Client-side encryption of content for virtual meetings

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12244572-B2
Application number	US-202217667826-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 9, 2022
Priority date	Feb 9, 2022
Publication date	Mar 4, 2025
Grant date	Mar 4, 2025

Abstract

An electronic device and method for client-side encryption for virtual meetings is provided. The electronic device acquires one or more encryption keys for a virtual meeting session with one or more participant devices, where the electronic device includes a meeting client to join or host the virtual meeting session and to communicate with meeting clients of the one or more participant devices. The electronic device determines, in a duration of the virtual meeting session, first content to be transferred to the one or more participant devices, via the meeting client of the electronic device. The electronic device encrypts the determined first content by use of the one or more encryption keys and transfers the encrypted first content to a meeting server. The meeting server transfers the encrypted first content to the one or more participant devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
circuitry configured to:
acquire at least one encryption key for a virtual meeting session with at least one participant device, wherein the electronic device includes a first meeting client to join or host the virtual meeting session and to communicate with a plurality of second meeting clients of the at least one participant device;
detect, in a duration of the virtual meeting session, an event based on analysis of a meeting-related content associated with the virtual meeting session, wherein the detected event corresponds to a first content transferred to the at least one participant device, via the first meeting client of the electronic device;
generate bitrate-specific versions of the first content;
determine a network bandwidth of a participant device of the at least one participant device in the duration of the virtual meeting session;
select a bitrate-specific version of the generated bitrate-specific versions based on the network bandwidth;
encrypt the selected bitrate-specific version of the first content by use of the at least one encryption key; and
transfer the encrypted bitrate-specific version of the first content to a meeting server,
wherein the meeting server transfers the encrypted bitrate-specific version of the first content to the at least one participant device.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein
the first content is part of one of a file transfer process, a conversation, a discussion, or a presentation in the duration of the virtual meeting session, and
the first content comprises one of a meeting audio, a textual conversation, a video recording of the virtual meeting session, a record of annotations performed by the at least one participant device of the virtual meeting session on a type of content presented in the virtual meeting session, metadata of the virtual meeting session, or a transcript of the meeting audio recording.

3. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to acquire the at least one encryption key from a key store manageable by an organization or a key issuing authority.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one encryption key is stored in a first block of data on a distributed ledger.

5. The electronic device according to claim 4 , wherein
the circuitry is further configured to transmit a signed transaction to the distributed ledger,
the distributed ledger executes the signed transaction on nodes associated with the distributed ledger to extract the at least one encryption key from the first block of data, and
the at least one encryption key is acquired based on the extraction.

6. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:
acquire at least one decryption key from a key store;
receive an encrypted bit-stream from a participant device of the at least one participant device in the duration of the virtual meeting session;
decrypt the encrypted bit-stream by use of the acquired at least one decryption key to output second content; and
control the first meeting client of the electronic device to render the second content.

7. The electronic device according to claim 6 , wherein the key store is managed by an organization or a key issuing authority.

8. The electronic device according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one decryption key is stored in a second block of data on a distributed ledger.

9. The electronic device according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one encryption key and the at least one decryption key are acquired before a start of the virtual meeting session.

10. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the first content is a portion of the meeting-related content.

11. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the event corresponds to one of an indication, a watermark, a keyword, a beacon, or a timestamp included in the meeting-related content and is rendered on the first meeting client of the electronic device.

12. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to detect the event based on application of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model on the meeting-related content.

13. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein
the circuitry is further configured to:
receive, via a user interface element of the first meeting client, at least one input in the duration of the virtual meeting session from a participant device of the at least one participant device, and
detect the event based on the at least one input.

14. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the circuitry is further configured to:
record a meeting audio on the electronic device in the duration of the virtual meeting session;
transmit a request to a server that is different from the meeting server for a transcription of the recorded meeting audio; and
receive, from the server, a transcript of the meeting audio, wherein the first content includes the transcript.

15. A method, comprising:
in an electronic device:
acquiring at least one encryption key for a virtual meeting session with at least one participant device, wherein the electronic device includes a first meeting client to join or host the virtual meeting session and to communicate with a plurality of second meeting clients of the at least one participant device;
detecting, in a duration of the virtual meeting session, an event based on analysis of a meeting-related content associated with the virtual meeting session, wherein the detected event corresponds to a first content transferred to the at least one participant device, via the first meeting client of the electronic device;
generating bitrate-specific versions of the first content;
determining a network bandwidth of a participant device of the at least one participant device in the duration of the virtual meeting session;
selecting a bitrate-specific version of the generated bitrate-specific versions based on the network bandwidth;
encrypting the selected bitrate-specific version of the first content by use of the at least one encryption key; and
transferring the encrypted bitrate-specific version of the first content to a meeting server, wherein the meeting server transfers the encrypted bitrate-specific version of the first content to the at least one participant device.

16. The method according to claim 15 , wherein the at least one encryption key is stored in a first block of data on a distributed ledger.

17. The method according to claim 16 , further comprising:
transmitting a signed transaction to the distributed ledger,
wherein the distributed ledger executes the signed transaction on nodes associated with the distributed ledger to extract the at least one encryption key from the first block of data, and
acquiring the at least one encryption key based on the extraction.

18. The method according to claim 15 , further comprising:
acquiring at least one decryption key from a key store;
receiving an encrypted bit-stream from a participant device of the at least one participant device in the duration of the virtual meeting session;
decrypting the encrypted bit-stream by use of the acquired at least one decryption key to output second content; and
controlling the first meeting client of the electronic device to render the second content.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions that when executed by an electro

Assignees

• Sony Group Corp
• Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC
• Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc

Inventors

• Milne James R
• Mccoy Charles
• Xiong True

Classifications

• H04L65/403

  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 title

• H04L9/3247

  involving digital signatures · CPC title

• H04L9/14

  using a plurality of keys or algorithms · CPC title

• H04L65/1083

  In-session procedures · CPC title

• H04L9/50

  using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees · CPC title