System and Method for Shared Multimedia Experiences across Multiple Subscriptions

Abstract

Control of a collaborative session between a service centralization and continuity (SCC) application server (AS) and user equipments (UEs) can be transferred between UEs having Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Services (IMS) subscriptions under the same operator. The collaborative session provides media from a remote party to the UEs, and a controlling UE maintains collaborative session control privileges. A controller UE may be configured to release a collaborative session, as well as to authorize media control related requests from other UEs. In some embodiments, the collaborative session control can only be transferred to UEs that have registered a public user identity sharing the same service profile as the controller UE.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 establishing a collaborative session between a service centralization and continuity (SCC) application server (AS) and two or more user equipments (UEs) having Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Services (IMS) subscriptions under the same operator, the two or more UEs including at least a first UE and a second UE, wherein the collaborative session provides media from a remote party to the two or more UEs;   establishing collabarative session control between the first UE and the SCC AS, wherein the first UE maintains control of the collaborative session after establishing the collabarative session control between the SCC AS and the first UE; and   transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE, wherein the second UE maintains control of the collaborative session after transfering the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first UE and the second UE have public user identities that share the same service profile. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first UE is the controller UE prior to transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE, and wherein the second UE is the controller UE after transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the collaborative session control can only be transferred to UEs that have registered a public user identity sharing the same service profile as the controller UE. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the controller UE is configured to release the collaborative session when a criteria is met. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the controller UE is configured to invoke supplementary services for the collaborative session when a criteria is met. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the controller UE is configured to authorize media control related requests from other ones of the two or more UEs when a criteria is met. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the second UE advertises a capability for becoming the controller UE prior to transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein IMS sessions of the two or more UEs are anchored at the SCC AS in the home IMS to provide service continuity for a user when one or more media flows of an ongoing IMS multimedia session are transferred between UEs, added to a UE, or deleted from a UE. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein establishing the collabarative session control between the first UE and the SCC AS comprises establishing a first session control signaling channel between the first UE and the SCC AS, and
 wherein transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE comprises establishing a second session control signaling channel between the second UE and the SCC AS.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first session control signaling channel is configured to carry messages for selecting content to be provided via the collaborative session from the first UE to the SCC AS prior to transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE, and
 wherein the second session control signaling channel is configured to carry messages for selecting content to be provided via the collaborative session from the second UE to the SCC AS after transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE.   
     
     
         12 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor; and   a computer readable storage medium storing programming for execution by the processor, the programming including instructions to:   establish a collaborative session between a service centralization and continuity (SCC) application server (AS) and two or more user equipments (UEs) having Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Services (IMS) subscriptions under the same operator, the two or more UEs including at least a first UE and a second UE, wherein the collaborative session provides media from a remote party to the two or more UEs;   establish collabarative session control between the first UE and the SCC AS, wherein the first UE maintains control of the collaborative session after establishing the collabarative session control between the SCC AS and the first UE; and   transfer the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE, wherein the second UE maintains control of the collaborative session after transfering the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the first UE is the controller UE prior to transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE, and wherein the second UE is the controller UE after transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the collaborative session control can only be transferred to UEs that have registered a public user identity sharing the same service profile as the controller UE. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller UE is configured to release the collaborative session when a criteria is met. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller UE is configured to invoke supplementary services for the collaborative session when a criteria is met. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the controller UE is configured to authorize media control related requests from other ones of the two or more UEs when a criteria is met. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the second UE advertises a capability for becoming the controller UE prior to transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the instructions to establish the collabarative session control between the first UE and the SCC AS include instructions to establish a first session control signaling channel between the first UE and the SCC AS, and
 wherein the instructions to transfer the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE include instructions to establish a second session control signaling channel between the second UE and the SCC AS.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the first session control signaling channel is configured to carry messages for selecting content to be provided via the collaborative session from the first UE to the SCC AS prior to transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE, and
 wherein the second session control signaling channel is configured to carry messages for selecting content to be provided via the collaborative session from the second UE to the SCC AS after transferring the collabarative session control from the first UE to the second UE.