Apparatus and method for asymmetrical conferencing between local and external transceivers

Method for managing simultaneous asymmetrical public and/or private conferences, wherein a conference takes place between an external transceiver and at least a local transceiver, local transceiver being able to take part to a plurality of conferences simultaneously, the method being performed in a data processing apparatus connected to a data packet-switched network, said method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, through at least a communication interface connected to the network, incoming multimedia signals from transceivers;
• managing, by a conference managing means:
• data indicating the existing public and/or private conferences and the transceivers participating to said conferences;
• for each transceiver, a state, in the sense of a state of a finite state machine, indicating whether a transceiver is participating to a private conference or to a public conference;
• determining, by said conference managing means, for each transceiver, which incoming multimedia signals received from corresponding other ones of the transceivers are accessible to said transceiver, based on the state of said corresponding other ones of the transceivers and on the data characterising the existing conferences;
• and
• generating, for each transceiver, by a signal generating means, at least an outgoing multimedia signal by mixing the incoming multimedia signals of the transceivers accessible to said transceiver.