Collaboration Properties, Inc.

Avistar Communications Corporation

Cisco Technology, Inc.

Vicor Corporation

Other

Pragmatus Av LLC

Keith A Lantz

Lester Frank Ludwig

J Chris Lauwers

Gerald J Burnett

Emmett R Burns

Shantanu Sarkar

Luke K Surazski

Duanpei Wu

Scott S Firestone

Nermin M Ismail

Walter Friedrich

Subhasri Dhesikan

John K Restrick, Jr

Scott Allen Henning

Rongxuan V Chen

Martin W Wu

Kevin E Miller

Denise G Caballero-McCann

Walter R Friedrich

Rajeev Madan

David Andrew Sauerhaft

Michael G Harttree

John K Restrick

David Sauerhaft

James M Stormes

A method for executing a video conference is provided that includes receiving one or more audio streams associated with a video conference from one or more end points and determining an active speaker associated with one of the end points. Audio information associated with the active speaker may be received at one or more media switches. One or more video streams may be suppressed except for a selected video stream associated with the active speaker, the selected video stream propagating to one or more of the media switches during the video conference. The selected video stream may be replicated such that it may be communicated to one or more of the end points associated with a selected one of the media switches.

System and method for performing distributed video conferencing

A multimedia collaboration system that integrates separate real-time and asynchronous networks&#x2014;the former for real-time audio and video, and the latter for control signals and textual, graphical and other data&#x2014;in a manner that is interoperable across different computer and network operating system platforms and which closely approximates the experience of face-to-face collaboration, while liberating the participants from the limitations of time and distance. These capabilities are achieved by exploiting a variety of hardware, software and networking technologies in a manner that preserves the quality and integrity of audio/video/data and other multimedia information, even after wide area transmission, and at a significantly reduced networking cost as compared to what would be required by presently known approaches. The system architecture is readily scalable to the largest enterprise network environments. It accommodates differing levels of collaborative capabilities available to individual users and permits high-quality audio and video capabilities to be readily superimposed onto existing personal computers and workstations and their interconnecting LANs and WANs. In a particular preferred embodiment, a plurality of geographically dispersed multimedia LANs are interconnected by a WAN. The demands made on the WAN are significantly reduced by employing multi-hopping techniques, including dynamically avoiding the unnecessary decompression of data at intermediate hops, and exploiting video mosaicing, cut-and-paste and audio mixing technologies so that significantly fewer wide area transmission paths are required while maintaining the high quality of the transmitted audio/video.

Tracking user locations over multiple networks to enable real time communications

A communication system includes a call agent that coordinates and supervises communications between endpoints. The call agent allocates a QoS agent for each endpoint involved in a call. The QoS agents generate reservations for the call in order to provide the call with a guaranteed amount of bandwidth and an established QoS. Each endpoint or location associated with an endpoint has a reservation policy that determines how calls are to be handled when a reservation is or is not obtained and when a reservation is lost or obtained during a call. The communication system is able to handle reservations, or the lack thereof, during various situations like on hold, call transfer, call forwarding, conference call, and shared line services.

System and method for implementing a mid-call policy in a RSVP environment

A client device is in communication with a first storage device over a wide area network. The first storage device is of multiple storage devices in a networking system and stores media files. The client device can access a media file at the first storage device and the media file includes at least a reference to a video portion and at least a hyperlink that references a second media file.

Storage and playback of media files

A content storage and distribution networked system is described. The system includes at least one local network at a first physical premises, at least one audio-video storage device in communication with the local network, and at least two client devices in communication with the local network. The audio-video storage device is configured to store at least one media file, which includes at least video. The first client device is configured to enable the two client device to simultaneously access the at least one media file stored on the audio-video storage device. The system is configured to cause playback of media that is associated with the retrieved media file, and to enable the user of the first client device to operate on the playback of the media associated with the retrieved media file, using at least the operations of start, stop, pause, fast forward, and reverse.

Storing and accessing media files

System and method for implementing RSVP in a communication environment

An audio-video storage device includes a storage interface to interface with a storage medium that store a media file including video. The storage device includes a network interface to interface with a local network. The storage device performs replication of the stored media file. The storage device provides access to the media file to a first client device and a second client device over the local network and the wide area network respectively.

System and method for preserving bandwidth in a RSVP environment

A method of communication that includes causing user identifiers to be displayed in a group or panel that has been previously created by the first user by selecting user identifiers of potential callees from a list, and further including user identifier information for the second user retrieved over at least one network is disclosed.

Method for managing real-time communications

A user logs in, at a first address, using a first communication device and establishes communication with an associated server using a wireless communication link. The user enables the first user to log in, at a second address, using the first communication device and establish communication with an associated server. Another user can log in using one or more communication devices. User identifiers for a second user are displayed in a quick dial list for a first user. When the first user selects the second user's identifier, the second user's address information is obtained and used to establish communication between these users.

Wireless real-time communication

First and second users log in using at least one of a plurality of respective communication devices using corresponding collaboration initiation software. Address information of the communication devices used by the first and second users to log in are sent to respective first and second servers connected to respective first and second communication networks. In response to a request from the first user for communication with the second user, address information of the second communication device is retrieved from at least one of the first and second servers, which set up real-time wide area communication between ports.

Real-time wide-area communications between ports

First and second users log in using at least one of a plurality of respective communication devices. Address information of the communication devices used by the first and second users to log in are sent to respective first and second servers, separated from each other by at least one wide area network. A user identifier for the second user is displayed in a quick dial list of user identifiers selected by the first user. The first user selects the displayed second user's identifier to request communication with the second user. The first user also selects a communication type. In response, the first server is queried to obtain the current address information for the selected second user. The received address information is used to establish the selected communication type, over the wide area network, between the first and second users.

Communication of a selected type over a wide area network

First and second users log in using respective communication devices. Address information of the communication devices are sent to respective first and second servers. At the communication device used by the first user, a graphical icon representing the second user is retrieved from the first server, and is displayed in a quick dial list of first-user-selected user identifiers on the display. The first user selects the icon to request communication with the second user. Real-time communication types are displayed on a display associated with the communication device used by the first user. In response, the first server is queried to obtain the current address information for the selected second user. The received address information is used to establish a communication type. If a communication type is selected by the first user, the real-time communication is of the selected type. Otherwise, the real-time communication is of a default communication type.

Real-time communication of a selected type

A system for real-time communication between a plurality of separated users, comprising at least one communication device for use by each of the plurality of users and having an associated display and at least one communication network to which at least first and second users can connect by logging in at their respective communication devices. Further included are at least one service record for the first and second logged in users, the at least one service record including user identification information and an associated location where each user is logged in no matter where they are located. Computer software also is provided for causing display of a user identifier for at least the second user on the display of at least the first user's communication device, and generating a signal in response to a user selecting the displayed second user's identifier Further, there is collaboration initiation software that functions to cause the retrieving of necessary addressing information of the second user, and to cause the establishing of a connection between the first and second users, and thereby to enable real-time communication displayed on the display of the first and second users.

Growing community of inventors

Los Altos, CA, United States of America

Keith A Lantz