Conference connections using dynamic topology switching for IP and circuit-switched fabrics
First Claim
1. A method for call conferencing a plurality of participants, comprising:
- (a) receiving, from a first conference call participant and during a conference call involving a plurality of participants, at least one of (i) a selective listening request and (ii) a request to remove selective listening, wherein the communication devices of the conference call participants are connected to a plurality of gateways in a first conference topology; and
(b) changing, in response to step (a) and while the conference call is in progress, from the first conference topology to a second conference topology, wherein the first and second conference topologies have a different number of inter-gateway connections.
27 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for call conferencing a plurality of participants is provided that includes (a) an input operable to receive, from a conference call participant A-E, at least one of (i) a selective listening request and (ii) a request to remove selective listening, wherein the communication devices 416a-e of the conference call participants A-E are connected to a plurality of gateways 408, 424; and (b) a conference configuration agent 346 operable, in response thereto and during the conference call, to change from a first conference topology to a second conference topology, wherein the first and second conference topologies have a different number of inter-gateway connections.
-
Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A method for call conferencing a plurality of participants, comprising:
-
(a) receiving, from a first conference call participant and during a conference call involving a plurality of participants, at least one of (i) a selective listening request and (ii) a request to remove selective listening, wherein the communication devices of the conference call participants are connected to a plurality of gateways in a first conference topology; and (b) changing, in response to step (a) and while the conference call is in progress, from the first conference topology to a second conference topology, wherein the first and second conference topologies have a different number of inter-gateway connections. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A system for call conferencing a plurality of participants, comprising:
-
(a) an input operable to receive from a first conference call participant, during a conference call, at least one of (i) a selective listening request and (ii) a request to remove selective listening, wherein the communication devices of the conference call participants are connected to a plurality of gateways in a first conference topology; and (b) a conference configuration agent operable to change, in response to receipt of the at least one of (i) a selective listening request and (ii) a request to remove selective listening and while the conference call is in progress, from the first conference topology to a second conference topology, wherein the first and second conference topologies have a different number of inter-gateway connections. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method, comprising:
-
(a) receiving, during a conference call among a plurality of conference call participants and from a first conference call participant, a selective listening request, wherein the selective listening request requires a change in directing at least one audio stream being provided to at least one of the first and a second conference call participant and wherein the communication devices of the conference call participants are connected to a plurality of gateways; (b) performing, in response to receipt of the selective listening request and during the conference call, the following sub-steps; (B1) determining whether the selective listening request will require a new inter-gateway connection; (B2) applying, in response to step (B1), the following rules; (B2i) when a new inter-gateway connection is not required, update a listening topology on a master gateway without establishing a new inter-gateway connection; and (B2ii) when a new inter-gateway connection is required, remove ownership of each existing inter-gateway connection from a corresponding data structure and cache the inter-gateway connection; (B3) selecting one of the plurality of gateways as a master gateway; (B4) assigning an inter-gateway connection to at least one of a port and service associated with a participant having a corresponding communication device not connected to the master gateway, wherein at least one of the assigned inter-gateway connections is a removed inter-gateway connection; and (B5) setting up a listening topology to implement the selective listening request. - View Dependent Claims (27)
-
-
28. A method, comprising:
-
(a) receiving, during a conference call among a plurality of conference call participants and from a first conference call participant, a request to remove selective listening, wherein the selective listening request requires a change in directing at least one audio stream being provided to at least one of the first and a second conference call participant and wherein the communication devices of the conference call participants are connected to a plurality of gateways; (b) performing, in response to receipt of the request to remove selective listening and during the conference call, the following sub-steps; (B1) determining whether the selective listening request to be removed is a last inter-gateway selective listening request to be removed; (B2) applying, in response to step (B1), the following rules; (B2i) when a new inter-gateway connection is not required, update a listening topology on a master gateway without establishing a new inter-gateway connection; and (B2ii) when a new inter-gateway connection is required, remove ownership of each existing inter-gateway connection from a corresponding data structure and cache the inter-gateway connection; (B3) forming subsets of participants for each gateway involved in the conference call; (B4) assigning an inter-gateway connection to each subset of participants; and (B5) setting up a listening topology to implement the request to remove the selective listening request. - View Dependent Claims (29)
-
Specification