Interactive multimedia system

• US 6,404,811 B1
• Filed: 05/13/1996
• Issued: 06/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Tektronix Incorporated (Fortive Corp.)
• Inventors: Sandau, James F., Cvetko, John F., Kwong, Ying K.
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, Y YOUNG
• Application Number:
  US08/649,889
• Time in Patent Office: 2,220 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.7173, H04/N.716, 348/15, 348/16, 348/17, 348/13, 348/12, 348/7, 348/14, 348/18, 348/19, 348/14.11, 455/4.2, 455/5.1, 370/401, 370/352, 370/353, 370/354, 345/326, 345/328-332, 345/339, 345/340, 395/200-4-2, 375/240.01
• US Class Current: 375/240.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q

Abstract

An interactive multimedia audio/video communications system uses a lower data rate, non-deterministic graphics/command network having a plurality of desktop viewing stations and a network server. A separate, higher data rate, deterministic audio/video network is coupled to the plurality of desktop viewing stations using appropriate resources, such as an audio/video routing switcher and a professional disk recorder. A database contains a telephone directory so that when a user at one of the plurality of stations desires to communicate with another station, the user selects a telephone number and the server from the database determines the appropriate resources required to complete the connection. The server configures the necessary hardware via the graphics/command network to route the audio/video signals over the audio/video network from one station to the other. For conferences a quad splitter is used to combine up to four video signals into a singled composited video signal for display at the user'"'"'s station. For communications with stations that exist on another node, the server communicates with the server at the other node and a codec farm is used to transfer the audio/video signals from the audio/video network of one system to the other. Thus the graphics/command network is left free for normal graphics operations once the audio/video communications has been established.

Claims

1. An interactive multimedia audio/video communications system comprising:

a graphics/command network;

an audio/video network;

means coupled to the respective networks for selectively switching a plurality of audio/video signals input from the audio/video network to a plurality of output terminals in response to commands received on the graphics/command network;

means coupled to the respective networks via one of the output terminals of the selectively switching means to selectively playback and record the audio/video signals over the audio/video network in response to control commands received over the graphics/command network;

a plurality of viewing stations coupled to the respective output terminals of the selectively switching means to receive and transmit audio/video signals, and coupled to the graphics/command network to transmit and receive commands; and

means coupled to the graphics/command network for transmitting and receiving commands to/from the selectively switching means, the plurality of viewing stations, and the playing back and recording means, the transmitting and receiving means setting up the respective networks according to requests received from users at the plurality of viewing stations.

2. The system as recited in claim 1 further comprising a codec farm coupled to the selectively switching means as part of the audio/video network and coupled to the graphics/command network for receiving commands for coupling the system to a remote interactive multimedia audio/video communications system.

3. The system as recited in claims 1 or 2 further comprising a video splitter coupled to a specified number of the output terminals of the selectively switching means for combining audio/video signals from the specified number of output terminals into a single windowed audio/video signal for input to the selectively switching means.

4. The system as recited in claims 1 or 2 wherein the graphics/command network comprises a lower data rate, non-deterministic transport medium and the audio/video network comprises a higher data rate, deterministic transport medium.