Context sensitive communication augmentation

• US 10,129,706 B2
• Filed: 06/05/2015
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaw, Venson
• Primary Examiner(s): Perez-Gutierrez, Rafael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Braswell, Donald H.
• Application Number:
  US14/732,631
• Publication Number:
  US 20160360426A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 4554041, 4554042
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/30 Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

Context sensitive communication augmentation is disclosed. A user equipment (UE) can receive a trigger related to determining a context of a UE. The trigger can be manual, automatic, or remote. In response to receiving the trigger, the context of the UE can be determined based on sensor data. The sensor data can be received from a sensor of the UE or another sensor. Based on the context of the UE, a metric related to a communication modality of the UE can be determined. The metric can be communicated to another device. Information related to the context of the UE, including location information, can be communicated to the other device. A communication modality can be selected based on the metric relate to the UE and communication modalities of the other device. The metric can be updated based on changes in the context of the UE, allowing for updating the communication modality.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

determining context information related to a bidirectional communication modality for a communication session between a first user equipment and a second user equipment, wherein the bidirectional communication modality is a bidirectional voice communication modality, wherein the determining the context information comprises determining a likelihood of a successful bidirectional communication via the bidirectional communication modality between the first user equipment and the second user equipment for a context of the first user equipment, and wherein the communication session is an in-progress communication session

determining communication modality information based on the in-progress communication session;

determining a first augmentation of the bidirectional communication modality for the communication session based on the communication modality information and at least a portion of the context information, wherein the first augmentation comprises an adaptation of the communication session to employ, while the communication session remains in the in-progress communication session, the bidirectional communication modality and a communication modality that is not the bidirectional communication modality;

wherein the bidirectional communication modality and the communication modality that is not the bidirectional communication modality are employed simultaneously and

enabling access to first augmentation information related to the first augmentation of the bidirectional communication modality to enable the second user equipment to determine a rank of the first augmentation of the bidirectional communication modality relative to a second augmentation corresponding to a different communication modality other than the bidirectional communication modality and to enable the first user equipment to select the first augmentation of the bidirectional communication modality based on the rank of the augmentation of the bidirectional communication modality.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the context information is in response to a manual trigger event.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the context information is in response to an automatic trigger event.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the context information is in response to a trigger event received from a device located remotely from the first user equipment.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the context information is based on sensor data from a sensor of the first user equipment.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the context information is based on sensor data received from a sensor of a device other than the first user equipment.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the context information is based on sensor data that comprises location data related to a location of the first user equipment.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the determining the first augmentation comprises enabling access to the communication modality information for a remote device located remote from the first user equipment.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the remote device is a third user equipment.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the remote device is a service interface device located remote from the first user equipment.

11. A method, comprising:

determining, by a system comprising a processor, context information related to a context of a first device engaged in a communication session via an active bidirectional communication modality, wherein the context information is based on sensor data related to the context of the first device, and wherein the context information is related to a likelihood of successful communication via bidirectional voice communication between the first device and a second device;

determining, by the system, a first rank score related to a first bidirectional communication modality relative to a second rank score related to a communication modality that is not the first bidirectional communication modality of the first device based at least in part on a first availability of the first bidirectional communication modality at the second device and a second availability of the communication modality that is not the first bidirectional communication modality at the second device; and

facilitating, by the system, access to the first rank score and the second rank score by the first device to facilitate selection of the first communication modality by the first device based on the first rank score and the second rank score to enable the first device to augment the communication session to employ the active bidirectional communication modality and the first bidirectional communication modality;

wherein the active bidirectional communication modality and the first bidirectional communication modality are employed simultaneously.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining the context information is initiated based on manual input.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining the context information is initiated based on machine input.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the determining the context information is initiated by a device located remotely from the system.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensor data comprises audio information obtained from a sensor of the first device.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the sensor data comprises audio information obtained from a sensor of a third device proximate to the first device.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the second device is accessed via a service interface device.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

determining context information related to an audio environment of a first device engaged in an active communication session via a bidirectional communication modality that is a bidirectional voice communication modality, wherein the context information is based on sensor data related to determining a likelihood of successful bidirectional voice communication between the first device and a second device;

determining a communication modality that is not the bidirectional communication modality of the first device user equipment based on the context information; and

enabling access to information related to the communication modality that is not the bidirectional communication modality by the second device, to facilitate employing both the bidirectional communication modality and the communication modality that is not the bidirectional communication modality in the active communication session based on ranking the communication modality that is not the bidirectional communication modality in comparison to communication modalities available to the second device, wherein the bidirectional communication modalities comprise the bidirectional communication modality and the communication modality that is not the bidirectional communication modality;

and enabling the first user equipment to select the first augmentation of the bidirectional communication modality based on the rank of the first augmentation of the bidirectional communication modality;

wherein the active bidirectional communication modality and the first bidirectional communication modality are employed simultaneously.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the determining the context information is in response to an occurrence of a trigger event.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the sensor data is received from a third device other than a sensor of the first device.