FR3000357A1 - Method for transferring e.g. audio communication from e.g. smartphone to e.g. computer, involves receiving request for audio and/or video stream of communication and request for re-routing of stream from terminal to another terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves implementing a server (3) connected to a communication network (20) by a data processing module. A request for audio and/or video stream of communication sent from a first terminal (1a) toward a second terminal (1b) is received, where the second terminal is registered in a database of the server. A request for re-routing of the audio stream and/or video stream from a third terminal (1c) toward the second terminal, where the terminals implement HTML5/web real time communication (RTC) standards. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a server connected with a communication network for transferring communication from a terminal to another terminal (2) a method for requesting transfer of communication from a terminal toward another terminal (3) a terminal connected to a communication network (4) a computer program product including code instructions for executing a method for transferring communication between terminals (5) a computer equipment readable storage medium comprising a computer program product comprising program code instructions to implement a method for transferring communication between terminals.

Description

GENERAL TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the field of audio-visual communications. More specifically, it relates to a method for transferring audio and / or video communication from a first terminal to a second terminal. STATE OF THE ART "Call transfer" is a common feature of telephones that makes it possible to transfer a call in progress to another device from which communication will continue. This feature has the main use of the ability to change the speaker during a conversation, and is very often used in business. It has so far been limited to transferring a single audio conversation from one phone to another. In the case of video-integrated communications, some mobile terminal operating system providers have developed solutions for the transfer, but only from one terminal to another of the same model. There is currently no way to achieve such a transfer in a "heterogeneous" environment, that is to say between terminals of different models, and even less between terminals of different nature (for example from a smartphone to a computer) It would be interesting to have a solution for transferring any audio and / or video communication from a first terminal to a second terminal regardless of their nature.

PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION The present invention thus relates, according to a first aspect, to a method of transfer from a first terminal to a second terminal of a communication established between the first terminal and a third terminal, the first, second and third terminals being in connection via a communication network and supporting the reproduction of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream, the method being characterized in that it comprises the implementation by a data processing module a server connected to the network of steps of: (a) receiving a request transmitted from the first transfer terminal to the second terminal of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication, the second terminal being registered in a database of the server; (b) Requesting a rerouting of the third terminal to the second terminal of the at least one audio stream and / or the at least one video stream whose transfer is requested.

The server thus manages a predefined list of terminals between which it will act as an intermediary to transfer any flow from any first terminal to any second terminal.

This avoids all the constraints of the prior art. According to other advantageous and nonlimiting features, used alone or in combination: the first, second and third terminals implement the HTML5 / webRTC standard.

This standard is particularly suitable for the independent management of audio or video channels of a communication. the server database indicates for each registered terminal: whether it supports the reproduction of one or more audio streams; and if it supports the restitution of one or more video streams.

The knowledge of this information makes it possible immediately to identify which flows of the communication can be transferred to a given second terminal. - The second terminal is selected from the terminals registered in said server database. This allows an easy and fast implementation of the method via an interface of the first terminal on which the user only has to indicate to which terminal to make the transfer. - At least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream are selected from the streams whose restitution is indicated as supported in the server database for the selected second terminal. This second selection makes it possible to indicate which stream to transfer in the cases where a target terminal manages both the audio and the video, or even a plurality of these streams. the communication established between the first terminal and the third terminal comprises a plurality of flows, the transfer requested concerns only some of the streams of this communication, and the stream or flows whose transfer is not requested are maintained in the communication between the first terminal and the third terminal. This makes it possible to manage a "stream separation" case in which the target terminal does not manage all the streams that the communication comprises. the method comprises a preliminary step of registering the second terminal in said database. This allows "on-the-fly" signups. ; several second terminals are involved, and the method comprising the repetition of steps (a) and (b) for each of these second terminals. It is possible for example to transfer a videoconference to a plurality of screens. ; - A flow whose transfer is requested to several second terminals is multicast on these second terminals. According to a second aspect, the invention relates to a transfer request method from a first terminal to a second terminal of a communication established between the first terminal and a third terminal, the first, second and third terminals being connected via a network. communication device and supporting the restitution of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream, the method being characterized in that it comprises the implementation by a data processing module of the first terminal of steps of: i. Selecting the second terminal from among terminals registered in a database of a server connected to the network; ii. Selecting at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication to be transferred to the selected second terminal; iii. Sending a transfer request to the server to the selected second terminal of said at least one selected stream of said communication. This method makes it possible, as previously explained, to improve ergonomics since the user only has to make a few selections via an interface of his first terminal to control and initiate the transfer. According to other advantageous and nonlimiting characteristics, used alone or in combination: the database of the server indicates for each registered terminal a position information, and the first terminal comprises geolocation means, the step (i) comprising the suggestion of a second terminal among the terminals inscribed in the database of the server according to said position and data information provided by said geolocation means (this feature allows intelligent operation in which the first terminal suggests a redirection to the nearest target terminal).

According to a third aspect, the invention relates to a server in connection with a communication network for the transfer from a first terminal to a second terminal of a communication established between the first terminal and a third terminal, the first, second and third terminals. being also connected to the network and each supporting the reproduction of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream; the server being characterized in that it comprises: a data storage module on which is stored a database of registered terminals comprising said second terminal; a data processing module configured for: receiving from the first terminal a request to transfer to the second terminal at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication; o Send to the third terminal a divert request to the second terminal of the at least one audio stream and / or the at least one video stream whose transfer is requested.

Such a server is indeed the element that allows the implementation of this process regardless of the terminals involved. According to a fourth aspect, the invention relates to a terminal connected to a communication network and supporting the restitution of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream, characterized in that it comprises a processing module configured data for implementing a transfer request method according to the second aspect of the invention. According to a fifth and a sixth aspect, the invention relates respectively to a computer program product comprising code instructions for the execution of a method according to the first or second aspect of the invention of transfer from a first terminal to a a second terminal of a communication established between the first terminal and a third terminal; and computer-readable storage means on which a computer program product comprises code instructions for executing a method according to the first or second aspect of the transfer invention from a first terminal to a second terminal of a communication established between the first terminal and a third terminal. PRESENTATION OF THE FIGURES Other features and advantages of the present invention will appear on reading the description which follows of a preferred embodiment. This description will be given with reference to the appended FIG. 1, which is a diagram of a system for implementing a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Principle of the invention With reference to FIG. 1, the invention proposes methods for the transfer from a first terminal 1a to a second terminal 1b of a communication established between the first terminal 1a and a third terminal 1c. The second terminal lb is a "target" terminal initially not present in the communication. The latter may be an audio communication, a video communication, or an audio and video communication (videoconference). The communication thus comprises one or more streams among at least one audio stream and at least one video stream. In general, the communication comprises either an audio stream (telephone communication), an audio stream and a video stream (videoconferencing), but it will be understood that the invention can be applied to communications comprising a plurality of audio or video streams . For example, there may be mentioned "whiteboard" type applications that make it possible to share a plurality of screens and that therefore include a plurality of video streams. In any case, as will be seen below, the transfer of the communication can be total (that is to say concern all the flows of the communication) or partial (that is to say concern only some of the flow, that is to say a single stream when the communication is includes an audio stream and a video stream).

The present method is not limited to any type of terminal 1a, 1b, 1c, it may be any equipment (such as a telephone, a computer, a screen, audio speakers, a video projector, etc.). ) which is connected to a communication network 20 and supports the reproduction of an audio stream and / or a video stream, in other words which includes means for rendering this stream.

A PC will support for example the return of the two streams, while a monitor that does not include speakers will only support the return of the video stream. The support can also be monodirectional (for example only display of the video stream) or bidirectional (display + transmission rimages via a webcam or voice communication). Each terminal 1a, 1b, 1c comprises a communication module configured for firstly receiving a communication, that is to say receiving one or more audio streams and / or one or more video streams, and secondly to initialize a communication. It is also desirable for the terminals 1a, 1b, 1c to implement the HTML5 standard ("HyperText Markup Language 5", ie the last major revision of the HTML data format designed to represent the web pages). / webRTC ("web Real-Time Communication", ie an API ("Application Programming Interface") aimed at enabling real-time communication via internet browsers without any plugin being necessary), in other words that the terminals la, lb, lc integrate a web browser compatible webRTC. The modules webRTC are indeed natively capable of managing audio and video streams, a browser of a PC knowing for example through such a module when it must give access to the webcam, the speakers, the microphone, etc. However, it will be understood that the method according to the invention is not limited to this technology and that the skilled person will adapt it to other standards. The communication network 20 includes in particular the Internet network and mobile telephone networks.

In the example of FIG. 1, the first and third terminals 1a, 1c are mobile telephones (respectively connected to the network 20 via antennas 2a, 2c) supporting both an audio stream and a video stream, while the second terminal lb is a monitor connected to the network 20, which only supports a video stream.

The methods according to the invention propose to overcome limitations in terms of type and terminal models by using a database of terminals to which a transfer is possible. In this base, stored on a server 3 also connected to the network 20, is inscribed at least the second terminal lb, but also advantageously also the first and third terminals la, lc. This database and its use will be described in detail below. In addition to hosting the database, the server 3 will act as an intermediary to request the transfer of the communication. According to a first aspect of the invention, the method is a transfer method which comprises the implementation by a data processing module of the server 3 of steps of: (a) Receiving a request sent from the first terminal the transfer to the second terminal lb of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication, the second terminal lb being registered in a database of the server 3; (b) Request a rerouting of the third terminal lc to the second terminal lb of the at least one audio stream and / or the at least one video stream whose transfer is requested. As will be seen, the method according to a second aspect of the invention is a transfer request method.

Database As explained above, the server 3 stores a database of terminals capable of the transfer of communication, these terminals being previously registered (in other words registered in the database). Preferably, the database comprises one or more user accounts. For example, each user account is identified by a user ID. One or more terminal identifiers are registered in association with a user account. A user account thus comprises a list of "known" terminals to which the transfer of communication can be made. As an alternative, each registered terminal is associated with one or more user accounts. For each registered terminal, the database indicates an identifier of the terminal, and in particular: if it supports the reproduction of one or more audio streams; and if it supports the restitution of one or more video streams. In each case, it can be specified the number of supported streams, and if it is pure restitution (monodirectional flow) or if it is also able to emit this flow (bidirectional flow).

The database advantageously allows a selection of the second terminal lb among the terminals registered in said database of the server 3 in association with a user account. For this the user can have an interface on the first terminal la (which in our example is a smartphone.The interface can be that of a smartphone application), which displays the list of terminals of the base data associated with his account. For this the interface can be connected to the server 3 via the network 20. As such, the opening of the interface may be subject to the input of a user identifier and password, a session identifier being provided in return.

Next, the transfer request method may also include selecting at least one audio stream and / or at least one of the streams whose playback is indicated as supported in the server database 3 for the second terminal lb selected. Indeed, as explained above, can be included both terminals supporting a single stream or two or more flows. If the user has selected a monitor, only a transfer of the video stream is possible, whereas if it is a smartphone, both the audio stream and the video stream (or both) can be transferred. The previously introduced interface therefore advantageously proposes, following the selection of the terminal lb, the display of a screen proposing the selection of one or more of the flows indicated as supported for this terminal 1b.

The transfer request sent by the terminal 1a and received by the server 3 during step (a) then comprises information enabling the identification of the selected terminal 1b and the selected stream or streams. For example, each terminal can be referenced by an ID in the database of the server 3, and the streams can be referenced by two lists (respectively audio / video) of Booleans (the i-th boolean of the list indicating whether the transfer the i-th supported audio / video stream is requested). This information can be standardized to be able to be sent from heterogeneous terminals. The transfer request comprises, for example, an identifier of the first terminal 1a, an identifier of the terminal 1c and an identifier of the terminal 1b. This generation of the request is more precisely the object of the transfer request method from a first terminal to a second terminal 1b of a communication established between the first terminal 1a and a third terminal 1c according to the second aspect of the invention. . According to this second aspect of the invention, the transfer request method comprises, as previously explained, the implementation by a data processing module of the first terminal of steps of: i. Selection of the second terminal lb among terminals registered in a database of the server 3; ii. Selecting at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication to be transferred to the selected second terminal lb; iii. Sending to the server 3 a transfer request to the second selected terminal 1b of said at least one selected stream of said communication. Advantageously, the terminal lb can be registered "on the fly" in the database in association with the account of the user making the transfer request, in particular for temporary use. One example is a television in a hotel room to which the user wishes to transfer. It is understood that a temporary registration is particularly suitable for public terminals.

In this particular case, during a preliminary step, the second terminal lb connects to the server 3 and requests the registration of this second terminal. The registration includes for example the registration of an identifier of the second terminal in association with an account identifier of the user in said database. For example, the registration is performed after entering the couple user ID / password of the user on an interface of a web browser implemented on the terminal. For example, a temporarily registered terminal will be automatically deleted from the database 24 hours later. As an alternative, the registration of the second terminal is performed from the first terminal. This registration requires a manual entry phase of at least one identifier of the second terminal. Routing and separation of the streams Following the sending of the stream transfer request, the server 3 contacts the third terminal lc to request the routing of the third terminal lc to the second terminal lb of the at least one audio stream and / or the at least one video stream whose transfer is requested, so that the third terminal implements the transfer of this or these streams. In a webRTC architecture, the terminals registered in the database are indeed "clients" around a "server" element (the server 3). The rerouting request is then a request of the webRTC type generated by the server 3, comprising the identifiers of all the terminals la, lb, lc involved. Since webRTC clients allow natively to switch a communication channel in the network, the reception of the request results in the deportation of all or part of the communication from one "client" to another, in this case the first terminal. to the second terminal lb.

Those skilled in the art will, however, adapt the invention to architectures other than the webRTC that allow such a routing channel on request. Furthermore, it should be noted that as explained above, the transfer implemented may be a "partial" transfer of communication.

In the particular case in which the communication established between the first terminal 1a and the third terminal 1c comprises a plurality of streams, and in which the transfer requested concerns only some of the streams of this communication, following reception by the terminal 1c, of the rerouting request transmitted by the server 3, a separation of the flows is performed at the third terminal lc, the flow or flows whose transfer is not requested being maintained in the communication between the first terminal la and the third terminal lc. Indeed, only the stream or streams for which the transfer is requested must be diverted, the communication established between the first terminal la and the third terminal lc is therefore limited to other flows but not interrupted.

A particular case of partial transfer is that of a communication comprising an audio stream and a video stream, in other words a conventional videoconference, for which the transfer concerns the only audio stream, or the only video stream. the diverting request of step (b) corresponds in this case a request for separation of the audio and video streams at the third terminal lc, the audio or video stream whose transfer is not requested being maintained in the communication between the first terminal la and the third terminal lc. In other words, a flow is maintained, and a flow is baffled. EXAMPLE FIG. 1 represents a particular example of implementation of the present methods: the initial communication is an audio and video communication between a first and a second smartphone la and lc; A monitor lb (only supporting the video stream) is recorded on the fly with the server 3 (this can be done before the establishment of the communication); A selection of this monitor lb and the video stream is then made at a smartphone interface la, resulting in the transmission to the server 3 of a request to transfer the video stream of the communication to this monitor lb; The server 3 generates and sends to the second smartphone (third terminal 1c) a request to divert the video stream to the monitor lb; The second smartphone (third terminal 1c) finally separates the audio stream from the video stream and returns it to the monitor lb, the audio stream being maintained. Other advantageous embodiment It is possible that several second terminals 1b are involved. The method can indeed be implemented several times consecutively for the same conversation. For example it is possible to transfer a first audio stream to a first device, then the video stream to a second device, then a second audio stream to another device (including the first device), etc. Alternatively or in addition, the same stream can be transferred several times. For example, the user may want a video stream to be transferred to multiple computers so that communication can be followed in multiple offices at the same time. In either case, the method comprises repeating steps (a) and (b) for each of these second terminals 1b. In other words, the user selects (suddenly or simultaneously) the different terminals lb (which must all be registered in the database of the server 3), and for each the server 3 issues a request for diverting the flow (s).

To obtain its "duplication", a flow whose transfer is requested to several second terminals lb is "multicast" (that is to say multicast in French) on these second terminals lb by the third terminal lc following the step (b). In addition, the database of the server 3 may indicate for each registered terminal position information, for example GPS coordinates. Thus, if the first terminal includes geolocation means, step (i) may include the suggestion of a second terminal lb among the terminals registered in the server database 3 according to said position and data information. provided by said geolocation means.

The idea is to assume that the user wishes to transfer the communication to a terminal lb located nearby, and the geolocation makes it possible to determine which one is closest. Server and Terminal According to a third and a fourth aspect, the invention relates to the server 3 for implementing the method according to the first aspect (the transfer from a first terminal la to a second terminal lb of a communication established between the first terminal la and a third terminal lc, the terminals each supporting the return of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream) and the terminal la for the implementation of the method according to the second aspect.

As explained, this server 3 is in connection with a communication network 20 (the first, second and third terminals 1a, 1b, 1c are also connected to the network 20); the server 3 further comprises: a data storage module on which is stored the database of registered terminals comprising said second terminal 1b; a data processing module configured for: receiving from the first terminal the transfer request to the second terminal lb of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication; o Send to the third terminal lc a divert request to the second terminal lb of the at least one audio stream and / or the at least one video stream whose transfer is requested.

This server 3 can communicate with an application implemented on the first terminal 1a for displaying an interface for selecting the second terminal 1b and / or the stream or streams to be transferred. The terminal is a terminal connected to a communication network 20 and supporting the reproduction of an audio stream and / or a video stream, comprising a data processing module configured for the implementation of the steps of the method for generating the transfer request to the second terminal lb of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication. It should be noted that it is conceivable that the configuration of the terminal is done in particular via an installed application, said application implementing the aforementioned interface for the selection of the second target terminal lb and / or flows to be transferred. It is possible to have both a local application (for very advanced features and close to the hardware) than a remote application running on the server 3 for basic use. Thus any terminal supporting the basic requirements will be able to offer the minimum service via the application on the server and more advanced terminals will be able to offer more advanced services via the local application. The application also makes it possible to: manage the authentication part of the user (implicit or not); manage the automatic registration of the terminal in the server database 3.

Computer program product According to a fifth and a sixth aspect, the invention relates to a computer program product comprising code instructions for execution (in particular on a data processing module of the server 3 / of the first terminal). ) a method according to the first and / or second aspect of the invention of transfer from a first terminal to a second terminal lb a communication established between the first terminal la and a third terminal lc, and means storage devices readable by computer equipment (for example a memory of the server 3 / the first terminal 1a) on which this computer program product is found.

Claims (13)

REVENDICATIONS1. Method for transferring from a first terminal (1a) to a second terminal (lb) a communication established between the first terminal (1a) and a third terminal (1c), the first, second and third terminals (1a, 1b, 1c ) being connected via a communication network (20) and supporting the reproduction of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream, the method being characterized in that it comprises the implementation by a data processing module of a server (3) connected to the network (20) of steps of: (a) receiving a request transmitted from the first transfer terminal (1a) to the second terminal (1b) of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication, the second terminal (1b) being registered in a database of the server (3); (b) Requesting a rerouting of the third terminal (1c) to the second terminal (lb) of the at least one audio stream and / or the at least one video stream whose transfer is requested. The method of claim 1, wherein the first, second and third terminals (1a, 1b, 1c) implement the HTML5 / webRTC standard. 3. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the server database (3) indicates for each registered terminal: whether it supports the return of one or more audio streams; and if it supports the restitution of one or more video streams. 4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the communication established between the first terminal (1a) and the third terminal (1c) comprises a plurality of flows, and wherein the requested transfer concerns only some of the flows of this communication, the stream or flows whose transfer is not requested are maintained in the communication between the first terminal (1a) and the third terminal (1c). 5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, comprising a prior step of enrolling the second terminal in said database. 6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a plurality of second terminals (1b) are involved, the method comprising repeating steps (a) and (b) for each of these second terminals (Ib). 7. The method of claim 6, wherein a flow whose transfer is requested to several second terminals (lb) is multicast on these second terminals (lb) by the third terminal (1c). 8. Server (3) in connection with a communication network (20) for the transfer from a first terminal (1a) to a second terminal (lb) of a communication established between the first terminal (1a) and a third terminal ( 1c), the first, second and third terminals (1a, 1b, 1c) being also connected to the network (20) and each supporting the reproduction of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream; the server being characterized in that it comprises: a data storage module on which is stored a database of registered terminals comprising said second terminal (lb); a data processing module configured to: o Receive from the first terminal (1a) a transfer request to the second terminal (1b) of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication; o Send to the third terminal (1c) a divert request to the second terminal (lb) of the at least one audio stream and / or the at least one video stream whose transfer is requested. 9. A transfer request method from a first terminal (1a) to a second terminal (lb) of a communication established between the first terminal (1a) and a third terminal (1c), the first, second and third terminals (1a). , lb, 1c) being connected via a communication network (20) and supporting the reproduction of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream, the method being characterized in that it comprises the setting implemented by a data processing module of the first terminal (1a) of steps of: i. Selecting the second terminal (lb) from terminals registered in a database of a server (3) connected to the network (20); ii. Selecting at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream of said communication to be transferred to the selected second terminal (1b); iii. Sending to the server (3) a transfer request to the selected second terminal (lb) of said at least one selected stream of said communication. The method according to claim 9, wherein the database of the server (3) indicates for each registered terminal position information, and wherein the first terminal (1a) comprises geolocation means, the step (i). including the suggestion of a second terminal (lb) among the terminals registered in the server database (3) according to said position and data information provided by said geolocation means. 11. Terminal (1a) connected to a communication network (20) and supporting the restitution of at least one audio stream and / or at least one video stream, characterized in that it comprises a data processing module configured for carrying out a method according to one of claims 9 and 10. A computer program product comprising code instructions for performing a method according to one of claims 1 to 7 or one of claims 9 and 10 for transferring from a first terminal (1a) to a second terminal (lb) of a communication established between the first terminal (1a) and a third terminal (1c). 13. Storage medium readable by a computer equipment on which a computer program product comprises code instructions for the execution of a method according to one of claims 1 to 7 or according to one of claims 9 and 10. for the transfer from a first terminal (1a) to a second terminal (lb) of a communication established between the first terminal (1a) and a third terminal (1c).