Method and system for allocating, revoking and transferring resources in a conference system

• US 8,311,197 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2006
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shaffer, Shmuel, Christenson, Steven L.
• Primary Examiner(s): DEANE JR, WILLIAM J
• Application Number:
  US11/558,799
• Publication Number:
  US 20080112337A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,195 Days
• Field of Search: 379/202.01, 379/159, 379/201.01, 379/201.02, 379/201.03, 379/221.15, 37926501-26514
• US Class Current: 379/202.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1886 with traffic restrictions for efficiency improvement, e.g. involving subnets or subdomains

Abstract

A method of allocating, revoking and transferring resources from a pool of conference resources provided by a conference system comprises assigning a guaranteed status to at least some participants to a conference to be hosted by the system. At least some of the resources may be reserved for the guaranteed status participants, to enable the guaranteed status participants to participate in the conference. When another participant to the conference is received, the other participant may be assigned a provisional status. Unused resources in the pool of resources may be allocated as provisional resources to the provisional status participant and the participant is admitted to participate in the conference utilizing the provisional resources. The provisional resources may be reserved for, but are at the time not used by a guaranteed status participant. Borrowed resources may be reclaimed and transferred to the guaranteed status participant.

Claims

1. A method of assigning resources from a pool of conferences resources provided by a conference system, the method comprising:

reserving at least some of the pool of conference resources for guaranteed status participants to a conference having an allocated number of resources allocated to the conference, to enable the guaranteed status participants to participate in the conference, the guaranteed resources comprising at least one of a communication port, an interface, and a media termination port;

during the conference, automatically assigning conference resources to a plurality of participants as the participants join the conference;

receiving at least one other participant to the conference and assigning a provisional status to the at least one other participant;

allocating unused resources in the pool of conference resources as provisional resources, the provisional resources comprising at least one of a communication port, an interface, and a media termination port;

admitting the at least one provisional status participant to participate in the conference utilizing the provisional resources; and

if a number of assigned conference resources exceeds the allocated number of resources, modifying at least one assigned resource.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein

at least one assigned resource is a borrowed resource for a further participant, the borrowed resource being a resource not allocated to the conference;

and modifying the at least one assigned resource comprises associating a revocable status with the borrowed resource to identify the borrowed resource as being revocable when required by a conference to which it was allocated.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the at least one assigned resource comprises allocating a lower bandwidth service to at least one participant to accommodate a further participant, or terminating participation of at least one participant.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein allocating the lower bandwidth service comprises modifying a video service to an audio service, modifying an audio service to a chat service.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the provisional resources are unreserved.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the provisional resources are reserved.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the provisional resources are reserved for the conference.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the provisional resources are reserved for a further conference to be hosted by the system.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein at least part of the provisional resources are revocable during the conference.

10. The method of claim 9, comprising advising the at least one provisional status participant that at least part of the provisional resources are revocable during the conference.

11. The method of claim 7, comprising, during the conference, revoking at least part of the provisional resources and allocating the revoked provisional resources to a guaranteed status participant to the conference, to enable the guaranteed status participant to participate in the conference.

12. The method of claim 8, comprising, during the conference, revoking at least part of the provisional resources and allocating the revoked resources to a guaranteed status participant of the further conference, to enable the guaranteed status participant to participate in the further conference.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the provisional resources further comprise at least one of a digital signal processing (DSP) resource, a mixer, a multipoint control unit (MCU), a processor, a memory module, a management unit, or bandwidth.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising enabling any one of the guaranteed status participants to relinquish their guaranteed status.

15. The method of claim 14, comprising modifying the guaranteed status to the provisional status.

16. A system to allocate resources from a pool of conferences resources, the system comprising:

an interface to interface with a plurality of endpoints associated with a plurality of participants; and

one or more processors connected to the interface and configured to

reserve at least some of the pool of conference resources for guaranteed status participants to a conference having an allocated number of resources allocated to the conference, to enable the guaranteed status participants to participate in the conference, the guaranteed resources comprising at least one of a communication port, an interface, and a media termination port;

during the conference, automatically assign conference resources to a plurality of participants as each participant join the conference;

receive at least one other participant to the conference and assigning a provisional status to the at least one other participant;

allocate unused resources in the pool of conference resources as provisional resources, the provisional resources comprising at least one of a communication port, an interface, and a media termination port;

admit the at least one provisional status participant to participate in the conference utilizing the provisional resources; and

if a number of assigned conference resources exceeds the allocated number of resources, modify at least one assigned resource.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the at least one assigned resource is a borrowed resource for a further participant, the borrowed resource being a resource not allocated to the conference and the one or more processors are configured to modify the at least one assigned resource to associate a revocable status with the borrowed resource to identify the borrowed resource as being revocable when required by a conference to which it was allocated.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to allocate a lower bandwidth service to at least one participant to accommodate a further participant, thereby to modify the at least one assigned resource.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to modify a video service to an audio service, modify an audio service to a chat service, or terminate participation of at least one participant.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the provisional resources are unreserved.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the provisional resources are reserved.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the provisional resources are reserved for the conference.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the provisional resources are reserved for a further conference to be hosted by the system.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are configured to revoke at least part of the provisional resources during the conference.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are configured to advise the at least one provisional status participant that at least part of the provisional resources are revocable during the conference.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are configured, during the conference, to revoke at least part of the provisional resources and allocate the revoked provisional resources to a guaranteed status participant to the conference, to enable the guaranteed status participant to participate in the conference.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the one or more processors are configured, during the conference, to revoke at least part of the provisional resources and allocate the revoked resources to a guaranteed status participant of the further conference, to enable the guaranteed status participant to participate in the further conference.

28. The system of claim 16, wherein the provisional resources further comprise at least one of of a digital signal processing (DSP) resource, a mixer, a multipoint control unit (MCU), a processor, a memory module, a management unit, or bandwidth.

29. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to enable any one of the guaranteed status participants to relinquish their guaranteed status.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processors are configured to modify the guaranteed status to the provisional status.

31. A system to allocate resources from a pool of conferences resources, the system comprising:

means for reserving at least some of the pool of conference resources for guaranteed status participants to a conference having an allocated number of resources allocated to the conference, to enable the guaranteed status participants to participate in the conference, the guaranteed resources comprising at least one of a communication port, an interface, and a media termination port;

means for automatically assigning conference resources to a plurality of participants as the participants join the conference;

means for receiving at least one other participant to the conference and assigning a provisional status to the at least one other participant;

means for allocating unused resources in the pool of conference resources as provisional resources, the provisional resources comprising at least one of a communication port, an interface, and a media termination port;

means for admitting the at least one provisional status participant to participate in the conference utilizing the provisional resources; and

means for modifying at least one assigned resource if a number of assigned conference resources exceeds the allocated number of resources.