IP Library › Granted Patent US 9,167,204
Granted Patent B2
US 9,167,204 · App. 14/721,735 · Granted Oct 20, 2015

Systems and methods for managing teleconference participant mute state

Inventors: Abu Shaher Sanaullah (Austin, TX); Richard W. Schuckle (Austin, TX); Roman Joel Pacheco (Leander, TX)
Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
H04N7/15
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,167,204
App. No.
14/721,735
Filed
May 26, 2015
Granted
Oct 20, 2015
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2656
USPC
379/202.01
Abstract

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for managing a mute state of a participant in a teleconference may include detecting, based on analysis of at least one characteristic of audio data received from a microphone associated with the participant or image data received from a camera associated with the participant, whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants. The method may also include providing an alert to the participant in response to a detecting that the participant is attempting to speak to other conference participants while the microphone is muted.

Claims (44)

1. A method for managing a mute state of a participant in a teleconference, comprising:

detecting based on analysis of at least one characteristic of audio data received from a microphone associated with the participant or image data received from a camera associated with the participant, whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants, wherein detecting whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants comprises:

in each of multiple processing cycles, analyzing a frame of at least one of the image data and the audio data to indicate whether in each cycle, that the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants; and

applying a hysteresis to the analysis of the frames, such that detecting that the participant is not attempting to speak occurs upon determining that within a particular trailing number of processing cycles, the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is not attempting to speak to teleconference participants exceeds the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is attempting to speak to teleconference participants by at least a predetermined threshold; and

providing an alert to the participant in response to a detecting that the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants while the microphone is muted.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alert comprises at least one of an audio alert communicated to a speaker associated with the participant and one of a visual alert communicated to a display associated with the participant.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises:

a volume of the audio data;

a presence or absence of human speech in the audio data;

a presence or absence of a primary face in the image data;

an orientation of the primary face in the image data; and

lip movement of the primary face indicative of speech in the image data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants further comprises detecting that the participant is attempting to speak occurs upon determining that within a particular trailing number of processing cycles, the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is not attempting to speak to teleconference participants does not exceed the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is attempting to speak to teleconference participants by at least a predetermined threshold.

5. An article of manufacture comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

computer-executable instructions carried on the non-transitory computer readable medium, the instructions readable by a processor, the instructions, when read and executed, for causing the processor to:

detect, based on analysis of at least one characteristic of audio data received from a microphone associated with a participant or image data received from a camera associated with the participant, whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants, wherein detecting whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants comprises:

in each of multiple processing cycles, analyzing a frame of at least one of the image data and the audio data to indicate whether in each cycle, that the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants; and

applying a hysteresis to the analysis of the frames, such that detecting that the participant is not attempting to speak occurs upon determining that within a particular trailing number of processing cycles, the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is not attempting to speak to teleconference participants exceeds the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is attempting to speak to teleconference participants by at least a predetermined threshold; and

provide an alert to the participant in response to a detecting that the participant is attempting to speak to other tele conference participants while the microphone is muted.

6. The article of claim 5 , wherein the alert comprises at least one of an audio alert communicated to a speaker associated with the participant and one of a visual alert communicated to a display associated with the participant.

7. The article of claim 5 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises:

a volume of the audio data;

a presence or absence of human speech in the audio data;

a presence or absence of a primary face in the image data;

an orientation of the primary face in the image data; and

lip movement of the primary face indicative of speech in the image data.

8. The article of claim 5 , wherein detecting whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants further comprises detecting that the participant is attempting to speak occurs upon determining that within a particular trailing number of processing cycles, the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is not attempting to speak to teleconference participants does not exceed the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is attempting to speak to teleconference participants by at least a predetermined threshold.

9. An information handling system comprising:

a microphone input for receiving audio data from a microphone associated with a participant in a teleconference;

a camera input for receiving image data associated with the participant; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the microphone input and the camera input and configured to:

detect, based on analysis of at least one characteristic of the audio data or the image data, whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants, wherein detecting whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants comprises:

in each of multiple processing cycles, analyzing a frame of at least one of the image data and the audio data to indicate whether in each cycle, that the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants; and

applying a hysteresis to the analysis of the frames, such that detecting that the participant is not attempting to speak occurs upon determining that within a particular trailing number of processing cycles, the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is not attempting to speak to teleconference participants exceeds the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is attempting to speak to teleconference participants by at least a predetermined threshold; and

provide an alert to the participant in response to a detecting that the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants while the microphone is muted.

10. The information handling system of claim 9 , wherein the alert comprises at least one of an audio alert communicated to a speaker associated with the participant and one of a visual alert communicated to a display associated with the participant.

11. The information handling system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises:

a volume of the audio data;

a presence or absence of human speech in the audio data;

a presence or absence of a primary face in the image data;

an orientation of the primary face in the image data; and

lip movement of the primary face indicative of speech in the image data.

12. The information handling system of claim 9 , wherein detecting whether the participant is attempting to speak to other teleconference participants further comprises detecting that the participant is attempting to speak occurs upon determining that within a particular trailing number of processing cycles, the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is not attempting to speak to teleconference participants does not exceed the number of cycles in which analysis indicates that the participant is attempting to speak to teleconference participants by at least a predetermined threshold.

Assignments (15)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053546/0001) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 071642/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (045455/0001) Recorded May 20, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
Reel/Frame 061753/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040136/0001) Recorded Apr 26, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
Reel/Frame 061324/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 3, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL, L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 058216/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2020
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053546/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 21, 2019
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 049452/0223 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040134/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040136/0001 →
RELEASE OF REEL 036502 FRAME 0237 (TL) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040028/0088 →
RELEASE OF REEL 036502 FRAME 0291 (NOTE) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040027/0637 →
RELEASE OF REEL 036502 FRAME 0206 (ABL) Recorded Sep 13, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040017/0204 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Aug 27, 2015
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 036502/0291 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM LOAN) Recorded Aug 27, 2015
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 036502/0237 →
SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded Aug 27, 2015
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY, L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 036502/0206 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 26, 2015
From: SANAULLAH, ABU SHAHER; SCHUCKLE, RICHARD W.; PACHECO, ROMAN JOEL
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
Reel/Frame 035714/0188 →
Continuity (2)
Division 14036766 · Sep 25, 2013
Related Publication 20150264316A1 · Sep 17, 2015