Systems and methods for distributed conferencing
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- using a data server to provide access to a distributed conferencing system including a plurality of conference rooms, wherein each of the plurality of conference rooms is associated with an input/output circuit for transmitting data over a network, by;
transmitting conference announcement data to an announcement multicast internet protocol (IP) address, the conference announcement data specifying data for a particular conference including a conference multicast group IP address and IP addresses for each of the conference rooms involved in the conference; and
causing the input/output circuit respectively in communication circuits associated with each of the plurality of conference rooms to;
retrieve a portion of the conference data that identifies the input/output circuit as being involved in the conference;
in response to the retrieved conference data, generate conference content responsive to and representative of respective portions of the conference contents;
in response to the generated conference content, develop one or more data streams, each data stream being a separately-decodable real-time representation of at least a portion of the generated conference content; and
transmit the one or more data streams to the conference multicast group IP address in the retrieved conference data.
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Abstract
Distributed conferencing systems and methods provide local meeting contents to remote participants. In accordance with various example embodiments, a plurality of authorized source units generate media content responsive to and representative of respective content for a meeting. In response to the generated media content, one or more data streams are developed at each authorized source, each stream being a separately-decodable real-time representation of at least a portion of the media content generated at the respective authorized source. The separate data streams are transmitted by each authorized source to a common multicast IP group address for retrieval/access by remote participants.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
using a data server to provide access to a distributed conferencing system including a plurality of conference rooms, wherein each of the plurality of conference rooms is associated with an input/output circuit for transmitting data over a network, by; transmitting conference announcement data to an announcement multicast internet protocol (IP) address, the conference announcement data specifying data for a particular conference including a conference multicast group IP address and IP addresses for each of the conference rooms involved in the conference; and causing the input/output circuit respectively in communication circuits associated with each of the plurality of conference rooms to; retrieve a portion of the conference data that identifies the input/output circuit as being involved in the conference; in response to the retrieved conference data, generate conference content responsive to and representative of respective portions of the conference contents; in response to the generated conference content, develop one or more data streams, each data stream being a separately-decodable real-time representation of at least a portion of the generated conference content; and transmit the one or more data streams to the conference multicast group IP address in the retrieved conference data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus configured and arranged to:
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provide access to a distributed conferencing system including a plurality of conference rooms, each associated with at least one input/output circuitry for transmitting data over a network, the distributed conferencing system to provide conference contents to the plurality of conference rooms using a conference multicast group internet protocol (IP) address; and cause or operate each of the input/output circuitry to provide the conference contents to the plurality of conference rooms by; generating conference content responsive to and representative of respective portions of the conference contents; in response to the circuitry accessing the generated conference content and identifying its IP address in a corresponding announcement for a conference, the conference announcement specifying data for a particular conference including a conference multicast group IP address and IP addresses for each of the conference rooms involved in the conference, automatically configuring the input/output circuitry and developing at least one data stream, each data stream being a separately decodable real time representation of at least a portion of the conference content generated at the input/output circuitry; and transmitting the at least one data stream to the conference multicast group IP address. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method comprising:
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providing access to a distributed conferencing system that provides conference contents to a plurality of conference rooms from a plurality of mobile devices, each mobile device including input/output circuitry configured to process communication data, using a meeting multicast group internet protocol (IP) address; causing the mobile devices to perform the steps of; in response to generating conference content responsive to and representative of respective portions of the conference contents, identifying an IP address associated with one of the mobile devices in a corresponding announcement for a conference, the conference announcement specifying data for a particular conference including the multicast group IP address and IP addresses for each of the conference rooms involved in the conference, automatically configuring the mobile device and developing at least one data stream as a separately decodable real-time representation of at least a portion of the conference content; transmitting the at least one data stream to the meeting multicast group IP address; and configuring the input/output circuit of at least two mobile devices to transmit to a common conference multicast group IP address after configuration data is received from another data source, and connecting to the conference multicast group IP address to communicate the conference contents to the plurality of conference rooms via the conference multicast group IP address. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification