Multipoint digital video composition and bridging system for video conferencing and other applications
First Claim
1. A flexible multipoint composition and bridging system for bridging a plurality of users located at different terminal end locations of a communications network, each of said locations including terminal equipment for transmitting and receiving video images and data signals, said data signals including display configuration information for video images originating from at least one of said locations, said system comprising:
- means for receiving said video images and said data signals from each of said locations;
means for generating respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals received by said receiving means, said generating means including means for selectively resizing said video images received by said receiving means based on said data signals, and a plurality of frame composers for composing the resized video images and for producing said respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals; and
means for transmitting said respective video montage images generated by said generating means to each of said locations so that said respective video montage images may be displayed by a display device provided at each of said locations,whereby each of said terminal end location users may optionally and individually configure the respective video montage image displayed at their location based on said data signals transmitted from their location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A flexible multipoint composition and bridging system is provided for video signal composition and bridging of a plurality of geographically dispersed locations. The system includes a centrally located bridging unit that receives video, audio and data signal substreams from each of the remote locations. Based on the data substreams from each location, the bridging unit resizes, cuts and pastes the various images into separate video montage images for display at each of the locations. The system enables users to optionally display video images or signals from one or more of the other locations within separate display windows at their respective terminals. The display windows can be zoomed, panned, scaled, translated, and partially or wholly occluded depending on a user'"'"'s preferences or needs. The video images may be composed in signal space or entirely in transform space. Further, the flexible multipoint bridging system may be used for various applications, including video conferencing and broadcasting.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A flexible multipoint composition and bridging system for bridging a plurality of users located at different terminal end locations of a communications network, each of said locations including terminal equipment for transmitting and receiving video images and data signals, said data signals including display configuration information for video images originating from at least one of said locations, said system comprising:
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means for receiving said video images and said data signals from each of said locations; means for generating respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals received by said receiving means, said generating means including means for selectively resizing said video images received by said receiving means based on said data signals, and a plurality of frame composers for composing the resized video images and for producing said respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals; and means for transmitting said respective video montage images generated by said generating means to each of said locations so that said respective video montage images may be displayed by a display device provided at each of said locations, whereby each of said terminal end location users may optionally and individually configure the respective video montage image displayed at their location based on said data signals transmitted from their location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 41)
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19. A method for bridging a plurality of users located at different terminal end locations of a communications network, each of said locations including terminal equipment for transmitting and receiving video images and data signals, said data signals including display configuration information for video images originating from one or more of said locations, said method comprising:
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receiving said video images and said data signals from each of said locations; generating respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals received, said generating including selectively resizing the received video images based on said data signals, and composing the resized video images in order to produce said respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals; and transmitting said respective video montage images to each of said locations so that said respective video montage images may be displayed by a display device provided at each of said locations, whereby each of said terminal end location users may optionally and individually configure the respective video montage image displayed at their location based on said data signals transmitted from their location. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A flexible multipoint composition and bridging system for bridging a plurality of users located at different terminal end locations of a communications network, each of said locations including terminal equipment for transmitting and receiving video images and data signals, said data signals including display configuration information for video images originating from at least one of said locations, said system comprising:
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means for receiving said video images and said data signals from each of said locations; means for generating respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals received by said receiving means, said generating means including means for selectively resizing said video images received by said receiving means based on said data signals, and a plurality of frame composers for composing the resized video images and for producing said video montage images based on said data signals; and means for transmitting said video montage images generated by said generating means to each of said locations so that said video montage images may be displayed by a display device provided at each of said locations, wherein said generating means further comprises inverse transform means for performing an inverse transform operation to convert received video images represented in transform space to video images represented in signal space, and wherein said resizing means comprises means for selectively resizing said video images while said video images are represented in signal space.
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38. A method for bridging a plurality of users located at different terminal end locations of a communications network, each of said locations including terminal equipment for transmitting and receiving video images and data signals, said data signals including display configuration information for video images originating from one or more of said locations, said method comprising:
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receiving said video images and said data signals from each of said locations; generating respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals received, said generating including selectively resizing the received video images based on said data signals, and composing the resized video images in order to produce said video montage images based on said data signals; and transmitting said video montage images to each of said locations so that said video montage images may be displayed by a display device provided at each of said locations, wherein generating said respective video montage images further comprises performing an inverse transform operation to convert received video images represented in transform space to video images represented in signal space, and wherein said resizing comprises selectively resizing said video images while said video images are represented in signal space.
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39. A method for bridging a plurality of users located at different terminal end locations of a communications network, each of said locations including terminal equipment for transmitting and receiving video images and data signals, said data signals including display configuration information for video images originating from one or more of said locations, said method comprising:
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receiving said video images and said data signals from each of said locations; generating respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals received, said generating including selectively resizing the received video images based on said data signals, and composing the resized video images in order to produce said video montage images based on said data signals; and transmitting said video montage images to each of said locations so that said video montage images may be displayed by a display device provided at each of said locations, wherein said generating further comprises generating said respective video montage images in transform space.
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40. A flexible multipoint composition and bridging system for bridging a plurality of users located at different terminal end locations of a communications network, each of said locations including terminal equipment for transmitting and receiving video images and data signals, said data signals including display configuration information for video images originating from at least one of said locations, said system comprising:
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means for receiving said video images and said data signals from each of said locations; means for generating respective video montage images for each of said locations based on said data signals received by said receiving means, said generating means generating said respective video montage images in transform space; and means for transmitting said respective video montage images generated by said generating means to each of said locations so that said respective video montage images may be displayed by a display device provided at each of said locations.
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Specification