Method for controlling data streams of a virtual session with multiple participants, collaboration server, computer program, computer program product, and digital storage medium

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling data streams of a virtual session with several participants who access at least access one application in the virtual session. A selected media processing and a signaling mode is used in a centralized process for each participant according to the individual requirements of the participant. The participants are represented by clients and the process is controlled by a server. The selection of the media processing and/or signaling mode is made on the basis of an evaluation of the terminal of the respective participant and the network bandwidth available to the respective participant. An evaluation scheme with a plurality of evaluation criteria is provided for the evaluation, and possible media processing and/or signaling modes are ascertained for the respective participant, said evaluation scheme being applied to each possible media processing and/or signaling mode. A media processing and/or signaling mode determined using a comparison of the evaluations for each possible media processing and/or signaling mode according to the applied evaluation scheme is selected for the respective participant. The invention further relates to a collaboration server, a computer program, a computer program product, and a digital storage medium with the corresponding functional features.

We claim: 
     
         1 - 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A method for the control of virtual session data streams with several participants, said participants accessing at least one application during a virtual session, comprising:
 for a plurality of participants in a centralized process, wherein each participant is represented by a client, and wherein the process is controlled by a server;   evaluating a plurality of evaluation criteria for each participant for selecting an individual mode, said plurality of evaluation criteria comprising evaluation of a terminal of each participant and evaluation of a network bandwidth available to each participant;   comparing the evaluation criteria according to applied evaluation matrices for possible media processing and signaling modes; and   performing a media processing and signaling mode for each participant according to the media processing and signaling evaluation.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one application is selected from the group consisting of an audio conference, a video conference, a shared desktop data exchange between participants, a shared whiteboard data exchange, and a webcast. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the media processing is selected from the group consisting of adjustment of image formats, conversion of text into speech, and conversion of speech into text. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the signaling mode is selected from the group consisting of session initiation protocol (SIP), H.323, hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), Web/http, and WebRTC. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 deploying a generic signaling protocol for the abstraction of at least one signaling mode;   abstracting a data stream from a virtual room into the generic signaling protocol; and   transferring the generic signaling protocol to the signaling mode for each participant.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 abstracting the data stream into the generic signaling protocol; and   transmitting the generic signaling protocol into a signaling type required by the at least one application.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 awarding points during the evaluation step for selected evaluation criteria;   adding points of all evaluation criteria; and   obtaining an evaluation of a potential media upsampling.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the evaluation criteria are selected from the group consisting of a browser resolution, an audio quality, a computing power, and a conversion effort. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the centralized process manages the virtual session. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the virtual session is presented to the participants in a virtual room. 
     
     
         25 . A collaboration server to control the data streams of a virtual session with multiple participants, said collaboration server executing steps comprising:
 for a plurality of participants in a centralized process, wherein each participant is represented by a client, and wherein the process is controlled by a server;   evaluating a plurality of evaluation criteria for each participant for selecting an individual mode, said plurality of evaluation criteria comprising evaluation of a terminal of each participant and evaluation of a network bandwidth available to each participant;   comparing the evaluation criteria according to applied evaluation matrices for possible media processing and signaling modes; and   performing a media processing and signaling mode for each participant according to the media processing and signaling evaluation.   
     
     
         26 . A computer program containing computer program instructions that, when executed, performs the method of  claim 15 . 
     
     
         27 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising the computer program of  claim 26 .