obtained information.

21. The apparatus as in claim 18, further comprising:

a user interface, wherein the process when executed is operable to determine an ability to join a plurality of online collaborative computing sessions as an attendee device, the process further operable to prompt, via the user interface, for selection of a particular online collaborative computing session the apparatus is to join as an attendee device.

22. The apparatus as in claim 18, wherein the process when executed is operable to:

receive an indication that the presenter device is now an attendee device and that one of the other attendee devices is now a new presenter device;

receive data associated with a display of the new presenter device in the online collaborative computing session;

render images associated with the display of the new presenter device from the received data; and

visually display the images associated with the display of the new presenter device via the visual display generator.

23. The apparatus as in claim 18, wherein the apparatus is a projector.

24. A system, comprising:

a computer;

a server; and

a network-attached display device;

the computer configured to receive a user request to include the network-attached display device as an attendee device in an online collaborative computing session, and transmit the request to the server;

the server configured to receive the request, and push corresponding information to the network-attached display device, the information to allow the network-attached display device to receive data for the online collaborative computing session as an attendee device of the online collaborative computing session; and

the network-attached display device configured to;

join the online collaborative computing session as an attendee device of the online collaborative computing session using the pushed information, wherein no user is associated with the network-attached display device and wherein a plurality of other attendee devices and a presenter device each associated with a user also join the online collaborative computing session,

receive data for the online collaborative computing session as an attendee device over a computer network, wherein the data is associated with a display of the presenter device in the online collaborative computing session,

render images associated with the display of the presenter device in the online collaborative computing session from the received data, and

visually display the images associated with the display of the presenter device in the online collaborative computing session.