SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING ONE OR MORE MULTIPOINT CONTROL UNITS AS ONE MULTIPOINT CONTROL UNIT

• US 20070126862A1
• Filed: 12/18/2006
• Published: 06/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Polycom Israel Limited (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Even, Roni, Gavish, Sigmund, Yad-Shalom, Itay
• Granted Patent: US 8,843,550 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.80
• 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 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1827 Network arrangements for conference optimisation or adaptation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/5054 Meet-me conference, i.e. participants dial-in
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/367 Traffic or load control
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/567 Multimedia conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/148 Interfacing a video terminal to a particular transmission medium, e.g. ISDN
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/152 Multipoint control units therefor

Abstract

A system for controlling multiple multipoint control units (MCUs) with a single apparatus is disclosed. The system utilizes a Virtual MCU (VMCU) to communicate with a plurality of MCUs. A user initiates a reserve conference command with the VMCU. If sufficient resources are available, the reservation is made and connection numbers are assigned. When the time for the conference arises, an MCU is assigned to the conference. The participants are then connected to the conference. By using a single VMCU to schedule and coordinate multiple MCUs, the system is able to efficiently schedule a large number of conferences. This greater efficiency in scheduling may allow users to schedule conferences without the advance notice that is usually required.

Claims

1. A controller for controlling two or more multipoint control units (MCUs), the MCUs operable to provide conferencing for a plurality of terminals, the controller comprising:

an interface adapted for allocating resources of the two or more MCUs; and

a database for storing conference reservations and capability factors for the plurality of MCUs and the plurality of terminals;

wherein each of the terminals can be served by each of the two or more MCUs and wherein the controller can initiate a conference by allocating resources of at least one of the MCUs for handling the conference.

2. The controller of claim 1, wherein the conferencing is via a circuit switch network.

3. The controller of claim 1, wherein the conferencing complies with a communication protocol other H.323.

4. The controller of claim 1, wherein protocol is H.320 or H.321.

5. The controller of claim 1, wherein the interface is an application program interface (API).

6. The controller of claim 1, wherein allocating resources comprises:

combining resources of the plurality of MCUs to provide a combined MCU; and

allocating resources of the combined MCU for handling a conference.

7. The controller of claim 6, wherein allocating the resources of the combined MCU is on the basis of the capability factors of the MCUs and the plurality of terminals.

8. The controller of claim 7, wherein the capability factors of the plurality of terminals comprise one or more of terminal type, terminal speed, and codec type.

9. The controller of claim 7, wherein the capability factors of the MCUs comprise one or more of participant capacity, types of terminals supported, speed of the MCU, number of free audio bridges, and a number of free video mixers.

10. The controller of claim 6, wherein allocating the resources of the combined MCU results in resources of at least two MCUs being allocated to the same conference.

11. The controller of claim 6, wherein the combined MCU conducts at least two conferences simultaneously and wherein allocating resources of the combined MCU results in resources of a single MCU supporting at least two conferences.

12. A method of videoconferencing, comprising:

receiving a request to initiate a video conference between at least two multimedia terminals, wherein each of the terminals can be served by a plurality of MCUs;

comparing capability factors for each of the multimedia terminals with capability factors for each of the plurality of MCUs;

selecting, based on the comparing of capability factors, at least one MCU of the plurality of MCUs for handling the video conference; and

directing a communicative interconnection between the at least two multimedia terminals via the at least one selected MCU.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the interconnection between at least one of the terminals and at least one MCU is over a circuit switch network.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the interconnection between at least one of the terminals and at least one MCU is via a communication protocol other the H.323.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the protocol is H.320 or H.321.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the capability factors of the at least two multimedia terminals comprise one or more of terminal type, terminal speed, and codec type.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the capability factors of the MCUs comprise one or more of participant capacity, types of terminals supported, speed of the MCU, number of free audio bridges, and a number of free video mixers.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein selecting comprises maximizing a number of participants assigned to a single selected MCU.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein more than one MCU supports a single videoconference.

20. An apparatus for controlling ports of a plurality of MCUs, the apparatus comprising:

a database for storing capability factors for the ports; and

a processor programmed to;

receive a request to start a videoconferencing session between at least two multimedia terminals, wherein the at least two multimedia terminals can be serviced by each one of the plurality of MCUs;

compare the capability factors of the at least two multimedia terminals to the capability factors of each of the ports; and

responsive to the comparing, select ports from one or more of the MCUs for handling the videoconferencing session.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein at least one of the multimedia terminals is connected over a circuit switch network.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein at least one of the multimedia terminals complies with communication protocol other the H.323.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the protocol is H.320 or H.321.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

a first application program interface (API) for allowing a user to communicate with the apparatus; and

a second API for allowing the apparatus to communicate with a plurality of MCUs.

25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is programmed to logically combine all of the ports of the plurality of MCUs into a combined MCU and to treat the combined MCU as a single unit for purposes of selecting ports for handling the videoconferencing session.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the capability factors of the at least two multimedia terminals comprise one or more of terminal type, terminal speed, and codec type.

27. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the capability factors of the ports comprise one or more of types of terminals supported, speed of the port, number of free audio bridges associated with the port, and a number of free video mixers associated with the port.