Distributed processing in conference call systems

A tangible machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

• receiving at a first processing node a first set of telephone audio signals from a first set of conference subnodes;
• receiving at a second processing node, different from the first processing node, a second set of telephone audio signals from a second set of conference subnodes, the first and second sets of telephone audio signals corresponding to first and second sets of subscribers of the conference call;
• selecting at the first and second processing nodes respective first and second output sets of telephone audio signals, the first processing node selecting the first output set based on first energy levels of the first set of telephone audio signals, the second processing node selecting the second output set based on second energy levels of the second set of telephone audio signals;
• selecting a third output set of telephone audio signals from the first and second output sets based on third energy levels of the first and second output sets;
• and
• transmitting the third output set to the conference subnodes.

A telephony conference call node comprising:

• a receive bus interface to receive from first and second processing nodes first and second output sets of telephone audio signals, the first and second output sets being selected from first and second input sets of telephone audio signals from first and second sets of conference subnodes, the telephone audio signals corresponding to subscribers of a conference call;
• a conference node voice processor to select a third output set of telephone audio signals from the first and second output sets based on first and second energy levels of the first and second sets of input telephone audio signals;
• and
• a transmit bus interface to transmit the third output set to the conference subnodes.

A telephony gateway node comprising:

• a receive bus to receive from first and second processing nodes first and second output sets of telephone audio signals, the first and second output sets being selected from first and second input sets of telephone audio signals from conference subnodes, the telephone audio signals corresponding to subscribers of a conference call;
• a conference node voice processor to select a third output set of telephone audio signals from the first and second output sets based on first and second energy levels of the first and second sets of input telephone audio signals;
• and
• a transmit bus to transmit the third output set to the conference subnodes.

A method comprising:

• receiving first and second input sets of telephone audio signals at first and second processing nodes, respectively, each signal being received from a subscriber node of a single conference call;
• selecting at the first and second processing nodes first and second subsets of the input sets of signals based on first and second energy levels of the first and second input sets of telephone audio signals;
• transmitting the selected subsets of signals to a conference node;
• receiving a third subset of telephone audio signals from the conference node;
• and
• transmitting the third subset to the subscriber nodes.

A tangible machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

• receiving at first and second processing nodes first and second input sets of telephone audio signals, each signal being received from a subscriber node of a single conference call;
• selecting first and second subsets of the first and second input sets of signals based on first and second energy levels of the first and second input sets of telephone audio signals;
• transmitting the selected subsets of signals to a conference node;
• selecting by the conference node from the first and second subsets a third subset of the telephone audio signals;
• and
• transmitting the third subset to the subscriber nodes.

A telephony voice processor node comprising:

• a telephony bus interface to receive first and second input sets of telephone audio signals, each signal being received from a subscriber node of a single conference call;
• first and second processing nodes to select from the first and second input sets, respectively, first and second output sets of telephone audio signals based on first and second determined energy levels of the first and second input sets, respectively;
• a voice processor to select a subset of the first and second output sets of signals based on third energy levels of the first and second output sets;
• and
• wherein the telephony bus interface transmits the subset to the subscriber nodes.

A telephony voice gateway comprising:

• a telephony bus to carry first and second input sets of telephone audio signals, each signal being received from a subscriber node of a single conference call;
• a plurality of voice processor nodes to select first and second subsets of the first and second input sets of signals based on energy levels of the first and second input sets of telephone audio signals;
• a transmit bus to carry the selected subsets of signals to a conference node, the conference node being to select from the first and second subsets a third subset of the telephone audio signals;
• and
• wherein the telephony bus transmits the third subset from the conference node to the subscriber nodes.