Replaying content of a virtual meeting

• US 10,187,432 B2
• Filed: 01/17/2017
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (Dolby Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (Dolby Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Katekar, Rowan James, Dickins, Glenn N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Holland, Jenee
• Application Number:
  US15/407,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20170208105A1
• Time in Patent Office: 735 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1831 Tracking arrangements for later retrieval, e.g. recording contents, participants activities or behavior, network status
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15

Abstract

A method of facilitating the re-joining of a virtual meeting by a participant. The method comprises determining at what time the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting; and determining whether or not the participant was talking within a time period containing the time at which the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting. If it is determined that the participant was talking within the time period, then, consequently, the method comprises deciding not to enable the participant to replay stored data representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting. As well as the method, related apparatuses, systems and computer readable storage media are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating re-joining of a virtual meeting having a plurality of participants, the method comprising:

using, by one or more virtual-meeting processing devices, collected network information to determine whether any participant in the plurality of participants was disconnected from the virtual meeting;

in response to determining that a participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting, performing by the one or more virtual-meeting processing devices;

determining a time at which the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting;

determining whether or not the participant was talking within a time period containing the time at which the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting; and

if it is determined that the participant was talking within the time period, then, consequently, deciding not to enable the participant to replay stored data representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing stored information about at least a part of the virtual meeting during the time period, the accessed information including at least one voice activity detection flag corresponding to a time within the time period.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining comprises:

analyzing the at least one voice activity detection flag; and

determining, as a result of the at least one voice activity detection flag being asserted, that the participant was talking within the time period.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein:

said determining further comprises determining one or more characteristics of said talking.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the accessed information includes a plurality of voice activity detection flags corresponding to the time period; and

said determining one or more characteristics of said talking comprises analyzing the plurality of voice activity detection flags to thereby determine one or more of;

for what proportion of the time period the participant was talking, a total number of bursts of speech by the participant during the time period or a longest burst of speech by the participant during the time period.

6. The method of claim 1,

further comprising determining how long ago the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting, and

wherein said deciding comprises deciding not to enable the participant to replay stored information representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting only if it is determined that the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting more than a predetermined length of time ago.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if it is determined that the participant was not talking within the time period, then, consequently, deciding to enable the participant to replay stored data representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting.

8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a sequence of instructions which, when performed by one or more processing devices, cause the one or more processing devices to perform a method comprising:

using, by one or more virtual-meeting processing devices, collected network information to determine whether any participant in a plurality of participants in a virtual meeting was disconnected from the virtual meeting;

in response to determining that a participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting, performing by the one or more virtual-meeting processing devices;

determining a time at which the participant was disconnected from a virtual meeting;

determining whether or not the participant was talking within a time period containing the time at which the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting; and

if it is determined that the participant was talking within the time period, then, consequently, deciding not to enable the participant to replay stored data representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting.

9. The medium of claim 8, further comprising:

accessing stored information about at least a part of the virtual meeting during the time period, the accessed information including at least one voice activity detection flag corresponding to a time within the time period.

10. The medium of claim 9, wherein said determining comprises:

analyzing the at least one voice activity detection flag; and

determining, as a result of the at least one voice activity detection flag being asserted, that the participant was talking within the time period.

11. The medium of claim 9, wherein:

said determining further comprises determining one or more characteristics of said talking.

12. The medium of claim 11, wherein:

the accessed information includes a plurality of voice activity detection flags corresponding to the time period; and

said determining one or more characteristics of said talking comprises analyzing the plurality of voice activity detection flags to thereby determine one or more of;

for what proportion of the time period the participant was talking, a total number of bursts of speech by the participant during the time period or a longest burst of speech by the participant during the time period.

13. The medium of claim 8,

further comprising determining how long ago the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting, and

wherein said deciding comprises deciding not to enable the participant to replay stored information representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting only if it is determined that the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting more than a predetermined length of time ago.

14. An apparatus for facilitating re-joining of a virtual meeting having a plurality of participants, the apparatus comprising:

one or more processing devices;

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a sequence of instructions which, when performed by one or more processing devices, cause the one or more processing devices to perform a method comprising;

using, by one or more virtual-meeting processing devices, collected network information to determine whether any participant in the plurality of participants was disconnected from the virtual meeting;

in response to determining that a participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting, performing by the one or more virtual-meeting processing devices;

determining a time at which the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting;

determining whether or not the participant was talking within a time period containing the time at which the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting; and

if it is determined that the participant was talking within the time period, then, consequently, deciding not to enable the participant to replay stored data representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

accessing stored information about at least a part of the virtual meeting during the time period, the accessed information including at least one voice activity detection flag corresponding to a time within the time period.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein said determining comprises:

analyzing the at least one voice activity detection flag; and

determining, as a result of the at least one voice activity detection flag being asserted, that the participant was talking within the time period.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:

said determining further comprises determining one or more characteristics of said talking.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein:

the accessed information includes a plurality of voice activity detection flags corresponding to the time period; and

said determining one or more characteristics of said talking comprises analyzing the plurality of voice activity detection flags to thereby determine one or more of;

for what proportion of the time period the participant was talking, a total number of bursts of speech by the participant during the time period or a longest burst of speech by the participant during the time period.

19. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising

determining how long ago the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting, and

wherein said deciding comprises deciding not to enable the participant to replay stored information representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting only if it is determined that the participant was disconnected from the virtual meeting more than a predetermined length of time ago.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

if it is determined that the participant was not talking within the time period, then, consequently, deciding to enable the participant to replay stored data representative of a missed portion of the virtual meeting.