Selectively directing media feeds to a set of target user equipments

• US 9,444,564 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2012
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sun, Samuel K., Stonefield, Anthony Pierre, Lankford, Richard W., Lindner, Mark A., Dewing, Shane R., Abplanalp, Daniel S.
• Primary Examiner(s): KAMARA, MOHAMED A
• Application Number:
  US13/468,921
• Publication Number:
  US 20130301624A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,587 Days
• Field of Search: 370/310, 370/310.2, 370/328, 370/338, 370/350, 348/154, 348/157, 348/159, 348/207.11
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/72 of terrestrial networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

In an embodiment, a given UE joins a local group communication session between a group of UEs, establishes itself as a director, obtains media feeds captured by media capturing UEs in the group of UEs and transmits a selected subset of the media feeds to a server for transmission to target UEs. In another embodiment, the server receives the media feeds itself and sends the media feeds to a director UE. The director UE indicates a selection of the subset of the media feeds to the server, and the server transmits the selected subset of media feeds to the target UEs. Accordingly, a local director UE can direct the subset to the target UEs by controlling which media feeds are sent to the server, or a remote director UE can direct the subset to the target UEs by controlling which media feeds the server sends to the target UEs.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting media at a given user equipment (UE), comprising:

joining a local group communication session over a personal area network (PAN) between a group of UEs;

establishing the given UE as a director UE for the local group communication session;

obtaining, by the director UE, a plurality of media feeds captured by a plurality of media capturing UEs in the group of UEs;

presenting the plurality of media feeds on a user interface of the director UE;

obtaining, at the director UE, a selection from the user interface of the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission in response to the presenting the plurality of media feeds on the user interface of the director UE, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds captured during the local group communication session, the selection based on a relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, from the director UE, to a server for transmission to the set of target UEs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the given UE is both the director UE of the local group communication session and one of the plurality of media capturing UEs.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the obtaining the plurality of media feeds includes:

receiving the plurality of media feeds from the plurality of media capturing UEs over the PAN.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the given UE is the director UE of the local group communication session and is not one of the plurality of media capturing UEs.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein obtaining the plurality of media feeds includes:

locally capturing a given media feed among the plurality of media feeds at the given UE; and

receiving one or more remaining media feeds among the plurality of media feeds from one or more other of the plurality of media capturing UEs over the PAN.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the establishing the given UE as a director UE for the local group communication session includes negotiating with the group of UEs to designate the given UE as the director UE based on a characteristic of the given UE.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a selection of a second subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds during the local group communication session; and

transmitting the selected second subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the server for transmission to the set of target UEs.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of media feeds include a plurality of live video feeds captured at the plurality of media capturing UEs.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein one or more of the plurality of live video feeds are obtained in association with an audio feed.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining another UE from the group of UEs to be established as the director UE when the given UE is established as the director UE for the local group communication session;

establishing the determined another UE from the group of UEs as the director UE for the local group communication session; and

transitioning the given UE to non-director status.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the another UE is a late-joining UE that joins the local group communication session after the establishing the given UE as the director UE for the local group communication session.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting a given media feed that is captured by the given UE to the another UE over the PAN after the another UE is established as the director UE.

13. A method of directing a group media session from a given user equipment (UE) configured as a director UE of the group media session, comprising:

receiving, from a server arbitrating the group media session, a plurality of media feeds that are captured by a plurality of media capturing UEs;

presenting the plurality of media feeds on a user interface of the director UE;

obtaining a selection from the user interface of the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission in response to the presenting the plurality of media feeds on the user interface of the director UE, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, the selection based on a relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selection of the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds from the director UE to the server to cause the server to transmit the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the director UE is not one of the plurality of media capturing UEs.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

obtaining a selection of a second subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds during the group media session; and

transmitting the selection of the second subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds from the director UE to the server to cause the server to transmit the selected second subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the plurality of media feeds include a plurality of live video feeds captured at the plurality of media capturing UEs.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein one or more of the plurality of live video feeds are obtained in association with an audio feed.

18. A method of arbitrating a group media session at a server, comprising:

receiving a plurality of media feeds that are captured by a plurality of media capturing user equipments (UEs) during the group media session;

transmitting the plurality of media feeds to a director UE for the group media session;

receiving, from the director UE, an indication of a selection made on the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, the selection based on a relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs in response to the received indication of the selection of the first subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, from the director UE, a selection of a second subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds; and

transmitting the selected second subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs in response to the received selection of the second subset of less than all of the plurality of media feeds.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of media feeds include a plurality of live video feeds captured at the plurality of media capturing UEs.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein one or more of the plurality of live video feeds are obtained in association with an audio feed.

22. A given user equipment (UE) configured to transmit media, comprising:

means for joining a local group communication session over a personal area network (PAN) between a group of UEs;

means for establishing the given UE as a director UE for the local group communication session;

means for obtaining, by the director UE, a plurality of media feeds captured by a plurality of media capturing UEs in the group of UEs;

means for presenting the plurality of media feeds on a user interface of the director UE;

means for obtaining, at the director UE, a selection from the user interface of the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission in response to the presenting the plurality of media feeds on the user interface of the director UE, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds captured during the local group communication session, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

means for transmitting the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds from the director UE to a server for transmission to the set of target UEs.

23. A given user equipment (UE) configured as a director UE of a group media session, comprising:

means for receiving, from a server arbitrating the group media session, a plurality of media feeds that are captured by a plurality of media capturing UEs;

means for presenting the plurality of media feeds on a user interface of the director UE;

means for obtaining a selection from the user interface of the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission in response to the presenting the plurality of media feeds on the user interface of the director UE, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

means for transmitting the selection of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds from the director UE to the server to cause the server to transmit the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs.

24. A server configured to arbitrate a group media session, comprising:

means for receiving a plurality of media feeds that are captured by a plurality of media capturing user equipments (UEs) during the group media session;

means for transmitting the plurality of media feeds to a director UE for the group media session;

means for receiving, from the director UE, an indication of a selection made on the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

means for transmitting the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs in response to the received indication of the selection of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds.

25. A given user equipment (UE) configured to transmit media, comprising:

a transceiver;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the processor configured with processor executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

joining a local group communication session over a personal area network (PAN) between a group of UEs;

establishing the given UE as a director UE for the local group communication session;

obtaining, by the director UE, a plurality of media feeds captured by a plurality of media capturing UEs in the group of UEs;

presenting the plurality of media feeds on a user interface of the director UE;

obtaining, at the director UE, a selection from the user interface of the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission in response to the presenting the plurality of media feeds on the user interface of the director UE, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds during the local group communication session, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds from the director UE to a server for transmission to the set of target UEs.

26. A given user equipment (UE) configured as a director UE of a group media session, comprising:

a transceiver;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the processor configured with processor executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving, from a server arbitrating the group media session, a plurality of media feeds that are captured by a plurality of media capturing UEs;

presenting the plurality of media feeds on a user interface of the director UE;

obtaining a selection from the user interface of the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission in response to the presenting the plurality of media feeds on the user interface of the director UE, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selection of the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds from the director UE to a server to cause the server to transmit the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs.

27. A server configured to arbitrate a group media session, comprising:

a transceiver;

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the processor configured with processor executable instructions to perform operations comprising;

receiving a plurality of media feeds that are captured by a plurality of media capturing user equipments (UEs) during the group media session;

transmitting the plurality of media feeds to a director UE for the group media session;

receiving, from the director UE, an indication of a selection made on the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission, the first subset including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs in response to the received indication of the selection of the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing processor-executable instructions stored thereon configured to cause a processor of a given user equipment (UE) to perform operations, comprising:

joining a local group communication session over a personal area network (PAN) between a group of UEs;

establishing the given UE as a director UE for the local group communication session;

obtaining, by the director UE, a plurality of media feeds captured by a plurality of media capturing UEs in the group of UEs;

presenting the plurality of media feeds on a user interface of the director UE;

obtaining, at the director UE, a selection from the user interface of the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission in response to the presenting the plurality of media feeds on the user interface of the director UE, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds captured during the local group communication session, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds from the director UE to a server for transmission to the set of target UEs.

29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing processor-executable instructions stored thereon configured to cause a processor of a given user equipment (UE) configured as a director UE of a group media session to perform operations, comprising:

receiving, from a server arbitrating the group media session, a plurality of media feeds that are captured by a plurality of media capturing UEs;

presenting the plurality of media feeds on a user interface of the director UE;

obtaining a selection from the user interface of the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission in response to the presenting the plurality of media feeds on the user interface of the director UE, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selection of the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds from the director UE to the server to prompt the server to transmit the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing processor-executable instructions stored thereon configured to cause a processor of a server configured to arbitrate a group media session, causes the server to perform operations, comprising:

receiving a plurality of media feeds that are captured by a plurality of media capturing user equipments (UEs) during the group media session;

transmitting the plurality of media feeds to a director UE for the group media session;

receiving, from the director UE, an indication of a selection made on the director UE of a first subset of media feeds for transmission, the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds, the selection based on relevancy of the first subset of media feeds for transmission including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to a set of target UEs separate from the director UE; and

transmitting the selected first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds to the set of target UEs in response to the received indication of the selection of the first subset of media feeds including less than all of the plurality of media feeds.