Patent · US Expired

Seamless multimedia conferencing system using an enhanced multipoint control unit

US5555017A · kind A · utility

47Cited by
12References
7Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 8, 1994
Grant dateSep 10, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 8, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N7/152
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for controlling the communication of multimedia electronic signals representing audio, video, and/or data. These techniques operate in conjunction with a system including a network and a plurality of endpoint devices connected to the network. A novel MMS is coupled to the network and is equipped to utilize the network such that multimedia signals may be exchanged among a plurality of endpoint devices, thereby providing a multimedia conference. A Multi-Media Server (MMS) provides a multimedia conference independently, such that the reservation system utilized by existing multimedia conferencing system is no longer required. The conference is initiated by a multimedia endpoint that is equipped with a user interface device for encoding user input as BAS signals. The MMS is responsive to BAS DTMF commands issued by endpoint devices to implement multimedia conferences.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.