System and method for peer-to-peer multi-party voice-over-IP services
US7379450B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 10, 2006 |
| Grant date | May 27, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 16, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L45/48
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system, method, and computer program product for establishing multi-party VoIP conference audio calls in a distributed, peer-to-peer network where any number of nodes are able to arbitrarily and asynchronously start or stop producing audio output to be mixed into a single composite audio stream that is distributed to all nodes. A single distribution tree is used that has optimal communications characteristics to distribute the composite audio signal to all nodes. An audio mixing tree is established and maintained by adaptively and dynamically adding and merging intermediate mixing nodes operating between user nodes and the root of the single distribution tree. The intermediate mixing nodes and the root of the single distribution tree are all hosted, in an exemplary embodiment, on user nodes that are endpoints of the distribution tree.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.