Method and apparatus for centralized multipoint conferencing in a packet network
First Claim
1. A method of conferencing in a packet network, comprising the steps of:
- transmitting first multimedia streams from endpoint terminals to a central resource, each first multimedia stream being transmitted in a unicast packet transmission;
processing the first multimedia streams in the central resource to generate second and third multimedia streams;
transmitting the second multimedia streams from the central resource to the endpoint terminals in a multicast packet transmission and transmitting the third multimedia streams to selected endpoint terminals, each third multimedia stream being transmitted in a unicast packet transmission; and
inhibiting processing of the second multimedia streams at the selected endpoint terminals.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A centralized multipoint conferencing arrangement uses a combination of multicast and unicast transmissions that is bandwidth efficient. A method of conferencing includes transmitting multimedia streams from endpoint terminals to a central resource such as a multipoint control unit (MCU) using unicast transmission. The multimedia streams are processed in the MCU and transmitted back to the endpoint terminals using multicast transmission. In addition, the MCU transmits other multimedia streams to selected endpoint terminals using unicast transmission. At the selected endpoint terminals, processing of the multimedia streams is inhibited in favor of processing the other multimedia streams.
139 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of conferencing in a packet network, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting first multimedia streams from endpoint terminals to a central resource, each first multimedia stream being transmitted in a unicast packet transmission; processing the first multimedia streams in the central resource to generate second and third multimedia streams; transmitting the second multimedia streams from the central resource to the endpoint terminals in a multicast packet transmission and transmitting the third multimedia streams to selected endpoint terminals, each third multimedia stream being transmitted in a unicast packet transmission; and inhibiting processing of the second multimedia streams at the selected endpoint terminals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of conferencing in a packet network, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting first video streams from endpoint terminals to a central resource, each first video stream being transmitted in a unicast packet transmission; processing the first video streams in the central resource to generate second and third video streams; transmitting the second video streams from the central resource to the endpoint terminals in a multicast packet transmission and transmitting the third video streams to selected endpoint terminals, each third video stream being transmitted in a unicast packet transmission; and inhibiting processing of the second video streams at the selected endpoint terminals. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A multipoint conferencing system for use in a packet network, the system comprising:
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endpoint terminals for transmitting and receiving multimedia streams, the terminals transmitting first multimedia streams using unicast packet transmission; a central resource operative to receive the first multimedia streams, process the first multimedia streams to generate second and third multimedia streams, transmit the second streams to the endpoint terminals in multicast packet transmission and transmit the third streams to selected endpoint terminals in unicast packet transmission; and
inhibiting means for inhibiting processing of the second multimedia streams at the selected endpoint terminals. - View Dependent Claims (14, 17, 18, 19)
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15. A multipoint conferencing system for use in a packet network, the system comprising:
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endpoint terminals for transmitting and receiving multimedia streams, the terminals transmitting first multimedia streams using unicast packet transmission; a central resource operative to receive the first multimedia streams, process the first multimedia streams to generate second and third multimedia streams, transmit the second streams to the endpoint terminals in multicast packet transmission and transmit the third streams to selected endpoint terminals in unicast packet transmission;
wherein the selected endpoint terminals ignore the second multimedia streams. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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20. For use in a multipoint conferencing system having endpoint terminals which transmit and receive multimedia streams in a packet network, a multipoint conferencing unit comprising:
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an interface unit for transmitting and receiving multimedia streams to and from the endpoint terminals, the interface unit being operative to receive first multimedia streams sent from the terminals using unicast packet transmission; a processor unit coupled to the interface unit for processing the first streams to second and third multimedia streams; the interface unit further being operative to transmit the second streams to the endpoint terminals in multicast packet transmission and to transmit the third streams to selected endpoint terminals in unicast packet transmissions; and inhibiting means for inhibiting processing of the second streams at the selected endpoint terminals. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of conferencing in a packet network, comprising the steps of:
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transmitting a first multimedia stream from an endpoint terminal to a central resource in a unicast packet transmission; receiving at the endpoint terminal from the central resource a second multimedia stream in a multicast packet transmission and a third multimedia stream in a unicast packet transmission; and selecting one of the second and third multimedia streams for processing at the endpoint terminal. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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Specification