Mobile video calls

• US 8,913,100 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2011
• Issued: 12/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Skype S.Ã R.L. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Tamkivi, Sten
• Primary Examiner(s): Gauthier, Gerald
• Application Number:
  US13/341,642
• Publication Number:
  US 20130057638A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: 345/2.3, 348/14.02, 348/240.99, 370/230, 370/335, 370/342, 375/141, 375/147, 375/148, 375/149, 375/150, 375/152, 375/367, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/418, 455/422.1, 455/426.1, 455/435.2, 455/439, 455/456.3, 455/522, 455/557, 455/573, 455/574, 455/575.1, 710/52, 725/62, 725/63, 725/68, 725/75, 725/76, 725/77, 709/228
• US Class Current: 348/14.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]

Abstract

A mobile device, and a method and computer program product for displaying a streaming video image at the mobile device during a packet based video call via a channel established over a wireless communication network, the method includes receiving a speed indication of the mobile device and sending said indication to a communication client application; and responsive to receiving said indication, the communication client application is configured to limit the amount of information in the streaming video image that is supplied for display on a display of the mobile device during the video call when the speed of the mobile device is greater than, or equal to, a first predetermined speed threshold.

Claims

1. A method of displaying a video image at a mobile device during a video call over a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

detecting a speed of the mobile device;

responsive to the detecting, sending an indication of the detected speed to a communication client application that is conducting the video call on the mobile device; and

responsive to receiving the indication, the communication client application;

determining that the indicated speed satisfies a condition associated with a first predetermined speed threshold; and

responsive to the determining, limiting an amount of information from a received video signal that is supplied for display on a display of the mobile device during the video call.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication client application does not limit the information from the received video signal that is supplied to the display when the indicated speed of the mobile device is less than the first predetermined speed threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the limiting comprises at least one of:

dropping video frames of the received video signal, reducing the display size of the video information that is supplied to the display, or reducing the resolution of the video information that is supplied to the display.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication client application is configured to generate an indication in the display to notify a viewer that information in the received video signal has been limited.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the displayed indication adjusts the image by adding animation effects to the received video signal or adding visual text and/or icons to the received video signal.

6. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising the communication client application:

determining that the indicated speed satisfies a condition associated with a second predetermined speed threshold;

responsive the determining the indicated speed satisfies the condition associated with the second predetermined speed threshold, preventing display of any information from the received video; and

limiting the amount of information from the received video signal that is supplied for display on the display of the mobile device during the video call when the indicated speed is less than the second predetermined speed threshold.

7. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

the communication client application receiving state information of the mobile device, the state information used in addition to the indication of the determined speed to limit the amount of information in the received video signal that is supplied to the display.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the state information of the mobile device includes at least one of a physical orientation of the mobile device, a vibration level of the mobile device, or whether an external hands free device is connected to the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising the communication client application:

receiving a notification of a travelling mode of operation; and

limiting the amount of information from the received video signal that is supplied for display during the travelling mode of operation.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the communication client application:

receiving the notification of the travelling mode in response to a user of the mobile device selecting the travelling mode of operation; and

presenting an option to answer the video call in the travelling mode to the user of the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the option to answer the video call in the travelling mode is only presented to the user of the mobile device when the indicated speed of the mobile device is above a predetermined speed threshold associated with the travelling mode.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sensing a physical orientation of the mobile device; and

enabling the travelling mode in response to the indicated speed of the mobile device being above a predetermined speed threshold associated with the travelling mode and the sensed physical orientation of the mobile device indicating that the user of the mobile device is not viewing the screen.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising:

executing the communication client application in an application layer on a processor at the mobile device; and

receiving a video signal comprising the streaming video over a channel of the wireless communication network at a link layer of the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising:

executing the communication client application on a communication processing apparatus at a remote device;

sending the indication of the detected speed from the mobile device to the communication client application; and

limiting the amount of information in the video signal at the communication client application at the remote device prior to transmission to the mobile device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting the speed of the mobile device is performed by a speed detector at the mobile device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the speed detector comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) module.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the video call is an Internet protocol-based video call.

18. A mobile device comprising:

wireless access circuitry configured to access a wireless communication network;

a display;

a speed detector configured to detect a speed of the mobile device;

a processor, coupled to the wireless access circuitry, the display, and the speed detector, configured to execute a communication client application to perform operations comprising;

conducting a video call with a remote device via a channel established over the wireless communication network, comprising;

receiving a video signal transmitted over the channel from the remote device;

displaying the video signal on the display in the form of a video image;

receiving an indication of the detected speed from the speed detector;

responsive to receiving the indication of the detected speed, determining the indicated speed satisfies a condition associated with a first predetermined speed threshold; and

responsive to the determining, limiting the amount of information in the received video signal prior to display on the display during the video call.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the mobile device is one of:

an Internet-enabled mobile telephone, a handheld game console, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, or a laptop computer.

20. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the wireless communication network is the Internet.

21. The device of claim 18, wherein the speed detector comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) module.

22. A mobile device comprising:

wireless access circuitry configured to access a wireless communication network;

a display;

a speed detector configured to detect a speed of the mobile device;

a processor, coupled to the wireless access circuitry, the display, and the speed detector, configured to execute a communication client application to perform operations comprising;

conducting a video call with a remote device via a channel established over the wireless communication network;

receiving an indication of the detected speed from the speed detector;

responsive to receiving the indication, transmitting the indication of the detected speed to the remote device over the channel; and

supplying, to the display, a streaming video image comprising information in a video signal received via the channel without limiting the information supplied to the display.

23. A user device comprising:

wireless access circuitry configured to access a wireless communication network;

a video capture device configured to capture video data and output a video signal;

one or more processors, coupled to the wireless access circuitry and the video capture device, configured to execute a communication client application to perform operations comprising;

conducting a video call with a mobile device via a channel established over the wireless communication network;

receiving, via the wireless access circuitry, an indication of a speed of the mobile device, the speed indication transmitted over the channel from the mobile device;

responsive to receiving the indication of the speed, determining that the indicated speed satisfies a condition associated with a first predetermined speed threshold; and

limiting the amount of information from the video signal that is transmitted to the mobile device in the video call.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the wireless communication network is the Internet.

25. The device of claim 23, wherein the video capture device is a camera.

26. One or more computer-readable storage memories comprising instructions executable by one or more processors of a mobile device to perform operations comprising:

conducting a video call with a remote device via a channel established over a wireless communication network;

receiving an indication of a speed of the mobile device;

responsive to receiving the indication, determining that the indicated speed satisfies a condition associated with a first predetermined speed threshold; and

responsive to the determining, limiting the amount of information from the received video signal, that is supplied for display on a display of the mobile device during the video call.

27. One or more computer readable storage memories comprising instructions executable by one or more processors of a user device to perform operations comprising:

conducting a video call with a mobile device via a channel established over a wireless communication network;

receiving an indication of a speed of the mobile device;

responsive to receiving the indication, determining that the indicated speed satisfies a condition associated with a first predetermined speed threshold; and

responsive to the determining, limiting the amount of information that is transmitted to the mobile device in the video call.