Method, device, and system for managing a conference

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10135994-B2
Application number	US-201715824260-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 28, 2017
Priority date	Mar 20, 2014
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

A method can include the steps of logging in of mobile devices of participants when they are located in the same physical conference environment and managing the resources of these devices such that the resources of the logged-in devices are combined into an audio system to output audio conference information using a sound output process in the conference environment. The conference environment may be a conference room. The audio conference information may be audio to be output to the participants at the conference environment. The formed audio system can include speakers of the user devices for outputting such audio. The microphones of the user devices may also be used to form an audio input system for the conference for allowing audio of the participants to be received and transmitted during the conference. A communication system can be configured to implement embodiments of the method.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing a teleconference, comprising:
logging in of mobile devices located in a same conference environment for use in the conference environment during a teleconference, the mobile devices comprising a first mobile device, and a second mobile device;
managing speakers of the logged in mobile devices to utilize the speakers of the logged in mobile devices in the conference environment for output of audio during the teleconference by a speaker management process, the speaker management process comprising:
after the logging in of the first and second mobile devices, determining speaker capabilities of the first and second mobile devices via a local media controller communicating with the first and second mobile devices;
assigning roles to the first and second mobile devices for utilization of a first speaker of the first mobile device and a second speaker of the second mobile device during the teleconference via wireless communication with the local media controller, the roles being assigned such that the first speaker is assigned to a first channel for output of audio of the teleconference in the conference environment during the teleconference and the second speaker is assigned to a second channel for output of audio of the teleconference audio in the conference environment during the teleconference;

managing microphones of the logged in mobile devices to utilize the microphones of the logged in mobile devices in the conference environment to generate a three dimensional microphone field for recording of audio via the microphones during the teleconference for transmission of the recorded audio for the teleconference, wherein the managing of the microphones of the logged in mobile devices comprises using a first microphone of the first mobile device and a second microphone of the second mobile device to form the three dimensional microphone field for recording of the audio via the microphones during the teleconference for transmission of the recorded audio for the teleconference; and
using the three dimensional microphone field to both (i) locate and spatially separate sound sources in the conference environment and (ii) spatially organize sound signals illustrated in a virtual conference room representing the conference environment; and
a teleconference control detecting a change of at least one of: location of the first mobile device within the conference environment, orientation of the first mobile device within the conference environment, and functionality of the first speaker has occurred after assigning of a role to the first mobile device for changing the role assigned to the first mobile device based on the detected change.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile devices comprise a third mobile device and the speaker management process is also comprised of:
ignoring a third speaker of the third mobile device upon a determination that the third mobile device is within a pre-selected distance of the second mobile device so that the third speaker is not assigned a role for utilization of the third speaker to emit sound in the conference environment during the teleconference.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile devices also comprise third, fourth, and fifth mobile devices and the speaker management process also comprises:
after the logging in of the third mobile device, determining speaker capabilities of the third mobile device via the local media controller communicating with the third mobile device;
assigning a role to the third mobile device for utilization of a third speaker of the third mobile device during the teleconference such that the third speaker is assigned to a third channel for output of audio of the teleconference during the teleconference;
after the logging in of the fourth mobile device, determining speaker capabilities of the fourth mobile device via the local media controller communicating with the fourth mobile device;
assigning a role to the fourth mobile device for utilization of a fourth speaker of the fourth mobile device during the teleconference such that the fourth speaker is assigned to a fourth channel for output of audio of the teleconference during the teleconference;
after the logging in of the fifth mobile device, determining speaker capabilities of the fifth mobile device via the local media controller communicating with the fifth mobile device; and
assigning a role to the fifth mobile device for utilization of a fifth speaker of the fifth mobile device during the teleconference such that the fifth speaker is assigned to a fifth channel for output of audio of the teleconference during the teleconference.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first channel is a left channel, the second channel is a right channel, the third channel is a left surround channel, the fourth channel is a right surround channel, and the fifth channel is a center channel.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the speaker management process also comprises:
utilizing at least one camera within the conference environment to identify positions and orientations of the logged in mobile devices within the conference environment;
wherein the assigning of the roles to the first and second mobile devices for utilization of the first speaker and the second speaker during the teleconference is based on the positions and orientations of the first mobile device and the second mobile device identified via utilization of the at least one camera.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the managing of the microphones also comprises:
testing each of the logged in mobile devices individually to identify a position in an audio pattern of audio data recorded by the microphones of the mobile devices to be output as an audio output feed for the conference environment transmitted during the teleconference.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the testing of each of the logged in mobile devices comprises:
using at least one stationary device in the testing to emit audio that is to be recorded by the microphone to be tested for calibration of an audio pattern.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
calibrating the first and second speakers by use of at least one stationary device within the conference environment to record tones emitted by the first and second speakers to identify positions of the first and second speakers within a speaker array to be utilized for output of audio in the conference environment during the teleconference.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the logged in mobile devices also comprise a third mobile device and wherein the managing of the microphones of the logged in mobile devices also comprises using a third microphone of the third mobile device to form the three dimensional microphone field for recording of the audio via the microphones during the teleconference for transmission of the recorded audio for the teleconference; and
wherein the assigning of the roles to the first and second mobile devices for utilization of the first speaker and the second speaker during the teleconference is based on the calibrating of the first and second speakers.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
managing cameras of the logged in mobile devices to utilize the cameras of the logged in mobile devices in the conference environment for recording of video during the teleconference by a camera management process, the camera management process comprising:
identifying at least one of (i) positions and (ii) orientations of the logged in mobile devices to position the cameras of the logged in mobile devices in a camera array to be utilized for recording video within the conference environment to be transmitted during the teleconference.

1

Assignees

• Unify Gmbh & Co Kg

Inventors

• Kleiner Patrick
• Klug Karl
• Unterstaller Martha
• Stephan Luzia

Classifications

• H04W4/16

  Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold · CPC title

• H04M3/568 Primary

  audio processing specific to telephonic conferencing, e.g. spatial distribution, mixing of participants (echo suppression in two-way loud-speaking telephone systems H04M9/02; sound field processing per se H04S7/30) · CPC title

• H04L12/1827 Primary

  Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W12/068

  using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications · CPC title