Patent Publication Number: US-2003236833-A1

Title: Conferencing architecture, logic control module and conferencing module therefor

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] The present invention relates generally to telecommunications, and in particular to a specialised conferencing architecture.  
       [0003] 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART  
       [0004] Teleconferencing, such as multi-party calls and videoconferences, has been available for a relatively long time.  
       [0005] The usual way of setting up the necessary connections is to call the other participants after which the participants communicate until they hang up.  
       [0006] Another way is provided by the so-called party lines. Subscribers wishing to talk to other people call a specific number and are then connected to a number of other subscribers having dialled the same number. A difference between this and the previous way is that the identities and phone numbers of the other participants is not necessarily known at the beginning of the call.  
       [0007] Internet chat rooms and the like give yet another way. In brief, a subscriber logs on to a architecture on which can be found a number of different chat rooms. When the subscriber logs on to a chat room, he can communicate with one or more of the other subscribers in the same chat room.  
       [0008] From a certain point of view, there are limitations with the prior art solutions. As an example, it would be interesting to have a conditional conferencing feature, i.e. a conferencing which would allow to communicate with only some of the other participants, based on very specific considerations. This is not provided by the prior art solutions.  
       [0009] It can be appreciated that it would be advantageous to have solution for multiparty conferencing that overcomes disadvantages of the prior art. This invention provides such a solution.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010] In one aspect, the present invention is a conferencing architecture for granting some of a group of terminal users communication rights to communicate together. The architecture comprises:  
       [0011] a logic control module in communication with the group of terminal users, the logic control module maintaining a list of at least one predetermined criterion and associated communication rights, the logic control module monitoring status of the terminal users and, upon a change of status of at least one of the terminal users, the change of status corresponding to at least one of the predetermined criterion, the logic control module generates a message for modifying the communication rights accordingly; and  
       [0012] a conferencing module for receiving the message and for changing the communication rights amongst the terminal users in accordance with the message, the conferencing module generating an information message to the terminal users impacted by the change of status, the information message informing the impacted terminal users of the changing communication rights.  
       [0013] It is also an object of the present invention to provide a logic control module for granting some of a group of terminal users communication rights to communicate together. The logic control module comprises:  
       [0014] a communication module for communicating with the group of terminal users;  
       [0015] a list of at least one predetermined criterion and associated communication rights; and  
       [0016] a monitoring module for monitoring status of the terminal users and, upon a change of status of at least one of the terminal users, the change of status corresponding to at least one of the predetermined criterion, having a message generated by the communication module, the message including parameters for informing the terminal users impacted by the change of status of the changing communication rights.  
       [0017] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a conferencing module for coordinating communication rights amongst a group of terminal users. The conferencing module comprises:  
       [0018] a control part for communicating with a logic control module and for receiving therefrom a message for modifying the communication rights of some of the group of terminal users in response to a change of status of at least one of the terminal users, the change of status corresponding to at least one predetermined criterion;  
       [0019] a media part in communication with the control part and with the group of terminal users, the media part generating an information message to be communicated to the terminal users impacted by the change of status, the information message informing the impacted terminal users of the changing communication rights. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0020] For a more detailed understanding of the invention, for further objects and advantages thereof, reference can now be made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
     [0021]FIG. 1 is a block chart of a preferred embodiment of a conferencing architecture according to the invention; and  
     [0022]FIG. 2 is a block chart of an alternate embodiment of conferencing architecture also according to the invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0023] The innovative teachings of the present invention will be described with particular reference to numerous exemplary embodiments. However, it should be understood that this class of embodiments provides only a few examples of the many advantageous uses of the innovative teachings of the invention. In general, statements made in the specification of the present application do not necessarily limit any of the various claimed aspects of the present invention. Moreover, some statements may apply to some inventive features but not to others. In the drawings, like or similar elements are designated with identical reference numerals throughout the several views, and the various elements depicted are not necessarily drawn to scale.  
     [0024] Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which depicts a block chart of a preferred embodiment of conferencing architecture in accordance with the invention. The conferencing architecture of the present invention aims at granting some of a group of terminal users communication rights to communicate together. For doing so, the conferencing architecture  100  comprises a logic control module  110  and a conferencing module  120 . The logic control module  110  and the conferencing module  120 , also respectively called hereinafter logic control server and conferencing server, may consist for example of dedicated servers in an Internet Protocol network. A number of terminals  130 —having users A, B and C—are using the architecture  100 . Only three terminals  130  are shown on FIG. 1, but it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to three, and does not require a minimum of three terminals  130 . The terminals  130  can communicate using a same communication media, for example Wideband Code Division Multiple Access or Internet Protocol, or communicate using different communications medias independently.  
     [0025] To simplify understanding of the invention, an exemplary application of the architecture will be described when appropriate. This exemplary application relates to a cooperative multiplayer game in a virtual environment in which the terminal users, also referred to as players, have a task to perform. Also, in this exemplary application the players can only communicate when they are in the same virtual defined area in the game, or have other means of communication within the game, such as for example intercoms. Of course, any other application requiring similar granting of communication rights to some of a group or users would also encompassed by the present invention.  
     [0026] More particularly, the following description will, for understanding purposes, be directed towards a specific example where the cooperative multiplayer game consists of a virtual house, in which players have to visit virtual rooms, and can only communicate with the other players being currently in the same virtual room as they are.  
     [0027] The logic control server  110  is in communication with a control part  122  of the conferencing server  120 . The control part  122  is in further communication with a media part  124  of the conferencing server. The terminals  130  are in communication with the logic control server  110 , preferably via a control client  132  (shown only in terminal B), and both the control part  122  and the media part  124  of the conferencing server  120 .  
     [0028] The logic control server consists of a communication module  112 , a list  114  and a monitoring module  116 . The communication module  112  communicates with the group of terminal users  130  through the conferencing server  120 . The list  114  includes at least one predetermined criterion and its associated communication rights. For example, in the case of the virtual house, the predetermined criterion can be all users in the same virtual room and the associated communication rights is that they can communicate together. So, as soon as a user enters a room, where other users are located, also referred as a change of status of one of the terminal users, the logic control server is informed of the incoming user in the room, and determines that it is a criterion of the list, and updates the communication rights of all the users in the room accordingly, by sending a message (not shown) through the conferencing server  120 . The message includes parameters for informing the terminal users impacted by the change of status of the changing communication rights.  
     [0029] When the game is initiated the control part  122  sends one or more messages to invite users of terminals A, B and C to a conference and, normally, they reply accepting the invitation. Then, in the game, when the users move around and interact, messages containing events are sent from the terminals  130  to the logic control server  110  to relate their actions( or also called change of status), and from the logic control server  110  to the terminals  130  to update their views following those events, and so on. The events are application specific actions that occur when one of the users interacts with the application. In the present example, the events are game specific actions that occur when one of the players play the game. Examples of game specific actions are, without being limited thereto: changing room, changing position in the room, and selecting an object. Whenever two terminals  130 , e.g. terminal A and terminal C, are in the same room, i.e. when they should be able to communicate, the logic control server  110  sends a message to the control part  122  informing it that communication should be enabled between terminal A and terminal C, upon which the media part  124  relays information between the terminals  130  A and C.  
     [0030] If all three terminals A-C are in a room together and the logic control server  110  determines that one of them has left the room, for example terminal A, it sends a message to inform the control part  122  that in turn instructs the media part  124  to exclude the terminal A from the conference between the other terminals.  
     [0031] If one of the terminal, let&#39;s say  130  B, intends to leave the game and informs the logic control server  110  of this, one or more messages may also be sent to the terminal  130  B instructing it to take appropriate action, such as for example release any resources related to the conference.  
     [0032] In the event that the terminal  130  C disconnects abruptly without informing the logic control server  110 , it is preferable that it at least informs the control part  122  that then in turn informs the logic control server  110  and the media part  124  that the terminal  130 C is no longer connected, whereupon the two latter take appropriate action(s). It is also possible for the media part  124  to have an inactivity timer for each terminal  130  and to inform the control part  122  when one of the terminals  130  has not sent any information to the media part  124  in a predetermined time period.  
     [0033] The protocols of the messages sent between the different nodes are preferably:  
     [0034] eXtensible Markup Language (XML) between the logic control server  110  and the terminals  130 ,  
     [0035] Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) between the control part  122  and the terminals  130 ,  
     [0036] Real Time Protocol (RTP) between the media part  124  and the terminals  130 ,  
     [0037] a Megaco (H.248) based Application Program Interface (API) between control part  122  and the media part  124 ,  
     [0038] Parlay/OSA between the logic control server  110  and the control part  122 , although it is to be understood that other protocols may also be used. It is further to be understood that there may be adaptation layers so that e.g. the logic control server  110  sends a message to one of these layers that translates to Parlay/OSA for further transmission to the control part  122 . This makes the architecture more generic and more flexible.  
     [0039] It should be noted that it is possible to have the control part  122  invite the users of the terminals  130 , negotiate the connections, and inform the media part  124 , every time the terminals  130  are to be able to communicate, and then releases the resources when the communication is no longer possible. This approach, however, increases the signalling between the nodes.  
     [0040]FIG. 2 shows a block chart of an alternate embodiment of conferencing architecture according to the invention. While the architecture in FIG. 1 was more centralised, the architecture in this figure is more distributed.  
     [0041] A conferencing architecture  200  is distributed on a number of terminals  230 , client A-C. As in FIG. 1, the clients  230  have a control client server  232 . The control client modules  232  are connected to each other externally, and each control client is connected to a media part  224  and a logic control server  210 . The media parts  224 , too, are connected to each other. In this embodiment too, the terminals  230  are preferably invited to a conference as the game is initiated or as a new player enters the game.  
     [0042] From the figure and the description, it can be seen that the architecture  200  of FIG. 2 provides much the same functionality as the architecture  100  of FIG. 1. The logic control servers  210  exchange information via the control clients  232  and determine when terminals  230  are in the same virtual room in the game and instruct the relevant media parts  224  to relay information between the concerned terminals  230 . However, the major difference resides in the fact that the Logic Control Servers  210  and the Media Parts  224  are now distributed in the terminals of the terminals  230 , instead of being centralized as in the previously described embodiment.  
     [0043] Hybrids between the architectures in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are also possible. This means that it is possible to have one or more centralized server from the architecture  100  of FIG. 1 and the rest of the servers decentralized in any of the way described for the architecture  200  of FIG. 2.  
     [0044] It should be understood that ‘in communication with’ and the like does not necessarily mean constant communication. Rather it means that one server has the possibility to communicate with another server and send a message whenever appropriate.  
     [0045] Although several preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth and defined by the following claims.