Teleconferencing bridge with EdgePoint mixing
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating an audio conference, comprising the steps of:
- generating an audio conference bridge operatively connecting participant stations in an audio conference, including at least a first participant station and a plurality of other participant stations, and adapted to receive incoming audio signals from the participant stations;
receiving first mixing control data for the first participant station, including data necessary to derive individual mixing parameters for at least two of the incoming audio signals from other than the first participant station;
receiving the incoming audio signals from a plurality of the participant stations;
setting a first set of audio conference mixing parameters based on at least the first mixing control data received for the first participant station;
dynamically modifying the first set of audio conference mixing parameters pursuant to an algorithm for creating a desired effect;
mixing N of the incoming audio signals according to the modified first set of audio conference mixing parameters to produce a first mixed audio signal, where N is an integer greater than one; and
outputting the first mixed audio signal.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, an audio-conference bridging system and method are provided. The present invention discards the traditional notion of a single mixing function for a conference. Instead, the novel, flexible design of the present invention provides a separate mixing function for each participant in the conference. This new architecture is described generally herein as “EdgePoint mixing.” EdgePoint mixing overcomes limitations of traditional conferencing systems by providing each participant control over his/her conference experience. EdgePoint mixing also allows, when desired, the simulation of a “real-life” conference by permitting each participant to receive a distinctly mixed audio signal from the conference depending on the speaker'"'"'s “position” within a virtual conference world. The present invention also preferably accommodates participants of different qualities of service. Each participant, thus, is able to enjoy the highest-level conferencing experience that his/her own connection and equipment will permit.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating an audio conference, comprising the steps of:
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generating an audio conference bridge operatively connecting participant stations in an audio conference, including at least a first participant station and a plurality of other participant stations, and adapted to receive incoming audio signals from the participant stations; receiving first mixing control data for the first participant station, including data necessary to derive individual mixing parameters for at least two of the incoming audio signals from other than the first participant station; receiving the incoming audio signals from a plurality of the participant stations; setting a first set of audio conference mixing parameters based on at least the first mixing control data received for the first participant station; dynamically modifying the first set of audio conference mixing parameters pursuant to an algorithm for creating a desired effect; mixing N of the incoming audio signals according to the modified first set of audio conference mixing parameters to produce a first mixed audio signal, where N is an integer greater than one; and outputting the first mixed audio signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An audio conference bridging system for bridging a plurality of participant stations together in an audio conference, comprising:
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means for generating an audio conference bridge operatively connecting participant stations in an audio conference, including at least a first participant station and a plurality of other participant stations, and adapted to receive incoming audio signals from the participant stations; means for receiving first mixing control data for the first participant station, including data necessary to derive individual mixing parameters for at least two of the incoming audio signals from other than the first participant station; means for receiving incoming audio signals from a plurality of the participant stations; means for setting a first set of audio conference mixing parameters based on at least the first mixing control data received for the first participant station; means for dynamically modifying the first set of audio conference mixing parameters pursuant to an algorithm for creating a desired effect; means for mixing N of the incoming audio signals according to the modified first set of audio conference mixing parameters to produce a first mixed audio signal, where N is an integer greater than one; and means for outputting the first mixed audio signal.
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21. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to facilitate an audio conference process among a plurality of participant stations, the process comprising:
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generating an audio conference bridge operatively connecting participant stations in an audio conference, including at least a first participant station and a plurality of other participant stations, and adapted to receive incoming audio signals from the participants stations; receiving first mixing control data for the first participant station, including data necessary to derive individual mixing parameters for at least two of the incoming audio signals from other than the first participant station; receiving incoming audio signals from a plurality of the participant stations; setting a first set of audio conference mixing parameters based on at least the first mixing control data received for the first participant station; dynamically modifying the first set of audio conference mixing parameters pursuant to an algorithm for creating a desired effect; mixing N of the incoming audio signals according to the modified first set of audio conference mixing parameters to produce a first mixed audio signal, where N is an integer greater than one; and outputting the first mixed audio signal.
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22. An audio conference bridging system for bridging a plurality of participant stations together in an audio conference, comprising:
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a system control unit adapted to receive mixing control data from a plurality of participant stations, including at least a first participant station and a plurality of other participant stations, and to produce at least a first set of audio-conference mixing parameters based at least on first mixing control data received from the first participant station, the first mixing control data including data necessary to derive individual mixing parameters for at least two incoming audio signals from other than the first participant station; an audio bridging unit, operatively connected to the system control unit, adapted to receive a plurality of audio signals from the plurality of participant stations and receive the first set of audio conference mixing parameters from the system control unit, the audio bridging unit including; a first EdgePoint mixer adapted to dynamically modify the first set of audio conference mixing parameters pursuant to an algorithm for creating a desired effect and mix at least N of the plurality of audio signals according to the modified first set of audio-conference mixing parameters to produce a first mixed audio signal, where N is an integer greater than one; and the audio bridging unit adapted to output the first mixed audio signal.
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23. An audio-conference bridging system for bridging a plurality of participant stations in an audio conference, wherein the participant stations include a visual interface depicting a virtual conference world and the virtual conference world includes avatars representing participants associated with the participant stations, comprising:
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means for receiving audio signals from the plurality of participant stations; means for receiving mixing control data from the plurality of participant stations, the mixing control data including data representing the position of the avatars within the virtual conference world; means for setting separate mixing control parameters for each of the plurality of participant stations based at least on the mixing control data; means for mixing the audio signals according to the mixing control parameters to produce separate mixed audio signals for each of the participant stations; and means for outputting the mixed audio signals to the participant stations.
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24. A method for facilitating an audio conference bridging a plurality of participant stations, wherein the participant stations include a visual interface depicting a virtual conference world and the virtual conference world includes avatars representing participants associated with the participant stations, comprising:
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receiving audio signals from the plurality of participant stations; receiving mixing control data from the plurality of participant stations, the mixing control data including data representing the position of the avatars within the virtual conference world; setting separate mixing control parameters for each of the plurality of participant stations based at least on the mixing control data; mixing the audio signals according to the mixing control parameters to produce separate mixed audio signals for each of the participant stations; and outputting the mixed audio signals to the participant stations.
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25. An audio conference bridging system for dynamically bridging a plurality of participant stations together in an audio conference, the system comprising
a system control unit adapted to receive mixing control data from at least one participant station, wherein the mixing control data from the at least one participant includes data necessary to derive individual mixing parameters for at least two incoming audio signals from other than the at least one participant station, the system control unit selects an algorithm for application to the mixing control data for creating a desired effect; - and
the system control unit produces at least one set of mixing parameters, including the individual mixing parameters and the selected algorithm, based upon the mixing control data received from the at least one participant station; an audio bridging unit operatively connected to the system control unit, wherein the audio bridging unit is adapted to receive a plurality of audio signals associated with the plurality of participant stations, respectively; receive the at least one set of mixing parameters from the system control unit; and associate the at least one set of mixing parameters with the plurality of audio signals; and a mixing unit operatively associated with the audio bridging unit and adapted to mix at least N of the plurality of audio signals, where N is an integer greater than one, according to the at least one set of mixing parameters to produce the at least one mixed audio signal, and output at the least one mixed audio signal. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification