Patent Publication Number: US-2012047543-A1

Title: Communication device and method for establishing video communication

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the disclosure 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to video communication, and more particularly to a communication device and a method for establishing a video communication using the communication device. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Generally, a videophone transmits both video signals and audio signals through telephone lines. The telephone lines may be unshielded twisted pair (UTP), which is mainly used to transmit audio signals. If the UTP is used to transmit both of the video signals and audio signals, a transmission rate of the video signals and audio signals would be influenced. For example, the transmission rate may be decreased, such as 33.6 k. Thus, unclear and incoherent images will be displayed on the videophone if both of the video signals and the audio signals are transmitted through the telephone lines. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a local communication device. 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for establishing a video communication using a communication device, such as, that of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     All of the processes described may be embodied in, and fully automated by, functional code modules executed by one or more general purpose computers or processors. The code modules may be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. Some or all of the methods may alternatively be embodied in specialized computer hardware. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a local communication device  11 . The local communication device  11  may communicate with a local universal plug and play (UPnP) set-top box  12  through an UPnP protocol, and communicate with a remote communication device  13  through a session initiation protocol (SIP). The remote communication device  13  may communicate with a remote UPnP set-top box  14  through the UPnP protocol. The local communication device  11  may control the local 
     UPnP set-top box  12  to send and receive video signals to obtain clear and coherent images. It should be understood that UPnP is a set of networking protocols for primarily residential networks without expert administrators. UPnP permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, WIFI access points, and mobile device, to seamlessly discover each others presence on the network and establish functional network services for data sharing, communications, and entertainment. 
     The local communication device  11  includes a storage device  112  and a processor  113 . The storage device  112  stores one or more programs, such as operating systems, other applications of the local communication device  11 , and various kinds of data. In one embodiment, the storage device  112  may be a memory of the local communication device  11  or an external storage card, such as a memory stick, a subscriber identification module (SIM) card, a smart media card, a compact flash card, or any other type of memory card. 
     In one embodiment, the local communication device  11  may further include a local digital media controller (DMC) module  110  and a local SIP module  111 . The local UPnP set-top box includes a local digital media server (DMS) module  120  and a local digital media renderer (DMR) module  121 . The modules  110  and  111  may comprise computerized code in the form of one or more programs that are stored in the storage device  112  (or memory). The computerized code includes instructions that are executed by the at least one processor  113  to provide functions for modules  110  and  111 . 
     The local DMC module  110  searches for the local UPnP set-top box  12  using a simple service discovery protocol in a network. If there is the local UPnP set-top box  12  in the network, the local DMC module  110  obtains an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the local UPnP set-top box  12  from the network. The network may be a digital living network alliance (DLNA). The UPnP set-top box  12  is a “plug-and-play” device when connected to the network, and automatically establishes working configurations with other devices, such as a name of the local UPnP set-top box  12 , a serial number of the local UPnP set-top box  12 , a name of a manufacturing company that produced the local UPnP set-top box  12 , and functions of the local UPnP set-top box  12 . In one embodiment, the working configurations are stored in an extensible markup language (XML) file of the network. The local DMC module  110  determines there is a local UPnP set-top box  12  in the network if the XML file includes working configurations of the local UPnP set-top box  12 . 
     The local SIP module  111  sends the IP address of the local UPnP set-top box  12  and a request for obtaining an IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  to the remote communication device  13 . The remote communication device  13  receives the IP address of the local UPnP set-top box  12  and the request for obtaining the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14 , and sends the received IP address of the local UPnP set-top box  12  to the remote UPnP set-top box  14 . The remote communication device  13  further obtains the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14 , and sends the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  to the local SIP module  111 . 
     The local SIP module  111  receives the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  from the remote communication device  13 . 
     The local DMC module  110  sends the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  to the local UPnP set-top box  12  according to a “SetURI” instruction of a UPnP audio and video (AV) Architecture protocol. 
     The local SIP module  111  sends local audio signals to the remote communication device  13  according to an SIP. 
     The local SIP module  111  receives response audio signals from the remote communication device  13  according to the SIP. 
     The local DMC module  110  sends a “record” instruction of the UPnP AV 
     Architecture to the DMR  121  of the local UPnP set-top box  12 , to control the DMR  121  to send local video signals to the remote UPnP set-top box  14  according to the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  through a real time streaming protocol (RTSP). 
     The local DMC module  110  controls the DMS  120  of the local UPnP set-top box  12  to receive response video signals from the remote UPnP set-top box  14  through the RSTP. 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for establishing a video communication using a communication device  11 . Depending on the embodiment, additional blocks may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
     In block S 10 , the local DMC module  110  searches for the local UPnP set-top box  12  using a simple service discovery protocol in a network. 
     In block S 11 , the local SIP module  111  determines whether there is a local UPnP set-top box  12  in the network. 
     In block S 12 , the local DMC module  110  obtains an IP address of the local UPnP set-top box  12  from the network if there is the local UPnP set-top box  12  in the network. 
     In block S 13 , the local SIP module  111  sends the IP address of the local UPnP set-top box  12  and a request for obtaining an IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  to the remote communication device  13 . The remote communication device  13  receives the IP address of the local UPnP set-top box  12  and a request for obtaining an IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14 , sends the received IP address of the local UPnP set-top box  12  to the remote UPnP set-top box  14 , obtains the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14 , and sends the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  to the local SIP module  111 . 
     In block S 14 , the local SIP module  111  receives the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  from the remote communication device  13 . 
     In block S 15 , the local DMC module  110  sends the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  to the local UPnP set-top box  12  according to a “SetURI” instruction of a UPnP AV Architecture protocol. 
     In block S 16 , the local SIP module  111  sends local audio signals to the remote communication device  13  according to the SIP, and receives response audio signals from the remote communication device  13  according to an SIP. 
     In block S 17 , the local DMC module  110  sends a “record” instruction of the UPnP AV Architecture to the DMR  121 , to control the DMR  121  to send local video signals to the remote UPnP set-top box  14  according to the IP address of the remote UPnP set-top box  14  through the RTSP, and controls the DMS  120  of the local UPnP set-top box  12  to receive response video signals from the remote UPnP set-top box  14  according to the RTSP. 
     Although certain inventive embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.