The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 06, 2004
Filed:
May. 10, 2000
Wayne Dunlap, San Jose, CA (US);
Michael Hogan, Austin, TX (US);
Kristin Dunn, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Oden J. McMillan, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Rick VanderKam, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Samantha Kha, San Jose, CA (US);
DahRenn Ba, Fremont, CA (US);
Polycom, Inc., Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A multimedia distribution device includes an embedded stream encoder and an embedded stream server for encoding and transmitting, through utilization of streaming technology, audio and video content originating from a videoconference site and received through a network interface, to network-connected terminals. In situations in which the videoconference includes the presentation of slides or other content, the device may include a file conversion engine for converting the presentation content received through a data interface into a standard graphic image format, for synchronous distribution with the audio and video content stream. The multimedia content may be viewed in a multiple-window interface, wherein the audio and video content is presented by a streaming media player, and the presentation content is displayed in a separate window. Additionally, the interface may include an interactive text entry interface, through which the viewer may submit comments or questions to the conference presenters. In an operating architecture that includes a separate remote streaming server and a separate network server, a method of distributing content to a large number of viewers includes continuously transmitting the current and successive presentation images to the network server for caching, whereby the viewer web browser can request and locally cache the images prior to arrival of the associated audio and video content.