Conference endpoint instructing conference bridge to mute participants
Granted: July 12, 2011
Patent Number:
7978838
Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and devices for improved audio, video, and data conferencing. The present invention provides a conferencing system comprising a plurality of endpoints communicating data including audio data and control data according to a communication protocol. A local conference endpoint may control or be controlled by a remote conference endpoint. Data comprising control signals may be exchanged between the local endpoint and remote endpoint via various…
Middleware server for interfacing communications, multimedia, and management systems
Granted: July 5, 2011
Patent Number:
7975073
Disclosed herein is a middleware server for interfacing a Multipoint Conferencing Unit (MCU) with a communication system and/or a management system within the context of an organization. The middleware server uses modular architecture, making the middleware server highly adaptable to different types of communication systems and management systems. The middleware server is useful for interfacing a MCU with communication devices including Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) telephones,…
System and method for exchanging connection information for videoconferencing units using instant messaging
Granted: June 28, 2011
Patent Number:
7969461
A videoconferencing system includes a first videoconferencing unit coupled to a network and associated with a first instant messaging identity. The first videoconferencing unit obtains a second instant messaging identity and automatically sends a request instant message requesting videoconferencing connection information to the second instant messaging identity. A second videoconferencing unit is coupled to the network and is associated with the second instant messaging identity. The…
Fast lattice vector quantization
Granted: June 21, 2011
Patent Number:
7966175
Methods, devices, and systems for coding and decoding audio are disclosed. Digital samples of an audio signal are transformed from the time domain to the frequency domain. The resulting transform coefficients are coded with a fast lattice vector quantizer. The quantizer has a high rate quantizer and a low rate quantizer. The high rate quantizer includes a scheme to truncate the lattice. The low rate quantizer includes a table based searching method. The low rate quantizer may also…
Dual-transform coding of audio signals
Granted: May 31, 2011
Patent Number:
7953595
Methods, devices, and systems for coding and decoding audio are disclosed. At least two transforms are applied on an audio signal, each with different transform periods for better resolutions at both low and high frequencies. The transform coefficients are selected and combined such that the data rate remains similar as a single transform. The transform coefficients may be coded with a fast lattice vector quantizer. The quantizer has a high rate quantizer and a low rate quantizer. The…
Speakerphone with a novel loudspeaker placement
Granted: May 10, 2011
Patent Number:
7940923
A new speakerphone wherein a loudspeaker is oriented to face the listeners of an audio conference is disclosed. New speakerphones which have a bass loudspeaker and at least one tweeter loudspeaker wherein the tweeter loudspeaker is oriented towards listeners of an audio conference are also disclosed.
Method and system for handling video signals of conference
Granted: April 19, 2011
Patent Number:
7929011
A system and method particularly useful in handling the video of a “large” conference is disclosed. The system and method initially defines certain conferees as panel members, which can provide input video signals to the multipoint control unit and can receive output video signals or a composite layout for the conference from the multipoint control unit. The system and method also initially defines audience members, which only passively receive the output video signals or layout from…
Speakerphone
Granted: April 12, 2011
Patent Number:
D635955
System and method for dynamically establishing optimum audio quality in an audio conference
Granted: March 8, 2011
Patent Number:
7903588
A system and method for dynamically establishing optimum audio quality in an audio conference is disclosed. A connection with one or more remote communication devices is initially established. An available data rate associated with the connection is then determined. Next, a bandwidth is assigned based on the available data rate. Finally, the assigned bandwidth is adjusted according to the available data rate.
Remote multipoint architecture for full-duplex audio
Granted: March 8, 2011
Patent Number:
7903828
A method, microphone module and a system for full-duplex audio system implementing full duplex audio, audio echo cancellation and audio codec. The audio signals from the microphones and to the loudspeakers are encoded to reduce the transmission bandwidth requirement during wired or wireless transmission and decoded when needed for further processing. Each microphone has transceivers to receive signals fed to loudspeakers within the microphone module. An audio echo canceller is installed…
Method and system for assigning a plurality of MACs to a plurality of processors
Granted: March 1, 2011
Patent Number:
7898941
A bank of processing units is connected to a number of LANs via a bank of MAC controllers. An interconnect switch allows any of the processing units to access any of the MAC controllers. A housekeeping processor periodically detects faults in the connectivity of the processing units to the LANs. When a fault is detected, a redundant processing unit is assigned to be connected to the LAN. If a fault still exists, then a redundant MAC controller is assigned to the redundant processing…
Speaker with acoustic damped port
Granted: March 1, 2011
Patent Number:
7899201
Systems, methods, and devices for improving speaker performance with an acoustic damped port are disclosed. In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, a damping material is placed around a vented frame of a speaker driver, and substantially covers or fills the vents of the frame. In some embodiments, the damping material results in improved impedance matching with acoustic delay, without required dimensional tuning (as with conventional ports). In some embodiments,…
Method and apparatus for mixing compressed video
Granted: February 8, 2011
Patent Number:
7884843
Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus for mixing compressed video useable in a videoconferencing environment having a plurality of endpoint users. Through the use of the method and apparatus, each endpoint can receive a unique layout displaying some subset of the users at the endpoints. Input streams from each endpoint are uncompressed, resized, and scaled to fit the segment in the layout for particular endpoints, and then encoded (or compressed) by a sub-encoder into a sub-encoded…
System for conducting videoconferencing session over television network
Granted: February 8, 2011
Patent Number:
7884844
A videoconferencing system includes a camera, a microphone, and an interface module. The module is coupled a modem connected to a television network and is coupled to a television set and a set-top box. The module decodes encoded audio video signals received from the modem that are part of a videoconferencing session. The module also encodes audio and video signals received from the camera and the microphone and sends the encoded audio video signals to the modem to be part of the…
System and method for lost packet recovery with congestion avoidance
Granted: January 25, 2011
Patent Number:
7876685
Devices and techniques for overcoming lost packets and avoiding congestion when conducting media conferences over packet switched networks are described herein. To avoid the problem of lost packets, redundant information is inserted into the media stream that permits the receiver to reconstruct any lost packets from the redundant information. Congestion avoidance techniques include adjusting the bitrate of the media stream to find the highest bitrate that can be supported without packet…
Multiplexed microphone signals with multiple signal processing paths
Granted: January 18, 2011
Patent Number:
7873175
A multiplexed microphone signal with multiple signal processing paths is disclosed. Each signal processing path has it own priority and other characteristics. A signal path is selected based on the application of the processed signal. Similar processes within different paths may be shared to reduce computation workload.
System and method for decreasing end-to-end delay during video conferencing session
Granted: January 4, 2011
Patent Number:
7864251
A method for decreasing end-to-end delay in a video conferencing context is disclosed. At video conferencing system startup, a processor is initialized to receive either a top field or a bottom field of video frame data. If the first line of a new field arriving after initialization does not match a field state that the processor is initialized to, the present invention senses the state mismatch and adjusts a display buffer by one display line, and the field is stored in the display…
Speakerphone transmitting URL information to a remote device
Granted: January 4, 2011
Patent Number:
7864938
Disclosed herein are methods, systems, and devices for improved audio, video, and data conferencing. The present invention provides a conferencing system comprising a plurality of endpoints communicating data including audio data and control data according to a communication protocol. A local conference endpoint may control or be controlled by a remote conference endpoint. Data comprising control signals may be exchanged between the local endpoint and remote endpoint via various…
System and method for providing reservationless third party meeting rooms
Granted: November 9, 2010
Patent Number:
7830824
A video and/or audio conferencing system having virtual meeting room services is disclosed. The virtual meeting room services enables a third party to control and manage one or more virtual meeting rooms. Each third party organization may receive one or more dial in numbers, which is associated with a profile that defines the type of the conference that can be conducted. The profile defines the “capabilities” of the virtual meeting room, such as the maximum number of conferees, type…
System and method for communication channel and device control via an existing audio channel
Granted: October 26, 2010
Patent Number:
7821918
A system and method for communication channel and device control via an existing audio channel. A combined communication signal is received from a communication device comprising an audio signal and a modulated carrier signal via an audio channel. The audio signal is separated from the carrier signal. Digital data is extracted from the carrier signal. Device control is performed utilizing the extracted digital data.
