Method and apparatus to provide a backchannel for receiver terminals in a loosely-coupled conference

In a system that includes a H.323 panel having a multipoint controller with a multipoint address and one or more H.323 terminals coupled to the multipoint controller and each to transmit and receive media streams on a multicast address, a receiver terminal comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to said processor, said memory to contain instructions to be executed by said processor to (i) receive the media streams of the one or more H.323 terminals by connecting to the multicast address, (ii) connect to the multipoint controller using the multipoint address and join the H.323 panel and transmit and receive media streams to the one or more H.323 terminals for establishing bi-directional communication with the same, and (iii) disconnect from the multipoint controller and leave the H.323 panel while simultaneously receiving the media streams from the one or more H.323 terminals.

In a loosely-coupled conference that includes a H.323 panel having a multipoint controller unit ("MCU") with a multipoint address to transmit media streams on a multicast address and one or more H.323 terminals coupled to the MCU to each transmit and receive media streams to the MCU, a receiver terminal comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to said processor, said memory to contain instructions to be executed by said processor to (i) receive the media streams of the one or more H.323 terminals by connecting to the multicast address, (ii) connect to the MCU using the multipoint address and join the H.323 panel and transmit and receive media streams to the one or more H.323 terminals for establishing bi-directional communication with the same, and (iii) disconnect from the MCU and leave the H.323 panel while simultaneously receiving the media streams from the one or more H.323 terminals on the multicast address.