Method, device, and system for managing a conference

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9866699-B2
Application number	US-201514631939-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2015
Priority date	Mar 20, 2014
Publication date	Jan 9, 2018
Grant date	Jan 9, 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, a second mobile device, and a third 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, second, and third mobile devices, determining speaker capabilities of the first, second and third mobile devices via a local media controller communicating with the first , second and third mobile devices;
after the lowing in of the first mobile device, the second mobile device, and the third mobile device, 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;
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.

2. 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.

3. The method of claim 2 , 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.

4. 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.

5. The method of claim 4 , 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.

6. 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.

7. The method of claim 6 , comprising:
utilizing the camera array so that video data is output during the teleconference that provides video illustrating all participants within the conference environment via data the local media controller receives from the cameras of the logged in mobile devices of the participants assigned to the camera array.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
recognizing each of the participants in the conference environment as participants in the teleconference based on at least one of:
a recorded image of the participant via a camera of one of the logged in mobile devices, and
a recorded voice of the participant via a microphone of one of the logged in mobile devices.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
recognizing each of the participants in the conference environment as participants in the teleconference based on at least one of:
a radio frequency identification transmitted by a mobile device of the participant to the local media controller;
a near field communication between the local media controller within the conference environment and the logged in mobile device of the participant, and
an exchange of data between the mobile device of the participant and the local media controller within the conference environment.

10. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
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 the assigning of the role to the first mobile device;
changing the role assigned to the first mobile device based on the detected change.

11. 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

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

• H04L12/1827 Primary

  Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · 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

• H04W12/068

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