Software bridge for multi-point multi-media teleconferencing and telecollaboration
AssigneeInterwise Ltd.
InventorsJoseph Gray, Haim Karniely
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A multimedia software bridge which enables enterprise-class voice, Web, and video teleconferencing. The multimedia software bridge is an all-software, distributed media server architecture that efficiently routes, bridges, and manages integrated voice, data, and video streams across multiple sites in real-time. The multimedia software bridge includes media services, session control, content distribution, and any-device access layer.
Claims46
In a distributed teleconferencing system operating in a data communication network, a bridge apparatus for bridging and routing an at least one integrated data stream, the bridge comprising at least two communication servers connected to the data communications network, the at least two communication servers perform cooperatively for bridging and applicative data distributing during an at least one teleconferencing or telecollaboration event between at least two participants.
In a teleconferencing system a bridging method for cooperatively routing integrated data streams during a teleconferencing and telecollaboration event, the cooperative bridging method comprising:
- creating a conferencing or collaboration event on a communication center by a participant;
- querying the communication center concerning new teleconferencing or telecollaboration events by a proxy remote controller;
- notifying the proxy remote controller concerning a new teleconferencing or telecollaboration event by the communication center;
- assigning the event to the proxy remote controller by the communication center;
- obtaining a network site tree of available computing and communication platforms for the event from a server manager by the proxy remote controller;
- selecting a computing and communication platform from each network site by the proxy remote controller using load balancing technology;
- sending a load request to the proxy agent of all the computing and communications platforms in the network sites tree by the proxy remote controller;
- receiving an active process load request by a proxy agent of a communication server installed on a main computing platform;
- receiving a sleeping process load request by an at least one proxy agents of an at least one communication server installed on an at least one other computing and communication platforms;
- loading an active process of the communication server on the main computing and communications platform by the proxy agent of the communication server;
- connecting the active process to the proxy remote controller;
- and
- sending a process ready command to the proxy remote controller and the multiplexer.
A system for supporting an at least one virtual meeting between at least two participants using communications and switching devices, the at least one meeting managed and controlled by software components, the system comprising
- at least two conferencing communication servers for receiving data streams from at least two client devices or from an at least one conferencing communication server, and for routing an at least one data stream between at least two client devices connecting at least two participants to a teleconferencing or telecollaboration event,
- wherein each of the at least two client devices is communicatively connected to at least one of the at least two communication servers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.