Video injection for video communication

• US 9,363,472 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 06/07/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Rowe, Jason, Gicklhorn, Daniel, Gava, Fabio, Chung, Ho Suk
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Hemant
• Application Number:
  US13/831,094
• Publication Number:
  US 20140267578A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,181 Days
• Field of Search: 348 1401- 1416, 370259-271, 370351-357, 709201-207, 709217-248
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64738 Monitoring network characteristics, e.g. bandwidth, congestion level data switched network analysis H04L41/14; monitoring functioning in data switched networks H04L43/0817; flow control in packet networks H04L47/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

A method for video communication comprises initiating video communication on a channel with a first electronic device, communicating first content on the channel with the first electronic device, selecting second content from a source external to the video communication, switching video communication using the second content, and transmitting the second content on the channel to the first electronic device instead of the first content.

Claims

1. A method for video communication, comprising:

initiating video communication with a first electronic device;

communicating a first content stream with the first electronic device through a communication channel;

receiving, by a first decoder of the first electronic device, the first content stream for playing the first content stream on the first electronic device;

selecting second content stream from a remote streaming video source external to the video communication;

receiving, by a second decoder of the first electronic device, the second content stream over the Internet from the remote streaming video source;

switching video communication using the second content stream;

transmitting the second content stream to the first electronic device replacing the first content stream, wherein the second content stream is injected into the communication channel; and

automatically switching video communication back to the first content stream through the communication channel based on at least one of stopping the second content stream or ending of the second content stream.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a resource address for the second content stream is at least one of a uniform resource locator (URL), a uniform resource identifier (URI), a file path of a local system and a file path to a remote system.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing, by the second decoder, the second content stream for placing the second content stream in a same format as that of the first content stream.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the video communication is a video call or a video chat session.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the video communication comprises communicating between the first electronic device and a second electronic device.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining a bandwidth requirement for transmitting the second content stream; and

transmitting a reference for the second content stream upon the determined bandwidth requirement exceeds a bandwidth threshold.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

transmitting the reference for the second content stream when communication with the first electronic device only supports audio communication, wherein the reference comprises a link for accessing the second content stream.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first content stream comprises at least one of:

audio and video content, video content, or audio content.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second content stream comprises at least one of:

audio and video content, video content, or audio content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device comprise one of a television device, a computing device and a mobile computing device.

11. A system for video communication, comprising:

an encoder to encode one of a first content stream and a second content stream to provide video communication with a first electronic device;

a first decoder to decode the first content stream;

a second decoder to decode the second content stream; and

an interface to select the second content stream from a remote streaming video source external to the video communication, wherein the interface is configured to switch video communication to the first electronic device by being configured to request transmission of the second content stream over the Internet and replacing transmission of the first content stream in a same communication channel, and to automatically switch video communication back to the first content stream in the same communication channel based on at least one of stoppage of the second content stream or ending of the second content stream, wherein the second content stream is injected into the same communication channel.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein a resource address for the second content stream comprises at least one of a uniform resource locator (URL), a uniform resource identifier (URI), a file path of a local system of a second electronic device and a file path to a remote system.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second decoder transforms the second content stream to a same format as that of the first content stream.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the video communication comprises at least one of a video call and a video chat session, and the source external to the video communication is a streaming video server.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a network communication interface configured to determine a bandwidth requirement to transmit the second content stream to the first electronic device and to transmit a reference for the second content stream based on the bandwidth requirement exceeding a bandwidth threshold.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the network communication interface is configured to transmit the reference for the second content stream upon a determination that communication with the first electronic device only supports audio, the reference comprises a link for accessing the second content stream, the first content stream comprises at least one of:

audio content and video content, video content, and audio content, and the second content stream comprises at least one of;

audio content and video content, video content, and audio content.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device comprise one of a television device, a computing device and a mobile computing device.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions which when executed on a computer perform a method comprising:

initiating video communication with a first electronic device;

communicating a first content stream with the first electronic device through a communication channel;

receiving, by a first decoder of the first electronic device, the first content stream for playing the first content stream on the first electronic device;

selecting second content stream from a remote streaming video source external to the video communication;

receiving, by a second decoder of the first electronic device, the second content stream over the Internet from the remote streaming video source;

switching video communication using the second content stream;

transmitting the second content stream to the first electronic device replacing the first content stream, wherein the second content stream is injected into the communication channel; and

automatically switching video communication back to the first content stream through the communication channel based on at least one of stopping the second content stream or ending of the second content stream.

19. The medium of claim 18, wherein a resource address for the second content stream comprises at least one of a uniform resource locator (URL), a uniform resource identifier (URI), a file path of a local system and a file path to a remote system.

20. The medium of claim 19, wherein the method of the instructions further comprises:

processing, by the second decoder of the first electronic device, the second content stream for placing the second content stream in a same format as that of the first content stream.

21. The medium of claim 20, wherein the video communication comprises at least one of a video call and a video chat session, and the video communication comprises communicating between the first electronic device and a second electronic device.

22. The medium of claim 21, wherein the method of the instructions further comprises:

determining a bandwidth requirement for transmitting the second content stream; and

transmitting a reference for the second content stream upon the determined bandwidth requirement exceeding a bandwidth threshold.

23. The medium of claim 22, wherein the method of the instructions further comprises:

transmitting the reference for the second content stream when communication with the first electronic device only supports audio communication, wherein the reference comprises a link for accessing the second content stream.

24. The medium of claim 23, wherein the first content stream comprises at least one of:

audio and video content, video content, or audio content, and the second content stream comprises at least one of;

audio and video content, video content, or audio content.

25. The medium of claim 24, wherein the first electronic device and the second electronic device comprise one of a television device, a computing device and a mobile computing device.