Patent Application
20150039691
In wireless telecommunications, group communication systems may accommodate a large group of participants who wish to share information in a single session or call. For example, push-to-talk/push-to experience (“PTT/PTX”) sessions or conference calls may provide a group of participants a convenient forum in which they may communicate to coordinate business and social activities. However, with the ability to accommodate a large number of participants, as well as to allow new participants to join and/or existing participants to invite others, conducting a group communication session in a productive and organized manner may be challenging.
In conventional PTT/PTX half-duplex communications, for example, the ability of a participant to speak may be limited by floor control mechanisms. Further, in full-duplex conference calls, floor control may be desirable to prevent participants from talking over one another, since the users often cannot see one another, and/or participant to prevent a participant from introducing background noise disturbances to the call that compete with the speaker. While it may be possible to solve these issues by imposing a uniform time limit or automatic expiration of floor time for all participants in a communication group, such action may also be too restrictive given the variations in group calls (e.g., participants joining or leaving, purpose of call requiring unequal participation, etc.).
The various embodiments may include allocating an initial floor time to each active participant in the plurality of active participants, determining a group size for the plurality of active participants, determining a likeability rating for at least one active participant of the plurality of active participants, and adjusting the floor time allocated to the at least one active participant based on the determined group size and the determined likeability rating. The floor times allocated to the plurality of active participants may add up to the total amount of time for the group communication, or may add up to less than the total amount of time for the group communication.
Embodiment methods may also include receiving a vote from at least one other active participant in which the received vote comprises a favorability or likeability vote (e.g., “up” or “down”) of associated with the at least one active participant, determining an aggregate likeability based on all received votes, (e.g., the number of received “up” or favorable votes minus the number of “down” or unfavorable votes) associated with the at least one active participant, and determining a likeability adjustment for the at least one active participant based on the aggregate likeability determination. The received votes may further include an amount of time by which to increase or decrease the floor time allocated to the at least one active participant.
Embodiment methods may further include determining an aggregate change in floor time allocated to the at least one active participant by combining the increase and decrease amounts of time indicated in all of the received votes, and adjusting the floor time allocated to the least one active participant based on the aggregate change in floor time. In received votes, the amount of time by which to increase floor time allocated to the at least one active participant may represent time that is presently allocated to the at least one other participant, or to a global floor time bank assigned to the group communication. In received votes, the amount of time by which to decrease floor time is allocated to the at least one active participant may represent time that is presently allocated to the at least one active participant and that may be transferred to the global floor time bank. In an embodiment, a sum of the initial floor times allocated to each active participant may be less than a total amount of time for the group communication, and a difference between the sum and the total amount of time for the group communication may be allocated to the global floor time bank assigned to the group communication.
Embodiment methods may also include applying the determined likeability adjustment to the initial floor time allocated to the at least one active participant. Embodiment methods may further include retrieving a popularity ranking associated with the at least one active participant. Such a popularity ranking may be based on accumulated likeability ratings for the at least one active participant from previous group communications.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain the features of the invention.
The various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. References made to particular examples and implementations are for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention or the claims.
The terms “mobile communication device”, “wireless device”, “mobile device”, “wireless communications device”, “smartphone”, and “computing device” are used interchangeably herein to refer to any one or all of cellular telephones, smartphones, personal or mobile multi-media players, personal data assistants (PDA's), laptop computers, tablet computers, smartbooks, palm-top computers, wireless electronic mail receivers, multimedia Internet enabled cellular telephones, wireless gaming controllers, and similar personal electronic devices which include a programmable processor and memory and transmit/receive circuitry configured to transmit and receive voice and/or other data over a wireless communication link.
The terms “group communication” and “group call” are used interchangeably in the following descriptions to refer to a type of communication link functionality that allows a user to simultaneously transmit from a calling device to one or more receiving devices without requiring an existing connection, including, but not limited to, push-to-talk (PTT) communications, such as push-to-talk over cellular (PoC) transmissions, push to transmit (PTX), and other push-to-experience communications including, but not limited to, push-to-content transmissions, push-to-PC calls, push-to-SMS messages, push-to-locate GPS signals, etc. Group communications may also refer to multi-party conference calls, including multi-media conferencing. In the various embodiments, such communications may be half-duplex or full-duplex communications, and may be between a calling device and one or multiple receiving devices. Since PTT communication is a well known type of group communication, the terms “PTT,” “PTX” and “PTT/PTX” are used herein in the description of the various embodiments for ease of reference. However, the use of “PTT,” “PTX” and “PTT/PTX” in describing the various embodiments is not intended to limit the nature of the group communication, the methods or devices recited in the claims to PTT and/or or PTX to the exclusion of other types of group communication unless specifically recited in the claims themselves.
The terms “floor time” and “effective floor time” are used herein to refer to an amount of time during which a participant in a group communication may be permitted to control the floor, i.e., in a half-duplex group session, and/or the amount of time during which the participant may be entitled to speak/transmit data, either exclusively or in conjunction with other participants, during a full-duplex multi-party conference call,
Existing group communication systems may have many advantages over traditional cellular call systems. For example, PTT/PTX communications may have faster call setup times, e.g., setup times ideally in the range of 1 second as opposed to cellular voice channels that can take more than 5 seconds to establish. In some arrangements, the PTT/PTX speaker may have the “floor” where no other group member can speak while the speaker is speaking. Generally speaking, the group communication system may use standard voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) technologies. Voice information may be sent in digital form over IP-based data networks. In PTT/PTX communications, instead of using the standard cellular infrastructure a call may be formed by combining separate point-to-point connections between each IP endpoint in the network.
Various embodiment group communications may use the session initiation protocol (SIP), a widely-used signaling protocol for voice over IP (VoIP) communications in which transfer of packets occurs using the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). RTP, and the associated RTP control protocol (RTCP), are protocols that are well known in the art, respectively, for transmitting real-time data (e.g., audio or video streams) and maintaining RTP session quality.
The various embodiments provide floor control for group communications through a floor grant function that enables participants to determine who receives or is denied the floor during group communications. In various embodiments, the floor grant function may be a democratic mechanism in which participants vote for and yield floor time to others. In various embodiments, the floor grant function may involve dynamically computing and adjusting a participant's allowed floor time in a group communication using parameters that include input from other participants in the group.
The various embodiments may be implemented within a variety of wireless communication systems 100, an example of which is illustrated in
The access gateway 112 may forward the voice, data, and control signals to other network components as user data packets, provide connectivity to external packet data networks, manage and store contexts (e.g. network internal routing information, etc.) and act as an anchor between different technologies (e.g., 3G and 4G systems). The access gateway 112 may also coordinate the transmission and reception of data to and from the Internet 114, and the transmission and reception of voice, data and control information to and from an external service network connected to the Internet 114 and other base stations 110 and wireless receivers 102, 104, 106, 108.
The access gateway 108 may connect the receiver devices 102 to a service network 116. The service network 116 may control a number of services for individual subscribers, such as management of billing data and selective transmission of data, such as multimedia data, to a specific receiver device 102, 104, 106, 108. The service network 116 may be implemented in a single computing device or in many computing devices, either within a single network or across a wide area network, such as the Internet 114. The service network 116 may typically include one or more servers 120, such as a group communication server described in further detail below.
The mobile device may be, for example, a smartphone 102, 104, a tablet computer 106, a cellular telephone 108, or any other suitable mobile device. In general, the mobile devices may include a platform that can receive and execute software applications, data and/or commands transmitted over the wireless network that may ultimately come from the service network 116, the Internet 114 and/or other remote servers and networks. The mobile device may include a transceiver operably coupled to a processor, which may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), microprocessor, logic circuit, or other data processing device. The processor may execute an application programming interface (“API”) layer that interfaces with any resident programs in an internal memory of the mobile device. The internal memory may be comprised of read-only or random-access memory (RAM and ROM), EEPROM, flash cards, or any memory common to computer platforms. The mobile device may also include a local database that stores applications not actively used in memory. The local database is typically a flash memory cell, but may be any secondary storage device as known in the art, such as magnetic media, EEPROM, optical media, tape, soft, or hard disk, or the like. The processor may also be operably coupled to external devices such as an antenna, microphone, speaker, display, keypad or other user input device, such as a touchscreen device, as is known in the art.
In conventional wireless communication systems, a group communication session between two or more mobile devices may be arbitrated by a group communication server or a network of such servers (e.g., collectively illustrated by server 120 in
In various embodiments, the group communication server 120 may perform arbitration functions between competing demands of the various mobile devices 102, 104, 106, 109 for use of communication channels over the wireless network. For example, in response to a request from wireless communications device 102 to communicate with one or more other target devices in a communication group, including all other devices in the group, the server 120 may establish a communication channel between the requesting device 102 and all or a portion of the requested target devices in the group. The server 120 may grant control of the “floor” to the requesting mobile device 102 using a floor control function according to the various embodiments described herein.
In various embodiments, the wireless communications device 200 may include a computer platform 206 that can handle voice and data packets, execute software applications, and transmit information across a wireless network. The computer platform 206 includes, among other components, a processor 208 such as an application-specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”) or a RISC processor such as those that implement the ARM architecture. The processor 208 is typically installed at the time of manufacture of the wireless communications device 200 and is not normally upgradeable. The processor 208 or other processor executes an application programming interface (“API”) layer 210, which includes the resident application environment, and may include the operating system loaded on the processor 208. The resident application environment interfaces with any resident programs in the memory 212, e.g., a computer readable storage medium of the wireless communications device 200.
As shown in
The computer platform 206 may also include a direct communication interface 216 that is configured to open a direct communication channel. The direct communication interface 216 may also be part of the standard communication interface for the wireless communications device 200 which ordinarily carries the voice and data transmitted to and from the wireless communications device 200. The direct communication interface 116 typically is comprised of hardware as is known in the art.
In this example the wireless communication operating system 222 may include a PTT client 226 that is configured to offer access to PTT services through an external interface, here shown at a PTT-aware UI 224. The PTT client 226 may include all the functions required to enable wireless communication operating system 222 applications, such as the media client 228. In an embodiment, the PTT client 226 may maintain access to PTT services, respond to communication requests, process all PTT-aware wireless communication operating system applications requests for PTT services, process all outgoing PTT requests, collect and package vocoder packets for originating PTT talk spurts, and parses packets of vocoder data for terminated PTT talk spurts.
In various embodiments, the computer platform 106 in the wireless communications device environment may include a media client 228, which may be a wireless communication operating system-based application that extends PTT services for access to media types other than the traditional half duplex voice communications (VoIP-PTT media). The media client 228 may provide access to media services through an external interface such as a media aware API that may be developed entirely as a wireless communication operating system-based application or used in combination with an AMSS 220 interface. The media client 228 may service requests from the user and inform the user of the result of any group-directed media request. The media client 228 may additionally be configured to handle incoming notifications that indicate there is data package to download from a media server and described in more detail below. For example, the media client 228 may be configured in one embodiment to download data packages immediately or in other embodiments the media client 228 may be configured to download the data package at a predetermined time period, e.g., at 10:00 pm daily, or it may be configured to prompt the user via the PTT UI 224 to determine whether and/or when to download the file. Other applications 230, which may be push-to-talk or other applications than can receive and transmit data across the group communication channel, may also be resident on the platform.
In some embodiments, the software to enable PTT functionality in the wireless communications device 100 may be pre-installed in the device during device manufacture. In other embodiments, at least a portion of the software providing PTT functionality may be downloaded to the device 100 by the end-user. In some embodiments, the PTT software may be a downloadable application (e.g., a mobile app).
The IMS/SIP core 302 may be an architectural framework for delivering IP multimedia services, and allowing support and control of SIP-based applications. Characteristics and details that define the IMS/SIP core 302 are described in GSM specifications, including, but not limited to, 3GPP TS 24.229 version 12.0.0 Release 12. In the IMS/SIP core 302, SIP Application servers (AS) may host and execute services, such as various half- and full-duplex group communication services.
In various embodiments, an IMS/SIP core 302 may connect to a public or private IP network, and may provide packet-switched group communication services to wireless devices 312.
Wireless devices 312 may register on the IMS/SIP core 302 through a variety of access networks 306, which may be supported by nodes and gateways provided in the group communication system 300. For example, a wireless device 312 configured to access a GPRS network may connect with the IMS/SIP core 302 through a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 308. The GGSN 308 may provide inter-networking functions between the GPRS network and external packet switched networks, including those that use IP. In another example, a wireless device 312 configured to use a circuit switched (CS) access network may be able to connect with the IMS/SIP core 302 through the PTSN/CS gateway 310.
In addition to IP connectivity, the IMS/SIP core 302 may provide authentication and authorization services to wireless devices 312. In an embodiment, communications between wireless devices 312 and the IMS/SIP core 302 may use SIP, which may be transported using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). In various embodiments the IMS/SIP core 302 may also route SIP signaling messages, for example, call set-up messages, between wireless devices 312 (through one or access network(s) 306) and at least one group communication server 304. Further, the IMS/SIP core 302 may support the transport of talk bursts, floor control, and link quality messages between the wireless devices 312 and at least one group communication server 304.
In various embodiments, at least one group communication server 304 may provide services needed for group call sessions. In some embodiments, different types of group communications may share a common group communication server 304 (i.e., a single entity that handles all group communications). In other embodiments, each type of group communication may be associated with a physically or logically separate server (e.g., a PTT/PTX server 304a, a multi-party conference server 304b, etc.) For example, in an embodiment PTT/PTX group communication, a group communication server such as PTT/PTX server 304a may provide SIP session handling, group session handling, access control, floor control functionality, participant identification and/or media distribution. The PTT/PTX server 304a may function as an endpoint for SIP, Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) and/or Real Time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) signaling. As previously stated, SIP may used for signaling to establish, modify and terminate communication sessions. Additionally, RTP may be used to transport voice packets in a PTT/PTX group call, and RTCP may be used to perform floor control during PTT/PTX sessions.
The PTT/PTX server 304a may communicate with a group management server 314, such as a Group and List Management Server (GLMS) 314a. The GLMS 314a may be responsible for managing group lists, contact lists, and access lists associated with each wireless device 312. A group list may be a list of groups to which a user belongs, and each group may be a collection of PTT/PTX user identities defined by a participant creating the group. A user creating the group may be the group owner and may modify or delete the group. Each group may be assigned a SIP address that may serve as the group identifier. Additionally, the GLMS 314a may manage one or several contact lists for each user, which may be accessible by wireless devices 312 and may include addresses/identities for other users or groups. Further, the GLMS 314a may manage an access list for each wireless device 312, which may define access restrictions to control who is allowed to initiate instant talk sessions or other group communications with the user. An access list may contain wireless device 312 user defined identities of other PTT/PTX users or groups. In an embodiment, a wireless device 312 user may have one blocked identities list and one granted identities list.
In some embodiments, communications between wireless devices 312 and the GLMS 314a to manage the groups, contact lists and access lists, as well as indications (e.g., Do-not-disturb) that may be set by wireless devices 312, may take place using HTTP/XML. In addition, the GLMS 314a may communicate with at least one group communication server, for example PIT/PTX server 304a, enabling the PTT/PTX server 304a to retrieve the groups, contacts, access lists, and indications for each participant.
In various embodiments, in addition or in the alternative to PTT/PTX communications, the group communication system 300 may include components that provide full-duplex multi-party conference calls and/or data sessions. Such components may include, but are not limited to, a conference server and a call manager. As discussed above, in some embodiments PTT/PTX communications as well as multi-party conference calls may share a common group communication server 304, while in other embodiments each type of group communication may be handled by separate group communications server, for example, conference server 304b for multi-party conference calls. Similarly, in some embodiments PTT/PTX communications and conference calls may share a common management server 314, while in other embodiments each type of group communication may be associated with a physically or logically separate management server (e.g., GLMS 314a, call manager 314b, etc.)
In various embodiments, conference server 304b may allow participants to communicate substantially simultaneously for a multimedia conference call. In an embodiment, conference server 304b may provide conference functionality for packet-switched networks. In various embodiments the conference server may include a conference bridge, which may provide conference functionality in CS networks such as the PTSN.
The conference server 304b may implement one or more control or signaling protocols. A call manager 314b may be configured to connect with the conference server 304b part of the group communication system 300. In an embodiment, the Call Manager 314b may create, access and update information about participants in the conference calls. The Call Manager 314b may also track all active VoIP network components, including wireless devices, gateways, conference bridges, transcoding resources, etc. In various embodiments the call manager may monitor conference call event information, for example, context information (e.g., call duration, time remaining in a call, time extension procedures, etc.), participant information (e.g., number of participants on a call, time of joining or leaving a call, participant location, identification of an active speaker and/or leader of the call, etc.), and/or supplemental information (e.g., call agenda, presentation materials, slides, audio recordings, video recordings, documents, etc.).
In addition to components that provide PTT/PTX and/or conference communications among a group of participants, the group communication system 300 may include presence server 316 accessible to both the GLMS 314a and Call Manager 314b, and which exchanges signaling with the IMS/SIP core 302. The presence server 316 may manage presence information for the wireless devices 312, and may be responsible for combining presence-related information for multiple devices into a single presence document. The presence information may be used by participants to determine the availability and willingness of other participants. In various embodiments, the IMS/SIP core 302 may upload registration status of wireless device users to the presence server 316, which may in turn disseminate presence information to the wireless devices 312. Further, a Do-not-Disturb status and/or granted/blocked access lists may be uploaded from the GLMS 314a and/or Call Manager 314b to the presence server 316.
A number of software modules and/or data tables may reside in the memory 408 and be utilized by the processor 404, including but not limited to, a group call application 416, which may be configured for PTT/PTX sessions and/or conference call sessions. The group communications server 400 may be further configured to receive and store participant voting information in a data storage system 412. The data storage system 412 may be an external repository that may be connected via a wired or wireless network to the processor 404 of the group communication server 400.
The various embodiments may improve current floor control arbitration in group communications through a democratic floor control function. Specifically, the group communication systems in the various embodiments may dynamically assign floor time to participants based on a plurality of democratically determined parameters. Using a weighted combination of these parameters, a floor control function may be implemented as a running algorithm that determines a net amount of time for which each participant may have the floor (such as in a PTT/PTX communication and/or in a conference call) and/or a net degree of restriction on each participant's ability to contribute to the conversation (such as in a conference call).
At the beginning of a group communication, floor time may be distributed among active participants based on the size of the group. In one embodiment, the initial floor time allocation may divide the time equally between the participants. In other embodiments floor time may be initially unequally distributed based on other factors, for example, differences between participants' popularity ranking at the beginning of the group communication.
In the various embodiments, the multiple input parameters for an example floor control function may include, for example, the number of active participants in the group call, a likeability rating from other participants in the group call, and a popularity rank from the participant's likeability rating history. In an embodiment, these parameters may be tracked at the group communication server. In an alternative embodiment, some or all of these parameters may be tracked by each participant's wireless device and uploaded to a group communication server.
Specifically, in an embodiment a participation parameter (x) may dynamically influence floor time in a manner that is inversely proportional to the size of the communication group. The size of the group may fluctuate throughout the call, for example, due to participants joining and exiting the group communication. For example, a participant's initially-allocated floor time may be reduced in response to an increase in the number of participants, and/or may be increased in response to a reduction in the number of participants (e.g., when some participants hang up or log out). In an embodiment, the participation parameter may be based on a subset of the total group size, for example, a count of the number of active participants in the group. In another embodiment, the participation parameter may be based on a total size of the group, such as a count of all participants, including both active and inactive participants. In another embodiment, the participation parameter may be based on both the number of active participants and the total number of participants, such as such as a weighted count of the number of active participants compared to a count of all participants. For example, a participation parameter may provide a greater weight to the number of active participants and a lesser weight to the number of inactive participants in the group.
In an embodiment, a likeability rating parameter (y) may also dynamically influence floor time by allowing each participant's likeability to be up-voted or down-voted by the others. In an embodiment, the aggregate result of the favorable votes and unfavorable votes (e.g., “up” and “down” votes) received from others in the group communication may provide a net positive or negative likeability rating for each subject participant, which may respectively cause an increase or decrease for that participant's floor time. In an example group communication, each participant might have a likeability rating of zero at the beginning of the call. Alternatively, a participant who has celebrity status or who purchases premium features, such as through a subscription purchase, might be given a higher (i.e., non-zero) baseline likeability rating when the call begins.
In addition, a popularity ranking parameter (z) may be determined based on a participant's overall likeability ratings accumulated from previous group communications. For example, participants who consistently achieve positive aggregate likeability ratings during various group communications may experience an increase in their popularity ratings over time. In some embodiments, participants may pay an additional subscription or one-time amount to achieve a “premium” status with a higher popularity ranking. In various embodiments, unlike active participation and likeability rating parameters, a participant's popularity ranking parameter may be fixed during a group communication, and may be updated at its conclusion.
In an example embodiment, table 502a may be used to keep track of information associated with Participant A at time intervals during a group communication 500. As shown in a data entry at time T1 the group communication 500 may have 20 active participants, each of whom may be associated with one of the other tables 502b, 502c, etc. Table 502a also illustrates that Participant A received four favorable votes (“up votes”) and zero unfavorable votes (“down votes”) in time T1, which may have been received from any of the nineteen other active participants.
In an embodiment, table 502a may be used to compute and track Participant A's overall likeability based on the number of favorable or “up votes” and unfavorable or “down votes” received. For example, table 502a illustrates that at T1 Participant A had an overall likeability rating of positive four (+4), i.e., the sum of the positive number of favorable or “up” votes (+4) and negative number of unfavorable or “down” votes (−0). In the various embodiments, the group communication server or device may perform ad hoc computations of overall likeability rating for participants, and therefore may record only the overall likeability associated with each participant (e.g., in tables 502a, 502b, etc.). In alternative embodiments, the group communication server may only store the “up” and “down” votes, without computing an overall likeability.
In the illustrated example group communication 500, each likeability vote may be counted equally in determining an overall likeability rating for Participant A, as shown in table 502a. In alternative embodiments, votes received from various other participants in the communication group may receive more or less weight, depending on any of a variety of criteria. For example, likeability votes may be subject to time restrictions such that less weight may be given to up or down votes received near the end of the group communication. In another example, popularity rankings of the voting participant may be used to weight the likeability votes, such as by giving more weight to voting participants with higher popularity rankings. In an embodiment, a voting participant's location may also affect the weight of his or her likeability vote. For example, when a group communication involves a particular live event, the GPS location of a voting participant may be send to a group communication server along with the participant's vote. The group communication server may be configured, in an embodiment, to give more weight to votes from participants who are located in close proximity of the live event that is a subject of the group communication. These weighting factors for participant votes provide only a few examples, as any of a number of other weighting factors may be used instead of or in addition to these examples.
Further, in alternative embodiments, participant voting options may involve selection options with further details beyond “up” and “down” votes, which may also result in different weighting options. For example, a participant may be given the option to vote another participant “up” or “down” by a magnitude factor. For example, a vote received with a minimum magnitude (e.g., “1”) may be given a much lower weight by a group communication server than a vote that received with a maximum magnitude (e.g., “5” or other maximum value).
Returning to
In the example equally-weighted voting system, the sum of the positive number of favorable/up votes and the negative number of unfavorable/down votes may be determined to provide the current overall likeability rating for Participant A (i.e., (+6)+(−2)=(+4)). Thus as shown in Table 502a, an overall likeability rating of positive 4 (+4) may be recorded in an entry at time T2. The tracking of the number of participants in the group communication 500, and the likeability rating for Participant A, may be repeated until the end of the group communication 500 (i.e., through Tn). In some embodiments, time intervals may be regularly occurring periods, with determinations at T1, T2 . . . Tn being separated by a fixed number of seconds/minutes. In alternative embodiments, time intervals may not be periodic, and may instead occur in response to a talk related threshold or condition. For example, T1, T2 . . . Tn may correspond to times at which a current speaker in the group communication 500 surrenders the floor, or falls below a predetermined threshold of remaining floor time.
Participant A's popularity ranking may be retrieved from memory, such as the participant subscription information database 412, discussed above with respect to
Upon the termination of the group communication 500, tracked parameter values for each participant, such as those shown in table 502a for Participant A, may be uploaded to or stored in the participant subscription information database 412 by the group communication server. In this manner, popularity rankings for a participant may be updated by factoring in the latest likeability entries that were stored. In one embodiment, an index may be maintained for each participant that tracks the overall likeability rating increase or decrease after completed calls, which may also be stored in the participant subscription information database 412 to facilitate updating of participants' popularity rankings. Additionally, despite not receiving a positive likeability rating during a group call, a participant may still be able to increase his or her popularity index in other ways, such as by purchasing premium features, by achieving a celebrity status, making a contribution or paying a fee for more time, etc.
In addition to using a participant's overall likeability accumulated from past communications, updates to a participant's popularity ranking may be based on other information that may be stored for each participant. For example, a participant's subscription status may indicate that a participant has paid for a premium subscription, thereby entitling the participant to an elevated popularity ranking. Further, indications of other statuses such as a celebrity status may serve to increase the participant's popularity.
In the various embodiments, a popularity ranking parameter, as well as initial and updated values for number of active participants and overall likeability parameters during the group communication 500, may be used by the system to implement a floor control function to dynamically manage effective floor time allocated to the participants. For example, a group communication server executing the floor control function may use entries from table 502a to adjust Participant A's floor time. In various embodiments, the floor control function may be applied with high relative frequency (i.e., after each time interval T1, T2, etc.) or low relative frequency (i.e., after multiple time intervals) during the group communication 500.
Implementing the floor control function may involve applying multiple adjustments to participants' effective floor time. In an embodiment, the adjustments may themselves be functions of the parameter values tracked and updated for each participant during the group communication 500. For example, a size of group adjustment may be computed as a function of the active participation parameter (i.e., ƒ(x)). Further, a likeability adjustment may be computed as a function of the number of the participant's overall likeability (i.e., ƒ(y)). Moreover, a popularity adjustment may be computed as a function of the participant's popularity ranking (i.e., ƒ(z)). In an embodiment, these adjustments may each be given equal weight, while in other embodiments the floor control function may give unequal weight to one or more adjustment.
Regardless of their relative weights, the resulting adjustments may be applied to the participant's effective floor time to compute a total adjustment (i.e., update) to that participant's effective floor time. For example, Participant A may be initially allocated 10 seconds of floor time, and therefore Participant A's updated effective floor time allocation may be computed as: 10 s+[ƒ(x)+ƒ(y)+ƒ(z)]. While in some embodiments the adjustment may be combined to compute the updated effective floor time, such as in this example for Participant A, in other embodiments each adjustment may be applied individually, and may be applied at different times depending on various criteria (e.g., amount of remaining floor time initially allocated to participant, amount of remaining time in the group call, etc.). Further, while simple addition may be used to combine the adjustments in calculating the total adjustment to the participant's floor time (e.g., ƒ(x)+ƒ(y)+ƒ(z)), in other embodiments calculating a total adjustment may involve inputting the adjustment into a separate algorithm (e.g., F{ƒ(x), ƒ(y), ƒ(z)}) that may involve any of a variety of mathematical techniques.
In block 602, a group communication may be started, and each participant may be initially allocated an effective floor time. For example, in a PTT/PTX session, a participant's effective floor time may represent the amount of total time during which the participant may occupy the floor and thus prevent other participants from speaking. As discussed above, such initial effective floor time allocations may be based on the number of active participants initially in the group, and may be either evenly or unevenly distributed among such participants. In alternative embodiments, as also discussed above, initial floor time allocations may be determined based on counting all participants initially in the group communication. Further, the initial effective floor time allocation for all participants in a PTT/PTX session may add up to the total available time, or alternatively may add up to a number that may be less than the total call time, thereby reserving some of the call time for later allocation based on the other parameters. In full-duplex group calls, such as conference calls, the effective floor time might represent the amount of total time during which the participant may be permitted to speak during the conference (i.e., transmit (Tx) enabled), which may be initially set equal to the entire conference time.
In block 604, a processor may retrieve the participants' popularity rankings. As discussed above with respect to
In block 606, the processor may update the number of participants (e.g., the number of active participants and/or total number of participants) in the group communication. During the group communication, a participant may up-vote or down-vote other participants to alter their floor time, which may be received by the group communication server in block 608. In block 610 the processor may compute, and apply, an adjustment to at least one participant's effective floor time using the dynamic floor control function discussed above with respect to
In addition to adjustments based directly on the floor control function, a participant's effective floor time may be adjusted as a result of an adjustment to another participant's floor time. For example, in a PTT/PTX session in which all of call time may be distributed to participants during the initial effective floor time allocation, any adjustment to a participant's effective floor time may also affect the floor time allocated to the rest of the group. For example, if Participant B's floor time increases based on the floor grant function, additional time for Participant B may be taken from the floor time allocated to the other participants (unless the floor control function determines that another participant's floor time should be decreased by at least as much time). In this manner, Participant A's floor time may be adjusted down based on the floor control function's result for Participant B.
The processor may return to block 606 and may repeat blocks 606 through 610 until the group communication ends, thereby enabling the allocations to dynamically update and account for various changes that may occur within the group communication (e.g., sudden change in conversation topic, a participant's comment that may be viewed as strongly favorable or unfavorable, etc.). In an embodiment, repeating these updates may occur after a fixed or variable time interval. Once the call ends, each participants' popularity ranking may be updated as appropriate for use in allocating talk time in future calls.
In determination block 706, the processor may determine whether the requesting participant's effective floor time, as adjusted by the floor control function in
If the participant's adjusted effective floor time exceeds zero (i.e., determination block 706=“Yes”), the floor may be granted to the participant, block 710. In block 712, a timer may be started to count down the participant's remaining effective floor time. The timer countdown may be implemented for all participants by the group communication server, or by each participant on the participant's device.
In determination block 714, the processor may determine whether the participant has released the floor (i.e., in a PTT/PTX call) or has stopped talking (i.e., in a conference call). If the participant has released the floor or stopped talking (i.e., determination block 714=“Yes”), the timer may stop running and the processor may return to block 604 to repeat once the participant requests the floor or begins speaking again. If the participant has not released the floor/stopped talked (i.e., determination block 714=“No”), in determination block 716, the processor may determine whether the participant's floor time has expired by determining whether the timer has reached zero. If the participant's floor time has not expired (i.e., determination block 716=“No”), the processor may return to determination block 714. In an embodiment, other steps may be taken to permit the participant to continue occupying the floor, such as selectively increasing or amplifying the participant's Tx capability and/or selectively suppressing or attenuating the Tx capability of other active participants in the group communication.
If the participant's floor time has expired (i.e., determination block 716=“Yes”), the processor may terminate (i.e., revoke) that participant's floor grant (or mute that participant's phone in a full duplex call). The method 700 may be repeated multiple times throughout the call, so that if a participant who was out of time at one point has been up voted (as in
In the various embodiments, participant votes may be entered and communicated to a group communication server in a number of ways. For example, participant voting may be performed through a user interface on a wireless device, or via another interface, such as a web portal accessed via a computer).
In some embodiments, the participant may vote up or down for any of the other participants in the group, regardless of the current speaker. For example, in
In
In another example, the voting options may provide more details beyond just up or down, such as allowing the participant to pair the “up” or “down” vote with a magnitude (e.g., “5” for the strongest vote of like or dislike, and “1” for the mildest vote). In a further example, a slider user interface icon may be provided that a user can slide up or down to reflect a relative favorable/unfavorable rating.
In some embodiments, the group communication server may send each participant an indication of the likeability votes pertaining to that participant that were received from the other participants during a recent group communication. In another embodiment, such information may be provided to the participant only upon a sent from the wireless device 312 to the group communication server. As illustrated in
The touchscreen display 802 of the wireless device 800 illustrates only one of many different example user interfaces that may be implemented in the various embodiments. Further, the configuration and layout of icons and other graphical elements are provided merely as example designs, and are not intended to limit the embodiment user interfaces.
The various embodiments may be implemented in any of a variety of mobile devices, an example of which is illustrated in
The various embodiments described above may also be implemented within a variety of personal computing devices, such as a laptop computer 1010 as illustrated in
The various embodiments may also be implemented on any of a variety of commercially available server mobile devices, such as the server 1100 illustrated in
The processors 902, 1011, and 1101 may be any programmable microprocessor, microcomputer or multiple processor chip or chips that can be configured by software instructions (applications) to perform a variety of functions, including the functions of the various embodiments described above. In some mobile devices, multiple processors may be provided, such as one processor dedicated to wireless communication functions and one processor dedicated to running other applications. Typically, software applications may be stored in the internal memory 904, 910, 1012, 1013, 1102, 1103 before they are accessed and loaded into the processors 902, 1011, and 1101. The processors 902, 1011, and 1101 may include internal memory sufficient to store the application software instructions. In many mobile devices the internal memory may be a volatile or nonvolatile memory, such as flash memory, or a mixture of both. For the purposes of this description, a general reference to memory refers to memory accessible by the processors 902, 1011, and 1101 including internal memory or removable memory plugged into the mobile device and memory within the processor 902, 1011, and 1101 themselves.
As mentioned above, the references to PTT/PTX communications networks in the foregoing descriptions of the embodiments are for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims to a particular group communication technology. The various embodiments are generally applicable to any group communication-capable mobile device and VoIP network, and the forgoing references to PTT/PTX are not intended to limit the scope of the claims unless PTT/PTX technology is expressly recited in the claims.
The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods. Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.
The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.
In one or more embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in a processor-executable software module which may reside or be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or processor-readable medium. Non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable storage media may be any available media that may be accessed by a computer or processor. By way of example, and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable medium and/or computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product.
The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
