Video management in a conference room using a video bar
Systems and methods for video management in a conference room using a video bar are described. In an illustrative, non-limiting embodiment, a video bar may include a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to determine a location of an Information Handling System (IHS) in a conference room, and, at least in part in response to the location, operate a video device in the conference room.
1 . A video bar, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured with program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to:
determine a location of an Information Handling System (IHS) in a conference room, based at least in part on at least one signal from the IHS received by the video bar via an active antenna configured to transmit and receive, and a passive receive-only antenna, wherein the passive receive-only antenna is configured to listen to the at least one signal in parallel with the active antenna to provide spatial diversity, wherein the at least one signal comprises a Bluetooth packet transmitted by the IHS via a phase-based Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) Bluetooth protocol operated based at least in part on multiple frequencies and comprising a constant tone, and wherein the constant tone is configured to allow the IHS and the video bar to be positioned while unpaired; and
at least in part in response to the location, operate a video device in the conference room.
2 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein to determine the location, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the video bar to:
transmit a signal comprising a Time-of-Flight (ToF) ping (ToF PING) packet based at least in part on a custom Generic Attribute Profile (GATT) service in Bluetooth;
in response to the transmission, receive an acknowledgement from the IHS, wherein the acknowledgement comprises a ToF acknowledgement (ToF ACK) packet received based at least in part on the custom GATT service in Bluetooth; and
determine a distance between the video bar and the IHS based, at least in part, upon a Time-of-Flight (ToF) calculation, wherein the ToF calculation is based, at least in part, upon a difference between: (i) a time the acknowledgement is received, and (ii) a time of the transmission.
3 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein the video device comprises at least one of: a display, or a camera.
4 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein to operate the video device, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to apply a setting to the video device comprising at least one of: a power on setting, a power off setting, a standby setting, or a screen saver setting.
5 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein to operate the video device, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to select content to be rendered or not rendered by the video device during a remote meeting.
6 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein to operate the video device, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to select, for the video device, based, at least in part, upon the location, at least one of: a zoom setting, or a resolution setting.
7 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein the conference room comprises a plurality of video devices, and wherein to operate the video device, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the video bar to select the video device among the plurality of video devices, at least in part, in response to the location.
8 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein the conference room comprises a plurality of video devices, and wherein to operate the video device, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the video bar to distribute different remote meeting content to each of the plurality of video devices, at least in part, in response to the location.
9 . The video bar of claim 8 , wherein the remote meeting content comprises at least two of: a video broadcast, a content share, a live transcript, or a whiteboarding session.
10 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to determine an orientation of the IHS in the conference room, and, at least in part in response to the orientation, operate the video device.
11 . The video bar of claim 10 , wherein to operate the video device, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to apply a setting to the video device comprising at least one of: a power on setting, a power off setting, a standby setting, or a screen saver setting.
12 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to determine an identity of a user of the IHS, and, at least in part in response to the identity, operate the video device.
13 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein the conference room comprises a plurality of IHSs, and wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the video bar to:
identify a number of the plurality of IHSs in the conference room; and
at least in part in response to identification of the number of the plurality of IHSs, operate the video device.
14 . The video bar of claim 13 , wherein to identify the number of the plurality of IHSs in the conference room, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, cause the video bar to transmit an ultrasonic signal.
15 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein the conference room comprises a plurality of IHSs, and wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the video bar to:
identify a distribution of the plurality of IHSs in the conference room; and
at least in part in response to identification of the distribution of the plurality of IHSs, operate the video device.
16 . The video bar of claim 1 , wherein the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the video bar to:
determine a change in the location of the IHS in the conference room; and
at least in part in response to the change, operate the video device.
17 . A memory device configured with program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by a processor of a video bar in a conference room, cause the video bar to:
determine a location or orientation of an Information Handling System (IHS) in the conference room in a remote session, based at least in part on at least one signal from the IHS received by the video bar via an active antenna configured to transmit and receive, and a passive receive-only antenna, wherein the passive receive-only antenna is configured to listen to the at least one signal in parallel with the active antenna to provide spatial diversity, wherein the at least one signal comprises a Bluetooth packet transmitted by the IHS via a phase-based Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) Bluetooth protocol operated based at least in part on multiple frequencies and comprising a constant tone, and wherein the constant tone is configured to allow either or both of the video bar or the IHS to be positioned while unpaired; and
at least in part in response to the determination, operate a display in the conference room in the remote session.
18 . The memory device of claim 17 , wherein to operate the display, the program instructions, upon execution by the processor, further cause the video bar to apply a setting to the display comprising at least one of: a power on setting, or a power off setting.
19 . A method, comprising:
determining, by a video bar in a conference room, a location or orientation of an Information Handling System (IHS) in the conference room during a remote meeting using at least one signal from the IHS received by the video bar via an active antenna configured to transmit to and receive from the IHS, and a passive antenna configured to only receive from the IHS, wherein the passive antenna is configured to listen to the at least one signal in parallel with the active antenna to provide spatial diversity, and wherein the at least one signal comprises a Bluetooth packet transmitted by the IHS using a phase-based Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) Bluetooth protocol operating using multiple frequencies and including a constant tone, wherein the constant tone allows for device positioning without a pairing between the IHS and the video bar; and
at least in part in response to the determination, operating a camera in the conference room during a remote meeting.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein operating the camera comprises applying a setting to the camera comprising at least one of: a power on setting, or a power off setting.