Telecommunication and multimedia management method and apparatus

• US 8,687,779 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2010
• Issued: 04/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Voxer IP LLC (Voxer, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Voxer IP LLC (Voxer, Inc.)
• Inventors: Katis, Thomas E., Panttaja, James T., Panttaja, Mary G., Ranney, Matthew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US12/775,383
• Publication Number:
  US 20100215158A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,426 Days
• Field of Search: 379/90.01, 379/88.04, 379 8806- 8808, 379 8822- 8828, 379/93.24, 379/202.01, 370260-261, 709204-205
• US Class Current: 379/93.01
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 3/126 Foldable, retractable or tiltable tribunes E04H3/123 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• 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 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2503 Translation of Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/4015 where at least one of the additional parallel sessions is real time or time sensitive, e.g. white board sharing, collaboration or spawning of a subconference
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/64 Automatic arrangements for answering calls; Automatic arrangements for recording messages for absent subscribers; Arrangements for recording conversations centralised dictation systems H04M11/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/00 Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/53 Centralised arrangements for recording incoming messages , i.e. mailbox systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• 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 7/15 : Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A telecommunication and multimedia management apparatus and method that supports voice and other media communications and that enables users to: (i) participate in multiple conversation modes, including live phone calls, conference calls, instant voice messaging or tactical communications; (ii) review the messages of conversations in either a live mode or a time-shifted mode and to seamlessly transition back and forth between the two modes; (iii) participate in multiple conversations either concurrently or simultaneously; (iv) archive the messages of conversations for later review or processing; and (v) persistently store media either created or received on the communication devices of users. The latter feature enables users to generate or review media when either disconnected from the network or network conditions are poor and to optimize the delivery of media over the network based on network conditions and the intention of the users participating in conversations.

Claims

1. Computer code embedded in a non-transitory computer readable medium and intended to run on a communication device, the computer code configured to:

progressively transmit over a network media of an outgoing asynchronous message to a recipient having a remote communication device as the media of the outgoing asynchronous message is created using the communication device;

progressively store the media of the outgoing asynchronous message in storage on the communication device as the media is created and progressively transmitted to the recipient;

progressively receive media of an incoming asynchronous message as the media is progressively received over the network from the remote communication device;

progressively store the media of the incoming asynchronous message in the storage on the communication device as the media of the incoming asynchronous message is progressively received over the network; and

selectively render the media of the incoming asynchronous message on the communication device as the media is progressively received over the network in a real-time mode,

wherein the transmitted outgoing asynchronous message and the received incoming asynchronous message are transmitted and received asynchronously without having to first establish a network connection between the communication device and the remote communication device.

2. The computer code of claim 1, further configured to selectively render the media of the incoming asynchronous message on the communication device in a time-shifted mode by retrieving the media of the incoming asynchronous message from storage and rendering the retrieved media some time after the media was received and stored.

3. The computer code of claim 2, wherein the rendering of the media of the incoming asynchronous message in the time-shifted mode is selectively performed regardless if the communication device is connected to the network or not.

4. The computer code of claim 1, further configured to provide an asynchronous messaging experience for a user of the communication device when the outgoing asynchronous message and the incoming asynchronous message are transmitted and received at different times with respect to one another.

5. The computer code of claim 1, further configured to provide a synchronous communication experience for the user of the communication device when transmitting the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient and receiving and rendering the incoming asynchronous message from the recipient at substantially the same time with respect to one another.

6. The computer code of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message as fast as conditions on the network permit.

7. The computer code of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message out of storage when:

(i) the communication device was disconnected from the network when the media of the outgoing asynchronous message was created; and

(ii) the communication device reconnects to the network.

8. The computer code of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message using a transmission protocol capable of supporting near real-time communication.

9. The computer code of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message using a transmission protocol capable of guaranteeing delivery of a complete copy of the media as encoded when created on the communication device.

10. The computer code of claim 1, wherein progressively receiving the media of the incoming asynchronous message further comprises requesting retransmission of the media transmitted to, but not received at, the communication device.

11. The computer code of claim 1, wherein progressively receiving the media of the incoming asynchronous message further comprises obtaining a complete copy of the media of the incoming asynchronous message as transmitted to the communication device.

12. The computer code of claim 1, further configured to associate the outgoing and incoming asynchronous messages sharing a common attribute into a conversation thread.

13. The computer code of claim 12, wherein the common attribute comprises one of the following:

(i) a conversation name;

(ii) a conversation subject;

(iii) a name of a participant of the conversation; and

(iv) a name of a group of participants of the conversation.

14. The computer code of claim 12, wherein the conversation thread comprises one or more of the following types of media:

(i) voice;

(ii) text;

(iii) photos;

(iv) video.

15. The computer code of claim 12, wherein the outgoing and the incoming asynchronous messages are threaded together into the conversation thread in the time-order in which the outgoing and the incoming asynchronous messages were created and added to the conversation respectively.

16. The computer code of claim 1, wherein the media of the outgoing asynchronous message comprises one or more of the following types of media:

voice, video, sensor data, radio signals, position or GPS information, or a combination thereof.

17. The computer code of claim 1, wherein the communication device configured to run the computer code comprises one of the following:

a land-line phone, a wireless phone, cellular phone, a mobile phone, a computer, a radio, a satellite phone, a satellite radio, a tactical radio, or a tactical phone.

18. The computer code of claim 1, wherein the outgoing asynchronous message is delivered to the remote communication device and the incoming asynchronous message is delivered to the communication device over different paths across the network.

19. The computer code of claim 1, further configured to transmit an identifier contained in the outgoing asynchronous message identifying the recipient.

20. The computer code of claim 19, wherein the identifier is a non-IP address identifier.

21. The computer code of claim 19, further configured to progressively transmit the outgoing asynchronous message containing the identifier to a server located on the network, the server delivering the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient using the identifier to find a delivery route to the remote communication device.

22. The computer code of claim 1, wherein the computer code is configured to operate the communication device in a full-duplex mode.

23. The computer code of claim 1, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises guaranteeing delivery of the outgoing asynchronous message to the remote communication device.

24. A method performed on a communication device, the method comprising:

progressively transmitting over a network media of an outgoing asynchronous message to a recipient having a remote communication device as the media of the outgoing asynchronous message is created using the communication device;

progressively storing the media of the outgoing asynchronous message in storage on the communication device as the media is created and progressively transmitted to the recipient;

progressively receiving media of an incoming asynchronous message as the media is progressively received over the network from the remote communication device;

progressively storing the media of the incoming asynchronous message in the storage on the communication device as the media of the incoming asynchronous message is progressively received over the network; and

selectively rendering the media of the incoming asynchronous message on the communication device as the media is progressively received over the network in a real-time mode,

wherein the transmitted outgoing asynchronous message and the received incoming asynchronous message are transmitted and received asynchronously without having to first establish a network connection between the communication device and the remote communication device.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising selectively rendering the media of the incoming asynchronous message on the communication device in a time-shifted mode by retrieving the media of the incoming asynchronous message from storage and rendering the retrieved media some time after the media was received and stored.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising providing an asynchronous messaging experience for a user of the communication device when the outgoing asynchronous message and the incoming asynchronous message are transmitted and received at different times with respect to one another.

27. The method of claim 24, further comprising providing a synchronous communication experience for the user of the communication device when transmitting the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient and receiving and rendering the incoming asynchronous message from the recipient at substantially the same time with respect to one another.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message as fast as conditions on the network permit.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message out of storage when:

(i) the communication device was disconnected from the network when the media of the outgoing asynchronous message was created; and

(ii) the communication device reconnects to the network.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message using a transmission protocol capable of supporting near real-time communication.

31. The method of claim 24, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message using a transmission protocol capable of guaranteeing delivery of a complete copy of the media as encoded when created on the communication device.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein progressively receiving the media of the incoming asynchronous message further comprises requesting retransmission of the media transmitted to, but not received at, the communication device.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein progressively receiving media of the incoming asynchronous message further comprises obtaining a complete copy of the media of the incoming asynchronous message as transmitted to the communication device.

34. The method of claim 24, further comprising associating the outgoing and incoming asynchronous messages sharing a common attribute into a conversation thread.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the common attribute comprises one of the following:

(i) a conversation name;

(ii) a conversation subject;

(iii) a name of a participant of the conversation; and

(iv) a name of a group of participants of the conversation.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the conversation thread includes asynchronous messages comprising one or more of the following types of media:

(i) voice;

(ii) text;

(iii) photos;

(iv) video.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising threading together the outgoing and the incoming asynchronous messages sharing the common attribute into the conversation in the time-order in which the outgoing and the incoming asynchronous messages were created and added to the conversation respectively.

38. The method of claim 24, wherein the media of the outgoing asynchronous message comprises one or more of the following types of media:

voice, video, sensor data, radio signals, position or GPS information, or a combination thereof.

39. The method of claim 24, wherein the communication device for performing the method comprises one of the following:

a land-line phone, a wireless phone, cellular phone, a mobile phone, a computer, a radio, a satellite phone, a satellite radio, a tactical radio, or a tactical phone.

40. The method of claim 24, wherein the outgoing asynchronous message is delivered to the remote communication device and the incoming asynchronous message is delivered to the communication devices over different paths across the network.

41. The method of claim 24, further comprising transmitting an identifier identifying the recipient in the outgoing asynchronous message.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the identifier is a non-IP address identifier.

43. The method of claim 41, further comprising progressively transmitting the outgoing asynchronous message and the identifier to a server located on the network, the server delivering the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient by using the identifier to find a delivery route to the remote communication device.

44. The method of claim 24, further comprising operating the communication device in a full-duplex mode.

45. The method of claim 24, wherein progressively transmitting the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient further comprises guaranteeing delivery of the outgoing asynchronous message to the remote communication device.

46. A communication device, comprising:

a messaging element configured to progressively generate an outgoing asynchronous message to a recipient as media associated with the outgoing asynchronous message is created using the communication device;

a transmitting element configured to progressively transmit over the network the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to a remote communication device associated with the recipient as the media of the outgoing asynchronous message is created; and

a storage element configured to progressively store the media of the outgoing asynchronous message in storage on the communication device as the media is created and progressively transmitted to the remote communication device associated with the recipient;

the messaging element further configured to progressively receive media of an incoming asynchronous message as then media is progressively received over the network from the remote communication device;

the storage element further configured to progressively store the media of the incoming asynchronous message in the storage on the communication device as the media of the incoming asynchronous message is progressively received over the network; and

a rendering element configured to selectively render the media of the incoming asynchronous message on the communication device as the media is progressively received over the network in a real-time mode,

wherein the transmitted outgoing asynchronous message and the incoming asynchronous message are transmitted and received asynchronously without having to first establish a network connection between the communication device and the remote communication device.

47. The device of claim 46, wherein the rendering element is further configured to selectively render the media of the incoming asynchronous message on the communication device in a time-shifted mode by retrieving the media of the incoming asynchronous message from storage and rendering the retrieved media some time after the media was received and stored.

48. The device of claim 46, wherein the device is further configured to provide an asynchronous messaging experience for a user of the communication device when the outgoing asynchronous message and the incoming asynchronous message are transmitted and received at different times with respect to one another.

49. The device of claim 46, wherein the device is further configured to provide a synchronous communication experience for the user of the communication device when transmitting the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient and receiving and rendering the incoming asynchronous message from the recipient occur at substantially the same time with respect to one another.

50. The device of claim 46, wherein the transmitting element is further configured to progressively transmit the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient as fast as conditions on the network permit.

51. The device of claim 46, wherein the transmitting element is further configured to progressively transmit the media of the outgoing asynchronous message out of storage when:

(i) the communication device was disconnected from the network when the media of the outgoing asynchronous message was created; and

(ii) the communication device reconnects to the network.

52. The device of claim 46, wherein the transmitting element progressively transmits the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient using a transmission protocol capable of supporting near real-time communication.

53. The device of claim 46, wherein the transmitting element progressively transmits the media of the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient using a transmission protocol capable of guaranteeing delivery of a complete copy of the media as encoded when created on the communication device.

54. The device of claim 46, wherein the messaging element is further configured to request retransmission of the media of the incoming asynchronous message transmitted to, but not received at, the communication device.

55. The device of claim 46, wherein the messaging element is further configured to obtain a complete copy of the media of the incoming asynchronous message as transmitted to the communication device.

56. The device of claim 46, further comprising a conversation element configured to associate the outgoing and incoming asynchronous messages sharing a common attribute into a conversation thread.

57. The device of claim 56, wherein the common attribute comprises one of the following:

(i) a conversation name;

(ii) a conversation subject;

(iii) a name of a participant of the conversation; and

(iv) a name of a group of participants of the conversation.

58. The device of claim 56, wherein the conversation thread includes asynchronous messages containing one or more of the following types of media:

(i) voice;

(ii) text;

(iii) photos;

(iv) video.

59. The device of claim 56, wherein the conversation element threads the outgoing and the incoming asynchronous messages of the conversation in the time-order in which the outgoing and the incoming asynchronous messages were created and added to the conversation respectively.

60. The device of claim 46, wherein the media of the outgoing asynchronous message comprises one or more of the following types of media:

voice, video, sensor data, radio signals, position or GPS information, or a combination thereof.

61. The device of claim 46, wherein the device comprises one of the following:

a land-line phone, a wireless phone, cellular phone, a mobile phone, a computer, a radio, a satellite phone, a satellite radio, a tactical radio, or a tactical phone.

62. The device of claim 46, wherein the outgoing asynchronous message is delivered to the remote communication device and the incoming asynchronous message is delivered to the communication device over different paths across the network.

63. The device of claim 46, wherein the messaging element and the transmitting element are further configured to transmit an identifier identifying the recipient with the outgoing asynchronous message.

64. The device of claim 63, wherein the identifier is a non-IP address identifier.

65. The device of claim 63, wherein the transmitting element is further configured to progressively transmit the outgoing asynchronous message with the identifier to a server located on the network, the server delivering the outgoing asynchronous message to the recipient using the identifier to find a delivery route to the remote communication device associated with the recipient.

66. The device of claim 46, wherein the communication device is further configured to operate in a full-duplex mode.

67. The device of claim 46, wherein the transmitting element is further configured to guarantee delivery of the outgoing asynchronous message to the remote communication device.