WO2006043160A1

WO2006043160A1 - Video communication system and methods

Info

Publication number: WO2006043160A1
Application number: PCT/IB2005/003140
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hong Tao Ni
Original assignee: Camelot Technology Associates Ltd.
Priority date: 2004-10-20
Filing date: 2005-10-20
Publication date: 2006-04-27

Abstract

A video conferencing system and method utilizes video data from cameras situated at the respective locations of user terminals. The video data from each of the cameras is provided to user terminals, where it is processed into a compressed video data stream by software installed and executed in the user terminal. The user of the user terminal requests that the compressed video data stream be sent to receiving users based upon the receiving user's telephone number. The compressed video data streams are provided to a server that passes them to user terminals without decompressing them. Each user terminal receives, decompresses and displays a selected combination of said decompressed output data streams according to a selection by the receiving user of the user terminal.

Description

VIDEO COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHODS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/620,604 filed on October 20, 2004, and titled "VIDREV VID Phone," U.S. Patent Application No. 10/755,067 filed on January 9, 2004, and titled "Video Conferencing System," U.S. Patent Application No. 11/143,172 filed on June 1, 2005, and titled "Video Communications Systems and Methods," and International Application No. PCT/IB05/00011 filed January 6, 2005, and titled "Video Conferencing System," all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to multimedia communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to multi-user video conferencing systems and methods.

Description of the Related Art

Modern multimedia conferencing systems permit multiple users to communicate with each other over a distributed data communications network. However, most video conferencing systems utilizing commonly available technology, such as personal computers, inevitably have relatively poor audio and video quality. This is in large part because the standards underlying such video conferencing systems (such as the H.323 codec format) were developed at a time when the widely available communication systems had relatively limited bandwidth and personal computers had modest processing power and modest ability to process video data in real-time. Although higher quality video conferencing systems have been developed, they require the use of communication networks with a relatively large amount of dedicated bandwidth (such as T-I lines or ISDN networks) and/or specialized conferencing equipment.

Another aspect making it difficult to provide a widely acceptable video conferencing system of high quality is that personal computers' relative lack of processing power, or at least the poor ability to quickly process video conferencing signals, causes video conferencing systems to utilize a multi-point control unit (MCU) for specialized processing of video signals and other data. The MCU receives the incoming video signal from each conference participant's camera, processes the received incoming video signals and develops a single composite signal that is distributed to all of the participants. This video signal typically contains the video signals of a combination of the conference participants and the audio signal of one participant. Because processing is centralized at the MCU, a participant has limited capability to alter the signal that it receives so that it, for example, can receive the video signals for a different combination of participants. This reliance on central processing of the incoming video signals also limits the number of conference participants since the MCU has to simultaneously process the incoming video signals for all of the participants.

Another consideration is the relative ease of use of a video conferencing system. For example, many systems use e-mail addresses, conference names or rooms or other user id's that can be hard to remember. In addition, those systems do not allow users to easily control a display of a video conference.

Therefore, a video conferencing system and method is needed to provide users with the ability to easily connect with other users and to easily control a video conference and its display.

BRIEF SUMMARY This specification describes how such a conferencing system of high quality can be easily obtained using ordinary personal computers with Internet access rather than specialized equipment. An advantage of the conferencing system described herein is that it can be easily and rapidly implemented through the installation of a software application downloaded into the personal computers via the Internet. Once installed into a group of computers, those computers may easily engage in video conferencing with any other computer that has also installed the software application. In addition, the system and methods described herein can attain the following objects.

It is an object of the inventions described herein to provide a real-time video conferencing system with improved reliability, confidentiality, connection capacity, and audio/video quality.

It is also an object of the inventions described herein to provide a high quality video conference system that can be easily implemented over the Internet and can be easily installed as a high-end software system at a widely available user terminal, such as a personal computer.

It is also an object of the inventions described herein to identify a conference participant by a well-known identifier, such as his/her telephone number.

It is also an object of the inventions described herein to easily identify a conference participant such that another conference participant can accept or block calls from the conference participant. It is also an object of the inventions described herein to provide a convenient user interface that permits the user to alter the audio/video signal that they receive.

It is also an object of the inventions described herein to allow a conference participant to regulate video, voice and other multimedia characteristics of the conference from his/her terminal.

It is also an object of the inventions described herein to record and playback a conference or a portion thereof at the convenience of a user who may or may not have attended a conference.

The foregoing, and a better understanding of the present inventions, will become apparent from the following detailed description of example embodiments and the claims when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, all forming a part of the disclosure of these inventions. While the foregoing and following written and illustrated disclosure focuses on example embodiments of the inventions, one should clearly understand that the example embodiments are illustrations and examples only and that the inventions are not limited thereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the figures of the accompanying drawings, like references are intended to refer to like or corresponding elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary conferencing system according to the inventions described herein. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary registration process for using a video conference system according to of the inventions described herein.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary video conference call request to another conference system user according to the inventions described herein.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary video conference system user receiving a request for a video conference according to the inventions described herein.

Fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary video conference system phonebook used by a user of the conference system according to the inventions described herein.

Fig. 6 illustrates an exemplary user control method for a video conference system attendee according to the inventions described herein. Fig. 7 illustrates an exemplary user control method for controlling text transmissions by a user of the conference system according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments are described with reference to exemplary video communications systems. However, the inventions are not limited to the preferred embodiments in their implementations. The inventions, or any aspect of the inventions, may be practiced in any video communications system. In addition, the preferred embodiments are shown in block diagram form and are described in this application without excessive detail in order to avoid obscuring the inventions, and in view of the fact that implementations of such systems are known to those of ordinary skill in the art and may be dependent upon circumstances surrounding the implementations. In other words, such specifics are variable but should be well within the purview of one skilled in the art. Where specific details are set forth in order to describe example embodiments of the inventions, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that the invention can be practiced without, or with variation of, these specific details. For example, the buttons and screens described herein are illustrative and can be implemented in any known manner. FIG. 1 is a diagram of the architecture and environment of an exemplary real-time video conferencing system 100. The system 100 includes a server that is referred to as a multi-point control unit (MCU) 120, but as described hereafter this MCU 120 is significantly different in its functionality than the MCU 120 of conventional video conferencing systems. The conferencing system has a plurality of user terminals 130. Although an administrator's terminal 110 and a certain number of user terminals 130 are shown as being connected through a network 140 to the MCU 120 in FIG. 1, this is for illustration purposes only. There may be any number of connected administrators 110 and user terminals 130. Indeed, as described hereafter, the number of connected user terminals 130 may vary during a multimedia conference, as the users have the ability to join and drop from a conference at their own control. Furthermore, the connections between the user terminals 130 shown in FIG. 1 are not fixed connections. They are switched network connections over open communication networks. Preferably, the network connections are broadband connections through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) of the client's choice using the Transport Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) at the network layer of the ISO network model. As known in the art, various access networks, firewalls and routers can be set up in a variety of different network configurations, including, for example, Ethernet local area networks. In certain circumstances, such as a local area network, one of a certain number of ports, such as ports above 2000, may be opened/forwarded. The conference system is designed and optimized to work with broadband connections (i.e., connections providing upload/download speeds of approximately 128 kbps) at the user terminals. However, it does not require a fixed bandwidth, and may suitably operate at upload/download speeds as low as 16 kbps or upwards of 512 kbps or more at the user terminals.

The video conferencing system preferably utilizes user terminals 130 that have the processing capabilities of at least a high-speed Intel Pentium 3 microprocessor with 256 MB of system memory, or better. In addition, each user terminal 130 should have operating system software, such as Microsoft Windows^® or LINUX^®, that permit it to receive and store a computer program in such a manner that allows it to utilize a low level language associated with the microprocessor and/or other hardware elements. Such personal computers are now commonly available and are computationally powerful and able to process multimedia conferencing data. Each one of the user terminals 130 performs processing of its outgoing multimedia signals and incoming multimedia signals and other processing related to operation of the conferencing system.

Each user terminal 130 is preferably a personal computer (PC) with a SVGA display monitor capable with a display resolution of 800 x 600 or better, a set of attached speakers or headphones, microphone and full duplex sound card. As described further below, the display monitor may need to display a video signal in a large main screen at a normal resolution mode of 320 x 240 @ 25 fps or a high resolution mode of 640 x 480 @ 25 fps. It must also be able to simultaneously display a plurality of small sub-screens, each having a display resolution of 160 x 120 @ 25 fps. Each PC has a camera associated therewith to provide a video signal at the location of the user terminal (typically a video signal of the user at the location). The camera may be a USB 1.0, USB 2.0, or Firewire compatible camera providing a video signal directly to the user terminal or a professional CCD camera combined with a dedicated video capture card to generate a video signal that can be received by the user terminal.

Each one of the user terminals 130 perform processing of its outgoing video signals and incoming video signals and other processing related to operation of the video conferencing system. In comparison with conventional video conferencing systems, the MCU 120 does not need to perform video processing since the video processing is carried out in the user terminals 130. The MCU 120 captures audio/video data streams from all clients terminals in real-time and if needed, then replicates and redistributes the streams back to any user terminal 130 upon request. Thus, the MCU closely approximates the functionality of an audio/video switch unit- needing only a satisfactory network connection sufficient to support the total bandwidth of all connected user terminals 130. This makes it relatively easy to install and support video conferences monitored and assisted by the MCU 130 at locations that do not have a great deal of network infrastructure. It is important that user terminals 130 are capable of carrying out the functions described herein. The terminals may include a computer readable storing medium for storage of computer program instructions that are executable by a computer processor. Execution of the instructions implements the methods of the preferred embodiments of the inventions. The computer readable storing medium may be a compact disk, hard drive, RAM, DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, or any other suitably appropriate and accessible computer readable storing medium, as is well understood. Also, the user terminals 130 may be any type of computer processor based arrangement such as, for example, a personal computer, a wireless computer arrangement (e.g., Personal Digital Assistant, notebook computer, etc.) or any other suitably appropriate processor arrangement. Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary registration process. Fig. 2 depicts a user registration screen 200 that contains blank fields to be filled out by a user. Screen 200 requests a user to enter data into fields representing a first name 210, a last name 220, a country 230, a telephone number 240, an email address 250, a nickname 260 and a password 270. The telephone number 240 indicates an input format where the exchange number 242 and local number 244 are placed into separate fields. The video conferencing system then formulates the telephone country code for the telephone number 240 based on the data in country 230 and combines the country code with the telephone exchange number 242 and local number 244 to create a user ID that is the VidPhone number 280 for the user. As a result, a user's ID is mapped to the user's actual telephone number. In most cases, the VidPhone number 280 is the actual phone number for a user that can be easily remembered by other users who already know the user's phone number. The VidPhone number 280 allows users to not have to collect several ID's or e-mail addresses for users. In addition, the VidPhone number 280 and video conferencing system allows a video conferencing system user to place a conventional phone call to a person using the VidPhone number 280 or other phone number of the person through a VOIP or other telephonic service connected to the video conferencing system. If a user enters a telephone number 240 and a country 230 that result in a VidPhone number 280 already assigned to another user, the video conferencing system can automatically create a VidPhone number 280 by, for example, increasing one of the digits of the phone number or a user can manually alter a number to obtain a unique VidPhone number 280. Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary video conference call request. Fig. 3 depicts a call request screen 300 to another registered user in which a user 310 is requesting a video conference call with user 320. Users 310 and 320 are represented by their respective VidPhone numbers 280. User 310 can obtain the VidPhone number 280 for user 320 from a number of conventional resources such as user 310's personal memory, an address book on caller 310' s computer or on the video conferencing system, or a conventional phone book. After user 310 enters the VidPhone number 280 for user 320 and selects the call button 330, a call request is sent to MCU 120 which will respond with information regarding whether the user 320 is on-line, i.e., user 320' s computer terminal 130 is on and connected to the Internet or other network to which user 310 is also connected. The user 310 and 320 terminals 130 may connect directly to the Internet or may be in a local network or Intranet 140. If user 320's terminal 130 is on-line, the MCU 120 will respond to the call request with information regarding how user 310 can connect to the receiver to conduct a call. That information may include data mapping user 320's VidPhone number 280 to user 320's terminal's location on the network. The MCU 120 is able to provide that information since it tracks what users are on-line. If a call is established between user 310 and user 320, the MCU 120 will monitor the status of the call. The video conferencing system allows user 130 to call more than one receiver to and permits a user to set a time for a video conference call to which users can connect at the set time.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary user receiving a request for a video conference. Fig. 4 depicts a conference screen 400 asking a receiving user whether the receiving user wants to accept a call. In this embodiment, the screen 400 includes identifying information from a user who is trying to call a receiving user, including the VidPhone number of the caller, the Nickname 420 of the caller and a Memo field 430. The receiving user can decide whether to accept the call by selecting a "Yes" button 440 or not by selecting a "No" button 450. In addition, the receiving user can select a check box to add the caller's information to a contact list 460, a check box to block the caller from being able to request a conference 470, or a check box to simply set an auto-answer indicator for the next time that particular caller requests a conference 480. The screens depicted in Fig. 4 and the screens depicted in the other figures are illustrative and can be configured to display any data within the video conferencing system and to include any buttons, check boxes or other controls related to the functions of the video conferencing system, user terminal or network.

Fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary phonebook 500 used by a user of the video conference system. In Fig. 5, a user has selected the "Dialed" calls tab 560 of the phonebook 500 that shows all previously dialed calls 540 made to other users of the conference system. The user can view other lists such as a contact list by selecting tab 550 that has information the caller can use to call other users, a received list by selecting tab 570 that has information about calls made to the user, and a blocked list by selecting tab 580 that has information about users who will be blocked from establishing a connection or call with the user. Each entry in the phonebook 500 includes identifying information regarding a user, such as a user's VidPhone number 510, the user's Nickname 520, and a Memo field 530. The phonebook 500 may be a database and may be stored on, for example, the user's terminal 130, the MCU 120 or any other place on the network 140.

Fig. 6 illustrates an exemplary screen 600 that allows a user to control the display of a video conference. The user can control the transmission of video by selecting button 610 or take or save a snap shot by selecting button 620. In addition, the user can select a button 630 either to receive video in full screen mode or in a smaller window on the user's display. Fig. 6 also permits a user to control voice transmissions. For instance, a user may control the level of sound either being transmitted to another user by adjusting the slider 640 or being received by adjusting the slider 650 or simply decide not to send voice transmissions by selecting button 645 or receive voice transmissions by selecting button 655. Fig. 6 further permits a user to record a conference by selecting button 660 and all multimedia associated with that conference. The recording will be stored on the user's terminal as that is where the video signal is decompressed. A conference may be played back to the user at his/her request by selecting button 670. Fig. 7 illustrates a text messaging window 700 that can be used in conjunction with a video conference. A user can type text into field 710 and click the send button 720 to transmit the text. Window 730 displays the text messages sent by participants of a conference.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with preferred embodiments, many variations and modifications will be evident to those skilled in this art and may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventions. The inventions are thus not to be limited to the precise details of methodology or construction set forth in this application as such variations and modification are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A video conferencing method, comprising: obtaining video data from a camera at a location of a user terminal, processing the video data in the user terminal to create a compressed video data stream, the processing being executed by software installed and executed in the user terminal, obtaining address information for at least one other user terminal based upon a conventional telephone number for the at least one other user, using the address information, sending the compressed video data stream to the at least one other user terminal, and receiving and decompressing at the user terminal at least one compressed video data stream from the at least one other user terminal and displaying at least a portion of the video data from the at least one compressed video data stream on a screen.

2. The video conferencing method of claim 1, comprising: receiving the compressed video data streams at a server and switching the compressed video data streams into a plurality of compressed video data streams to be sent to each user terminal, the server passes the data streams through the server without decompressing the compressed video data streams.

3. The video conferencing method of claim 1, comprising: creating an address book entry based upon data manually entered into the user's terminal or obtained from the at least one compressed video data stream from the at least one other user.

4. The video conferencing method of claim 1, comprising: blocking the at least one other user from establishing a conference connection with the user's terminal.

5. The video conferencing method of claim 1, comprising: recording at least a portion of the video data from the streams.

6. The video conferencing method of claim 1, comprising: generating a text message, and including the text message in the compressed video data stream.

7. The video conferencing method of claim 1, comprising: obtaining a text message from the at least one compressed video data stream received at the user terminal.

8. The video conferencing method of claim 1, wherein: selecting what video data or other data should be included in the compressed video data stream.

9. The video conferencing method of claim 1, wherein: controlling the display of at least a portion of the video data from the streams on a screen.

10. The video conferencing method of claim 1, wherein: tracking in a server the status and address information of each user's terminal.

11. The video conferencing method of claim 10, wherein: receiving the compressed video data streams at the server and switching the compressed video data streams into a plurality of compressed video data streams to be sent to each user terminal, the server passes the data streams through the server without decompressing the compressed video data streams.

12. The video conferencing method of claim 10, wherein: sending status updates from the user terminal to the server.

13. The video conferencing method of claim 1, wherein: the user terminals are connected to a TCP/IP network.

14. The video conferencing method of claim 1, wherein: the compressed video data stream includes other data including address information regarding the user.

15. A video conferencing system, comprising: a camera providing a video signal; a display; a processor; and a computer-readable storing medium storing a set of instructions capable of being executed by the processor to implement a video communications method in each user terminal, and capable of performing the steps of: obtaining video data from a camera at a location of a user terminal, processing the video data in the user terminal to create a compressed video data stream, the processing being executed by software installed and executed in the user terminal, obtaining address information for at least one other user terminal based upon a conventional telephone number for the at least one other user, using the address information, sending the compressed video data stream to the at least one other user terminal, and receiving and decompressing at the user terminal at least one compressed video data stream from the at least one other user terminal and displaying at least a portion of the video data from the at least one compressed video data stream on a screen.

16. The video conferencing method of claim 15, comprising: receiving the compressed video data streams at a server and switching the compressed video data streams into a plurality of compressed video data streams to be sent to each user terminal, the server passes the data streams through the server without decompressing the compressed video data streams.

17. The video conferencing method of claim 15, comprising: creating an address book entry based upon data manually entered into the user's terminal or obtained from the at least one compressed video data stream from the at least one other user.

18. The video conferencing method of claim 15, comprising: blocking the at least one other user from establishing a conference connection with the user's terminal.

19. The video conferencing method of claim 15, comprising: recording at least a portion of the video data from the streams.

20. The video conferencing method of claim 15, comprising: generating a text message, and including the text message in the compressed video data stream.

21. The video conferencing method of claim 15, comprising: obtaining a text message from the at least one compressed video data stream received at the user terminal.

22. The video conferencing method of claim 15, wherein: selecting what video data or other data should be included in the compressed video data stream.

23. The video conferencing method of claim 15, wherein: controlling the display of at least a portion of the video data from the streams on a screen.

24. The video conferencing method of claim 15, wherein: tracking in a server the status and address information of each user's terminal.

25. The video conferencing method of claim 15, wherein: receiving the compressed video data streams at the server and switching the compressed video data streams into a plurality of compressed video data streams to be sent to each user terminal, the server passes the data streams through the server without decompressing the compressed video data streams.

26. The video conferencing method of claim 15, wherein: sending status updates from the user terminal to the server.

27. The video conferencing method of claim 15, wherein: the user terminals are connected to a TCP/IP network.

28. The video conferencing method of claim 15, wherein: the compressed video data stream includes other data including address information regarding the user.

29. A computer-readable storing medium storing a set of instructions capable of being executed by a processor to implement a video communications method and capable of performing the steps of: obtaining video data from a camera at a location of a user terminal, processing the video data in the user terminal to create a compressed video data stream, the processing being executed by software installed and executed in the user terminal, obtaining address information for at least one other user terminal based upon a conventional telephone number for the at least one other user, using the address information, sending the compressed video data stream to the at least one other user terminal, and receiving and decompressing at the user terminal at least one compressed video data stream from the at least one other user terminal and displaying at least a portion of the video data from the at least one compressed video data stream on a screen.

30. The video conferencing method of claim 29, comprising: receiving the compressed video data streams at a server and switching the compressed video data streams into a plurality of compressed video data streams to be sent to each user terminal, the server passes the data streams through the server without decompressing the compressed video data streams.

31. The video conferencing method of claim 29, comprising: creating an address book entry based upon data manually entered into the user's terminal or obtained from the at least one compressed video data stream from the at least one other user.

32. The video conferencing method of claim 29, comprising: blocking the at least one other user from establishing a conference connection with the user's terminal.

33. The video conferencing method of claim 29, comprising: recording at least a portion of the video data from the streams.

34. The video conferencing method of claim 29, comprising: generating a text message, and including the text message in the compressed video data stream.

35. The video conferencing method of claim 29, comprising: obtaining a text message from the at least one compressed video data stream received at the user terminal.

36. The video conferencing method of claim 29, wherein: selecting what video data or other data should be included in the compressed video data stream.

37. The video conferencing method of claim 29, wherein: controlling the display of at least a portion of the video data from the streams on a screen.

38. The video conferencing method of claim 29, wherein: tracking in a server the status and address information of each user's terminal.

39. The video conferencing method of claim 29, wherein: receiving the compressed video data streams at the server and switching the compressed video data streams into a plurality of compressed video data streams to be sent to each user terminal, the server passes the data streams through the server without decompressing the compressed video data streams.

40. The video conferencing method of claim 29, wherein: sending status updates from the user terminal to the server.

41. The video conferencing method of claim 29, wherein: the user terminals are connected to a TCP/IP network.

42. The video conferencing method of claim 29, wherein: the compressed video data stream includes other data including address information regarding the user.

43. A video conferencing method, comprising: obtaining video data from a camera at a location of a user terminal, processing the video data in the user terminal to create a compressed video data stream, the processing being executed by software installed and executed in the user terminal, obtaining address information for at least one other user terminal based upon a conventional telephone number for the at least one other user, and if the at least one other user terminal is not available, making a conventional telephone call to the at least one other user based upon the conventional phone number.

44. A video conferencing system, comprising: a camera providing a video signal; a display; a processor; and a computer-readable storing medium storing a set of instructions capable of being executed by the processor to implement a video communications method in each user terminal, and capable of performing the steps of: obtaining video data from a camera at a location of a user terminal, processing the video data in the user terminal to create a compressed video data stream, the processing being executed by software installed and executed in the user terminal, obtaining address information for at least one other user terminal based upon a conventional telephone number for the at least one other user, and if the at least one other user terminal is not available, making a conventional telephone call to the at least one other user based upon the conventional phone number.

45. A computer-readable storing medium storing a set of instructions capable of being executed by a processor to implement a video communications method and capable of performing the steps of: obtaining video data from a camera at a location of a user terminal, processing the video data in the user terminal to create a compressed video data stream, the processing being executed by software installed and executed in the user terminal, obtaining address information for at least one other user terminal based upon a conventional telephone number for the at least one other user, and if the at least one other user terminal is not available, making a conventional telephone call to the at least one other user based upon the conventional phone number.