Apparatus and method for packet-based media communications
First Claim
1. A conference bridge, comprising:
- a receiver capable of being coupled to a network, said receiver to receive at least one media data packet from at least two sources forming a media conference, each media data packet comprising a compressed media signal and packet overhead, wherein the receiver removes the packet overhead;
an energy detection and talker selection unit coupled to said receiver to;
determine at least one speech parameter corresponding to each of the compressed media signals; and
select a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based on the determined speech parameters.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Packet-based central conference bridges, packet-based network interfaces and packet-based terminals are used for voice communications over a packet-based network. Modifications to these apparatuses can reduce the latency and the signal processing requirements while increasing the signal quality within a voice conference as well as point-to-point communications. For instance, by selecting the talkers prior to the decompression of the voice signals, decreases in the latency and increases in signal quality within the voice conference can result due to a possible removal of the decompression and subsequent compression operations in a conference bridge unnecessary in some circumstances. Further, the removal of the jitter buffers within the conference bridges and the moving of the mixing operation to the individual terminals and/or network interfaces are modifications that can cause lower latency and transcoding within the voice conference.
309 Citations
100 Claims
-
1. A conference bridge, comprising:
-
a receiver capable of being coupled to a network, said receiver to receive at least one media data packet from at least two sources forming a media conference, each media data packet comprising a compressed media signal and packet overhead, wherein the receiver removes the packet overhead; an energy detection and talker selection unit coupled to said receiver to; determine at least one speech parameter corresponding to each of the compressed media signals; and select a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based on the determined speech parameters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A conference bridge, comprising conferencing control logic to:
-
receive at least one media data packet from at least two sources forming a media conference, each media data packet comprising a compressed media signal and packet overhead; remove the packet overhead; determine at least one speech parameter corresponding to each of the compressed media signals; and select a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based on the determined speech parameters.
-
-
23. A method for selecting a set of talkers within a media conference, comprising:
-
receiving at least one media data packet from at least two sources forming a media conference, each media data packet comprising a compressed media signal and packet overhead; removing the packet overhead; determining at least one speech parameter corresponding to each of the compressed media signals; and selecting a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based on the determined speech parameters. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
-
44. A conference bridge, comprising:
-
means for receiving at least one media data packet from at least two sources forming a media conference, each media data packet comprising a compressed media signal and packet overhead; means for removing the packet overhead; means for determining at least one speech parameter corresponding to each of the compressed media signals; and means for selecting a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based on the determined speech parameters. - View Dependent Claims (45)
-
-
46. A conference bridge, comprising:
-
a receiver capable of being coupled to a network, said receiver to receive at least one media data packet from at least two sources forming a media conference, each media data packet comprising a compressed media signal and packet overhead, wherein the receiver removes the packet overhead; an energy detection and talker selection unit coupled to said receiver to process the received compressed media signals including selecting a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers, one of the talkers being a lead talker; and an output unit coupled to the energy detection and talker selection unit to output media data packets that correspond to compressed media signals received from the talkers; and wherein the media data packets corresponding to the lead talker are always output from the conference bridge in the same order as the media data packets which are received from the lead talker. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
-
-
60. A packet-based network comprising a conference bridge and a plurality of packet-based terminals;
-
wherein at least two of the plurality of packet-based terminals operates to output media data packets comprising compressed media signals, these packet-based terminals together forming a media conference; wherein the conference bridge operates to receive the media data packets from the packet-based terminals within the media conference;
to process the compressed media signals corresponding to the received media data packets including selecting a set of the packet-based terminals within the media conference as talkers; and
to output media data packets that correspond to the compressed media signals received from the talkers; andwherein at least one of the packet-based terminals within the media conference further operates to receive the media data packets output from the conference bridge and to process these received media data packets including performing a jitter buffering operation, the jitter buffering operations being performed within the packet-based terminals only.
-
-
61. A network comprising a packet-based network, a conference bridge coupled to the packet-based network, a non-packet-based telephone network, at least one packet-based apparatus coupled between the packet-based network and the non-packet-based telephone network, and a plurality of sources for media signals that are each coupled to the non-packet-based telephone network;
-
wherein the conference bridge comprises conferencing control logic to receive at least one media data packet from at least two of the sources forming a media conference, each media data packet defining a compressed media signal;
to process the received compressed media signals including selecting a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers; and
to output media data packets that correspond to the compressed media signals received from the talkers; andwherein at least one of the packet-based apparatus operates to receive the media data packets output from the conference bridge and to process these received media data packets including performing a jitter buffering operation, the jitter buffering operations being performed within the packet-based apparatus only.
-
-
62. A method of processing compressed media signals within a media conference, the method comprising:
-
receiving at least one compressed media packet from at least two sources forming the media conference, each media data packet defining a compressed media signal; processing the received compressed media signals including selecting a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers; outputting media data packets that correspond to compressed media signals received from the talkers; receiving the media data packets that correspond to compressed media signals received from the talkers at one or more packet-based apparatus; and processing the received compressed media signals including performing a first and only jitter buffering operation. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64)
-
-
65. A conference bridge, comprising conferencing control logic to:
-
receive at least one media data packet from at least two sources forming a media conference, each media data packet comprising a compressed media signal and packet overhead; remove the packet overhead; process the received compressed media signals including selecting a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers, one of the talkers being a lead talker; and output media data packets that correspond to compressed media signals received from the talkers; and wherein the media data packets corresponding to the lead talker are always output from the conference bridge in the same order as the media data packets which are received from the lead talker.
-
-
66. A conference bridge, comprising:
-
means for receiving at least one media data packet from at least two sources forming a media conference, each media data packet comprising a compressed media signal and packet overhead; means for performing initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; means for processing the received compressed media signals including means for selecting a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers, one of the talkers being a lead talker; and means for outputting media data packets that correspond to the lead talker always in the same order as the media data packets which are received from the lead talker.
-
-
67. A packet-based apparatus, comprising:
-
a receiver capable of being coupled to a network, said receiver to receive a media data packet from a conference bridge, the media data packet defining two or more compressed media signals, and perform initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; and an output unit coupled to the receiver to decompress each of the compressed media signals in order to generate corresponding uncompressed media signals, mix the uncompressed media signals into a combined media signal, and output the combined media signal. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
-
-
74. A packet-based apparatus, comprising control logic to:
-
receive a media data packet from a conference bridge, the media data defining two or more compressed media signals; perform initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; decompress each of the compressed media signals in order to generate corresponding uncompressed media signals; mix the uncompressed media signals into a combined media signal; and output the combined media signal.
-
-
75. A packet-based apparatus, comprising:
-
means for receiving a media data packet from a conference bridge, the media data defining two or more compressed media signals; means for performing initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; means for decompressing each of the compressed media signals in order to generate corresponding uncompressed media signals; means for mixing the uncompressed media signals into a combined media signal; and means for outputting the combined media signal.
-
-
76. A method of outputting a combined media signal comprising:
-
receiving a media data packet from a conference bridge, the media data packet defining two or more compressed media signals; performing initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; decompressing each of the compressed media signals in order to generate corresponding uncompressed media signals; mixing the uncompressed media signals into a combined media signal; and outputting the combined media signal.
-
-
77. A packet-based apparatus, comprising:
-
a receiver capable of being coupled to a network, said receiver to receive a media data packet from a conference bridge, the media data packet defining a compressed media signal, and perform initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; and an output unit coupled to the receiver to decompress the compressed media signal in order to generate a first uncompressed media signal, identify at least one other uncompressed media signal that corresponds to the first uncompressed media signal, mix the first uncompressed media signal with the other uncompressed media signal into a combined media signal, and output the combined media signal. - View Dependent Claims (78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
-
-
86. A packet-based apparatus, comprising control logic to:
-
receive a media data packet from a conference bridge, the media data packet defining a compressed media signal; perform initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; decompress the compressed media signal in order to generate a first uncompressed media signal; identify at least one other uncompressed media signal that corresponds to the first uncompressed media signal; mix the first uncompressed media signal with the other uncompressed media signal into a combined media signal; and output the combined media signal.
-
-
87. A packet-based apparatus, comprising:
-
means for receiving a media data packet from a conference bridge, the media data packet defining a compressed media signal; means for performing initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; means for decompressing the compressed media signal in order to generate a first uncompressed media signal; means for identifying at least one other uncompressed media signal that corresponds to the first uncompressed media signal; means for mixing the first uncompressed media signal with the other uncompressed media signal into a combined media signal; and means for outputting the combined media signal.
-
-
88. A method of outputting a combined media signal comprising:
-
receiving a media data packet from a conference bridge, the media data packet defining a compressed media signal; performing initial processing of the received media data packet comprising removing the packet overhead; decompressing the compressed media signal in order to generate a first uncompressed media signal; identifying at least one other uncompressed media signal that corresponds to the first uncompressed media signal; means for mixing the first uncompressed media signal with the other uncompressed media signal into a combined media signal; and outputting the combined media signal.
-
-
89. A conference bridge, comprising:
-
a receiver capable of being coupled to a network to receive at least one first media data packet from at least one source within a media conference, each first media data packet comprising a first compressed media signal and packet overhead, and receive at least one second media data packet from at least one other conference bridge, each second media data packet comprising at least one second compressed media signal and packet overhead corresponding to a particular source within the media conference, wherein the receiver removes the packet overhead of the at least one first media data packet and the at least one second media data packet; and an energy detection and talker selection unit coupled to the receiver to select a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based upon the compressed media signals within both the first and second media data packets. - View Dependent Claims (90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96)
-
-
97. A conference bridge, comprising:
-
a receiver capable of being coupled to a network to receive at least one media data packet from at least one other conference bridge, each media data packet comprising at least one compressed media signal and packet overhead corresponding to a particular source within a media conference, wherein the receiver removes the packet overhead of the at least one media data packet; and an energy detection and talker selection unit coupled to the receiver to select a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based upon the compressed media signals within both the media data packets.
-
-
98. A conference bridge, comprising conferencing control logic to:
-
receive at least one first media data packet from at least one source within a media conference, each first media data packet comprising at least one first compressed media signal and packet overhead; remove the packet overhead of the at least one first media data packet; receive at least one second media data packet from at least one other conference bridge, each second media data packet comprising at least one second compressed media signal and packet overhead corresponding to a particular source within the media conference; remove the packet overhead of the at least one second media data packet; and select a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based upon the compressed media signals within both the first and second media data packets.
-
-
99. A method for selecting a set of talkers within a media conference, comprising:
-
receiving at least one first media data packet from at least one source within a media conference, each first media data packet comprising at least one first compressed media signal and packet overhead; removing the packet overhead of the at least one first media data packet; receiving at least one second media data packet from at least one other conference bridge, each second media data packet comprising at least one second compressed media signal and packet overhead corresponding to a particular source within the media conference; removing the packet overhead of the at least one second media data packet; and selecting a set of the sources within the media conference as talkers based upon the compressed media signals within both the first and second media data packets.
-
-
100. A packet-based apparatus, comprising:
-
a receiver capable of being coupled to a network to receive at least one first media data packet from a first source within a media conference, each first media data packet defining at least one first compressed media signal;
receive at least one second media data packet from a second source within the media conference, each second media data packet defining at least one second compressed media signal; and
perform initial processing of the at least one received first and second media data packets comprising removing the packet overhead; andan output unit coupled to the receiver to decompress each of the first and second compressed media signals in order to generate corresponding first and second uncompressed media signals, mix the first and second uncompressed media signals into a combined media signal, and output the combined media signal.
-
Specification