Apparatus, method, and computer program for supporting video conferencing in a communication system

• US 6,963,352 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2003
• Issued: 11/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Clearinghouse LLC (RPX Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nortel Networks Limited (Nortel Networks Corporation)
• Inventors: Whynot, Stephen R., McKnight, David W., Stovall, Gregory T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US10/610,509
• Publication Number:
  US 20040263610A1
• Time in Patent Office: 862 Days
• Field of Search: 348 1401- 1409, 348/14.1, 348/14.11, 348/14.12, 348/14.13, 370/260, 370/261, 709/204, 345/753, 329/202.01
• US Class Current: 348/14.08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/148 Interfacing a video terminal to a particular transmission medium, e.g. ISDN
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems

Abstract

A call conferencing apparatus, method, and computer program switch the video information presented to one or more participants during a conference call. The apparatus, method, and computer program identify a primary speaker channel during a video conference. Video information from the primary speaker channel is then provided to at least one other channel of the communication session.

Claims

1. A method for video conferencing, comprising:

receiving a plurality of channels for a communication session, the plurality of channels having audio and video information from a plurality of video conference participants;

identifying a channel of the plurality of channels as a primary speaker channel by;

ignoring each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level below a threshold level;

identifying a noise floor for each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level above the threshold level; and

for each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level above the threshold level, using the noise floor for the channel to determine whether the participant associated with the channel is speaking, the primary speaker channel representing a channel associated with a speaking participant;

providing the video information from the primary speaker channel to the communication session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

identifying the primary speaker channel comprises identifying different primary speaker channels at different times during the communication session; and

providing the video information from the primary speaker channel to the communication session comprises switching the video information provided to the communication session based on a change to the identified primary speaker channel.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a channel of the plurality of channels as a secondary speaker channel;

providing the audio and video information from the primary speaker channel to the secondary speaker channel; and

providing the audio and video information from the secondary speaker channel to the primary speaker channel;

wherein providing the video information from the primary speaker channel to the communication session comprises providing the audio information from both the primary and secondary speaker channels and the video information from the primary speaker channel to at least one other channel of the communication session.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

identifying the primary speaker channel comprises identifying the channel associated with the audio information having a first energy level; and

identifying the secondary speaker channel comprises identifying the channel associated with the audio information having a second energy level, wherein the first energy level is greater than the second energy level.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein providing the audio information from both the primary and secondary speaker channels to at least one other channel comprises:

mixing the audio information from the primary and secondary speaker channels; and

providing the mixed audio information to the at least one other channel.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein mixing the audio information comprises:

identifying one or more audio CODECs used by the at least one other channel; and

compressing the mixed audio information at least one time, once for each of the one or more identified CODECs.

7. An apparatus for video conferencing, comprising:

one or more ports operable to receive a plurality of channels for a communication session, the channels having audio and video information from a plurality of conference communication session participants; and

one or more processors collectively operable to;

identify a channel of the plurality of channels as a primary speaker channel by;

ignoring each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level below a threshold level;

identifying a noise floor for each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level above the threshold level; and

for each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level above the threshold level, using the noise floor for the channel to determine whether the participant associated with the channel is speaking, the primary speaker channel representing a channel associated with a speaking participant; and

provide the video information from the primary speaker channel to the communication session.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein:

the one or more processors are collectively operable to identify different primary speaker channels at different times during the communication session; and

the one or more processors are collectively operable to switch the video information provided to the communication session based on a change to the identified primary speaker channel.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors are further collectively operable to:

identify a channel of the plurality of channels as a secondary speaker channel;

provide the audio and video information from the primary speaker channel to the secondary speaker channel; and

provide the audio and video information from the secondary speaker channel to the primary speaker channel;

wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to provide the video information from the primary speaker channel to the communication session by providing the audio information from both the primary and secondary speaker channels and the video information from the primary speaker channel to at least other channel of the communication session.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the one or more processors are collectively operable to identify the primary speaker channel by identifying the channel associated with the audio information having a first energy level; and

the one or more processors are collectively operable to identify the secondary speaker channel by identifying the channel associated with the audio information having a second energy level, wherein the first energy level is greater than the second energy level.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to provide the audio information from both the primary and secondary channels to the at least one other channel by:

mixing the audio information from the primary and secondary speaker channels; and

providing the mixed audio information to the at least one other channel.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are collectively operable to mix the audio information by:

identifying one or more audio CODECs used by the at least one other channel; and

compressing the mixed audio information at least one time, once for each of the one or more identified CODECs.

13. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium and operable to be executed by a processor, the computer program comprising computer readable program code for:

receiving a plurality of channels for a communication session, the plurality of channels having audio and video information from a plurality of video conference participants;

identifying a channel of the plurality of channels as a primary speaker channel by;

ignoring each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level below a threshold level;

identifying a noise floor for each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level above the threshold level; and

for each channel whose associated audio information has an energy level above the threshold level, using the noise floor for the channel to determine whether the participant associated with the channel is speaking, the primary speaker channel representing a channel associated with a speaking participant; and

providing the video information from the primary speaker channel to the communication session.

14. The computer program of claim 13, wherein:

the computer readable program code for identifying the primary speaker channel identifies different primary speaker channels at different times during the communication session; and

the computer readable program code for providing the video information from the primary speaker channel to the communication session switches the video information provided to the communication session based on a change to the identified primary speaker channel.

15. The computer program of claim 13, wherein the computer program further comprises computer readable program code for:

identifying a channel of the plurality of channels as a secondary speaker channel;

providing the audio and video information from the primary speaker channel to the secondary speaker channel; and

providing the audio and video information from the secondary speaker channel to the primary speaker channel;

wherein the computer readable program code for providing the video information from the primary speaker channel to the communication session comprises the computer readable program code for providing the audio information from both the primary and secondary speaker channels and the video information from the primary speaker channel to at least one other channel of the communication session.

16. The computer program of claim 15, wherein:

the computer readable program code for identifying the primary speaker channel comprises computer readable program code for identifying the channel associated with the audio information having a first energy level; and

the computer readable program code for identifying the secondary speaker channel comprises computer readable program code for identifying the channel associated with the audio information having a second energy level, wherein the first energy level is greater than the second energy level.

17. The computer program of claim 15, wherein the computer readable program code for providing the audio information from both the primary and secondary speaker channels to the at least one other channel comprises computer readable program code for:

mixing the audio information from the primary and secondary speaker channels;

identifying one or more audio CODECs used by the at least one other channel;

compressing the mixed audio information at least one time, once for each of the one or more identified CODECs; and

providing the compressed audio information to the at least one other channel.

18. A method for video conferencing, comprising:

receiving audio and video information from a plurality of sources including a first source and a second source;

selecting the video information from one of the sources by;

ignoring each source whose associated audio information has an energy level below a threshold level;

identifying a noise floor for each source whose associated audio information has an energy level above the threshold level; and

identifying each source whose associated audio information has an energy level above the noise floor for that source, the selected video information associated with a source whose associated audio information has an energy level above the noise floor for that source; and

sending the selected video information to a destination.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein selecting the video information from one of the sources comprises identifying the audio information having a highest energy level, wherein the selected video information comprises the video information associated with the audio information having the highest energy level.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the selected video information comprises the video information from the first source;

and

further comprising;

sending the selected video information to the second source;

sending the video information from the second source to the first source;

sending the audio information from the first source to the second source;

sending the audio information from the second source to the first source; and

sending a mix of the audio information from the first and second sources to the destination.