Method and system for conducting video conferences of diverse participating devices
AssigneePolycom, Inc.
InventorAvishay Halavy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A novel universal bridge (UB) can handle and conduct multimedia multipoint conferences between a plurality of MREs and LEPs without using an MRM, an MCU and a gateway. Further, a UB can be configured to allocate and release resources dynamically according to the current needs of each conferee and the session.
Claims15
A method of configuring a bridge for a multimedia conferencing system for a continuous presence multimedia conference having at least three media relay endpoints, comprising:
- allocating for each media relay input stream in a conference corresponding to a presented media relay endpoint:
- a media relay input processor of a plurality of media relay input processors and a stream identifier for a stream of transport frames from the media relay input processor for the media relay input stream from the presented media relay endpoint;
- and
- allocating for each media relay endpoint in the conference:
- a media combiner module of a plurality of media combiner modules and a stream identifier for each stream of transport frames from the media combiner module to be provided to the presented media relay endpoint;
- and
- a media relay output processor of a plurality of media relay output processors,
- wherein at least one of the stream identifiers represents a multicast address for the respective stream of transport frames, a multicast addressed stream being transported over a network.
Non-transitory processor readable memory containing programs that when executed cause processors to perform the following method of developing a continuous presence multimedia conference having at least three media relay endpoints, the method comprising:
- allocating for each media relay input stream in a conference corresponding to a presented media relay endpoint:
- a media relay input processor of a plurality of media relay input processors and a stream identifier for a stream of transport frames from the media relay input processor for the media relay input stream from the presented media relay endpoint;
- and
- allocating for each media relay endpoint in the conference:
- a media combiner module of a plurality of media combiner modules and a stream identifier for each stream of transport frames from the media combiner module to be provided to the presented media relay endpoint;
- and
- a media relay output processor of a plurality of media relay output processors,
- wherein at least one of the stream identifiers represents a multicast address for the respective stream of transport frames, a multicast addressed stream being transported over a network.
A bridge system for a multimedia conferencing system, comprising:
- a network, configured to carry streams of transport frames according to a transport protocol, and including a network switch configured for multicast routing of transport frames;
- a control module connected to the network, configured to:
- allocate stream identifiers for each stream of transport frames, wherein at least one of the stream identifiers represents a multicast address for the respective stream of transport frames;
- and
- dynamically allocate resources of the bridge system to multimedia sessions;
- and
- a media relay processor configured to receive streams of compressed media packets received from three media relay endpoints and to deliver one or more streams of compressed media packets toward each of the three media relay endpoints, the media relay processor including:
- a plurality of a media relay input processors, each coupled to the network and configured to deliver to the network transport frames carrying compressed media received from a media relay endpoint;
- a plurality of media combiner modules, each coupled to the network and configured to combine a plurality of streams of transport frames carrying compressed media into a stream of transport frames carrying combined media targeted toward a media relay endpoint;
- and
- a plurality of media relay endpoint output processors, each coupled to the network and configured to obtain one or more streams of transport frames carrying combined media created by the media combiner module from compressed media originated by a first and a second media relay endpoint and deliver one or more streams of packets toward a third media relay endpoint.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.