System and method for a conference server architecture for low delay and distributed conferencing applications

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a set of executable instructions to direct a processor to:

• receive, at a scalable video coding server, a plurality of media signals having different signal characteristics but representing a same content, each media signal comprising a plurality of packets;
• selectively forward, by the server, at least one, but not all, of the media signals representing the same content to the at least one receiving endpoint over the communication channel;
• and
• improve, by the server, a quality of service of the communication channel over the quality of service the communication channel would have but for the use of the server.

An apparatus for conferencing, comprising:

• a scalable video coding server linked to at least one receiving endpoint by a communication channel,
• wherein the server receives a plurality of media signals having different signal characteristics but representing a same content, each media signal comprising a plurality of packets,
• wherein the server selectively forwards at least one, but not all, of the media signals representing the same content to the at least one receiving endpoint over the communication channel;
• and
• wherein the server improves a quality of service of the communication channel over the quality of service the communication channel would have but for the use of the server.