Mobile group conferencing with portable devices
First Claim
1. A conferencing method, comprising:
- connecting, in a near-end connection, a first grouped device with one or more second grouped devices in a group, the first and second grouped devices being in a same near-end environment as one another;
connecting, in a far-end connection, the first grouped device with a far-end outside the near-end environment;
receiving, at the first grouped device via the far-end connection, far-end audio from the far-end;
sending the far-end audio to at least one loudspeaker associated with the group in the same near-end environment;
receiving near-end audio at the first grouped device from microphones associated with the group in the same near-end environment; and
sending, from the first grouped device to the far-end via the far-end connection, the near-end audio of at least one of the microphones.
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A master device (e.g., a laptop) controls a videoconference connection with a far-end and acts as a controller for slave devices in a group. The master establishes the connection with the far-end using a wide area network and connects with the slaves using a Wi-Fi connection of a local area connection. To connect to the slaves, the master outputs an ultrasonic beacon encoding the master'"'"'s address in the local network. The beacon also allows differences in the various clocks to be handled during audio processing. During the videoconference, the master outputs far-end audio to a loudspeaker and sends the far-end video to its display and to the slaves. Each device captures audio/video with its microphone and camera. The master determines which captured audio is a dominant talker'"'"'s and may only send that audio to the far-end. The video associated with the dominant talker'"'"'s device may also be sent to the far-end.
42 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A conferencing method, comprising:
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connecting, in a near-end connection, a first grouped device with one or more second grouped devices in a group, the first and second grouped devices being in a same near-end environment as one another; connecting, in a far-end connection, the first grouped device with a far-end outside the near-end environment; receiving, at the first grouped device via the far-end connection, far-end audio from the far-end; sending the far-end audio to at least one loudspeaker associated with the group in the same near-end environment; receiving near-end audio at the first grouped device from microphones associated with the group in the same near-end environment; and sending, from the first grouped device to the far-end via the far-end connection, the near-end audio of at least one of the microphones. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A first grouped device in a group at a same near-end environment with at least one second grouped device, the first grouped device comprising:
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one or more network interfaces communicatively connecting to the at least one second grouped device via a near-end connection and communicatively connecting to a far-end outside the near-end environment via a far-end connection; and a processing unit communicatively connected to the one or more network interfaces and configured to; receive far-end audio from the far-end via the far-end connection, send the far-end audio to at least one loudspeaker associated with the group in the same near-end environment, receive near-end audio from microphones associated with the group in the same near-end environment, and send the near-end audio of at least one of the microphones to the far-end via the far-end connection.
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22. A conferencing method, comprising:
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capturing near-end audio at a first grouped device with a first microphone associated with the first grouped device; determining, with the first grouped device, connection information in an acoustic beacon in the captured near-end audio, the acoustic beacon output by a second grouped device in a group at a same near-end environment with the first grouped device; and connecting the first grouped device via a near-end connection with the second grouped device in the same near-end environment by using the connection information determined from the acoustic beacon. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A first grouped device in a group at a same near-end environment with a second grouped device connected to a far-end outside the near-end environment, the first grouped device comprising:
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an audio interface obtaining near-end audio captured with a first microphone associated with the first grouped device in the near-end environment; a network interface for connecting to one or more networks; and a processing unit communicatively connected to the audio and network interface and configured to; determine connection information in an acoustic beacon in the captured near-end audio, the acoustic beacon output by the second grouped device in the near-end environment; and use the connection information determined from the acoustic beacon to connect to the second device with the network interface via a near-end connection in the near-end environment.
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Specification