Multi-participant conference setup
First Claim
1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for execution by a first participant'"'"'s computer that is for serving as one of a central distributor and a non-central distributor of content, the computer program for establishing a conference between participants at a plurality of computers, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:
- receiving an invitation to join a particular conference from a second participant'"'"'s computer that is designated as the central distributor for the particular conference and that receives content from a plurality of non-central distributors, generates composite content from the received content, and distributes the composite content to the plurality of non-central distributors; and
sending an acceptance message to the second participant'"'"'s computer in response to the invitation, the acceptance message indicating a set of conferencing capabilities of the first participant'"'"'s computer,the particular conference defined by a plurality of conferencing parameters that are specified by the second participant'"'"'s computer, wherein at least one of the conferencing parameters is based on a particular conferencing capability indicated by the acceptance message sent from the first participant'"'"'s computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments provide an architecture for establishing a multi-participant conference. This architecture has one participant'"'"'s computer in the conference act as a central content distributor for the conference. The central distributor receives data (e.g., video and/or audio streams) from the computer of each other participant, and distributes the received data to the computers of all participants. In some embodiments, the central distributor receives A/V data from the computers of the other participants. From such received data, the central distributor of some embodiments generates composite data (e.g., composite image data and/or composite audio data) that the central distributor distributes back to the participants.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for execution by a first participant'"'"'s computer that is for serving as one of a central distributor and a non-central distributor of content, the computer program for establishing a conference between participants at a plurality of computers, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:
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receiving an invitation to join a particular conference from a second participant'"'"'s computer that is designated as the central distributor for the particular conference and that receives content from a plurality of non-central distributors, generates composite content from the received content, and distributes the composite content to the plurality of non-central distributors; and sending an acceptance message to the second participant'"'"'s computer in response to the invitation, the acceptance message indicating a set of conferencing capabilities of the first participant'"'"'s computer, the particular conference defined by a plurality of conferencing parameters that are specified by the second participant'"'"'s computer, wherein at least one of the conferencing parameters is based on a particular conferencing capability indicated by the acceptance message sent from the first participant'"'"'s computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for establishing a conference between participants at a plurality of computers, the computer program for execution by a processor of a first participant'"'"'s computer, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:
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assessing conference capabilities of the first participant'"'"'s computer to determine whether the first participant'"'"'s computer meets a set of criteria to be designated as a central distributor of content; and when the first participant'"'"'s computer meets the set of criteria; designating the first participant'"'"'s computer as capable of acting as the central distributor for a conference; and in order to act as the central distributor for a particular conference, sending a first invitation to join the particular conference to a second participant'"'"'s computer and a second invitation to join the particular conference to a third participant'"'"'s computer, wherein the second and third participants'"'"' computers are designated as non-central distributors of the particular conference. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for establishing a conference between participants at a plurality of computers, the method comprising:
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at a first participant'"'"'s computer, designating the first participant'"'"'s computer as a central distributor of content for a particular conference after determining that the first participant'"'"'s computer meets a set of criteria relating to conferencing capabilities of the first participant'"'"'s computer; sending invitations to join the particular conference to a plurality of participant computers, wherein the plurality of participant computers are designated as non-central distributors of the particular conference; receiving, at the first participant'"'"'s computer, content from the plurality of participant computers designated as non-central distributors; and distributing, to the plurality of participant computers, the received content from the plurality of participant computers along with content captured locally by the first participant'"'"'s computer. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification