System and method for hosting browser-based screen sharing

Abstract

To host a screen-sharing session during which images displayed on a display screen of a computing system are shared for concurrent display with a guest computing system, a request is sent from a browser program running on the computing system to a server. Received from the server in response to the request is a web page with embedded program code for repeatedly capturing and transmitting image data corresponding to an image displayed on the display screen of the computing system to the server. The screen-sharing session is hosted at the computing system entirely through the browser program by executing the embedded program code to repeatedly capture images displayed over time on the display screen of the computer system and transmit image data corresponding to the captured images to the server.

1 . A method of screen-sharing, comprising:
 sending, from a browser program running on a computing system to a server on a network, a request to host a screen-sharing session during which images displayed on a display screen of the computing system are shared for concurrent display with a guest computing system over the network;   receiving from the server over the network, in response to the request to host the screen-sharing session, a web page with embedded program code for repeatedly capturing and transmitting image data corresponding to an image displayed on the display screen of the computing system to the server; and   hosting the screen-sharing session at the computing system entirely through the browser program by executing the embedded program code to repeatedly capture images displayed over time on the display screen of the computing system and to transmit image data corresponding to the captured images to the server over the network.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein sending the request to host the screen-sharing session from the browser program running on the computing system to the server on the network occurs in response to a single click of an input device that activates a region on a web page displayed in a browser window on the display screen of the computing system, the single click being sufficient to start the hosting of the screen-sharing session and the sending of image data corresponding to captured images to the server. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the embedded program code detects changes in a captured image since a previously captured image. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein sending the image data corresponding to captured images to the server includes sending only the detected image changes to the server. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising compressing the image data corresponding to captured images before sending the image data to the server over the network. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the compressing includes selecting a file type in which to save the compressed image data. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the file type is one of a JPG and a PNG file type. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a session code to be shared with a user of the guest computing system in order to allow the guest computing system to participate in the screen-sharing session. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the embedded program code includes a JAVA applet that uses a screen-capture method. 
     
     
         10 . A method of conducting a screen-sharing session during which a user of a guest computing system can view an image displayed on a display screen of a host computing system, the method comprising:
 transmitting over a network, in response to a request received from the host computing system to host a screen-sharing session, a first web page with embedded program code to the host computing system for repeatedly capturing and returning image data corresponding to an image displayed on the display screen of the host computing system;   transmitting to the guest computing system, in response to a request from the guest computing system to participate in the screen-sharing session, a second web page with embedded program code for generating a request for image data;   receiving, over an HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) connection from the host computing system, image data corresponding to images displayed on the display screen of the host computing system, the image data having been repeatedly captured over time and transmitted over the HTTP connection in response to execution of the program code embedded in the first web page by a browser program running on the host computing system;   receiving a request from the guest computing system for image data; and   transmitting image data received from the host computing system to the guest computing system in response to the request received from the guest computing system.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising determining from multiple updates of image data received from the host computing system, which image data to send to the guest computing system. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising providing a session code to the host computing system. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising maintaining a registry of host computing systems authorized to host screen-sharing sessions. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising the step of searching the registry using an identifier provided by the host computing system to determine whether the host computing system is authorized to host the screen-sharing session. 
     
     
         15 . A screen-sharing system comprising:
 a guest computing system and a host computing system in communication with a server system over a network;   the guest computing system automatically executing program code embedded in a web page received from the server system, the program code sending a request to the server system for image data corresponding to an image on a display screen of the host computing system;   the host computing system running a browser program that executes program code embedded in a web page received from the server system in response to a request from the host computing system to host a screen-sharing session, the host computing system hosting the screen-sharing session entirely through the browser program, the browser program executing the program code to capture image data repeatedly over time from the display screen of the host computing system and to transmit the captured image data to the server system; and   the server system sending captured image data received from the host computing system to the guest computing system in response to the request from the guest computing system.   
     
     
         16 . The screen-sharing system of  claim 15 , wherein the host computing system sends the request to host the screen-sharing session from the browser program running on the server system to the server on the network occurs in response to a single click of an input device that activates a region on a web page displayed in a browser window on the display screen of the host computing system, the single click being sufficient to start hosting the screen-sharing session and sending image data corresponding to captured images to the server system. 
     
     
         17 . The screen-sharing system of  claim 15 , wherein the program code received from the server system in response to the request to host the screen-sharing session includes a JAVA applet that uses a screen-capture method. 
     
     
         18 . The screen-sharing system of  claim 15 , wherein the embedded program code received from the server system in response to the request to host the screen-sharing session detects changes in captured image data. 
     
     
         19 . The screen-sharing system of  claim 18 , wherein sending the captured image data to the server system includes sending only the detected image changes to the server. 
     
     
         20 . The screen-sharing system of  claim 15 , wherein the host computing system compresses the captured image data before sending the captured image data to the server system over the network. 
     
     
         21 . A method for enabling screen-sharing functionality, the method comprising:
 acquiring hypertext markup language (HTML) code used to host a screen- sharing session; and   pasting the HTML code into a web page, the HTML code launching a screen-sharing session when activated, said screen-sharing session being hosted by any computing system that downloads the web page with the HTML code through a browser program.