Systems and methods for connecting video conferencing to a distributed network

Abstract

Conventional video conference porting sytems access the analog video conference output streams, reconverting these streams back into digital data streams for transmission over the Internet. This significantly degrades these streams. Other conventional video conference porting sytems access the digital data streams, but can only output these streams as a multicast. A pseudo-end point can be connected to a multi-point control unit managing a video conference just as the end point of a participant to the video conference is connected. The pseudo-end point device receives the digital data just as the participating end points receive the digital data. The pseudo-end point is connected to a video conference standard module, which is connectable to manyt pseudo-end points, each acting as a pseudo-participant in a different video conference. The video conference standard module transmits the received digital data as a multicast to one or more unicast servers, and zero, one or more multicast clients.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001] 1. Field of Invention[0002] This invention relates to systems and methods that allow data to be transmitted between a video conference system and a distributed network.[0003] 2. Description of Related Art[0004] Conventional video conferencing equipment is generally divided into a number of categories. These categories include data stream display and capture equipment, such as cameras, microphones, televisions and speakers, end point equipment that connects a particular video conference participant to another end point device or to a multi-point control unit, and the multi-point control unit, which allows three or more end point devices to participate in a single video conference session.[0005] The end point equipment is used by participants in a video conference to convert the audio and video signals from the camera and microphone into data transmittable to another other end point device or the multi-point control unit. The end point equipment is al...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

0011] One advantage of this second system over the first technique is that the audio and video data streams stay in digital form. However, the IPTV client merely listens to the multi-task IP addresses. Thus, there is no centralized streaming server that is able to output a unicast multimedia data stream to a client. Rather, the IPTV client creates a multicast. However, multicasts generally cannot be received by most conventional local area or wide area networks that the video conference has not originated on. Thus, this peer-to-peer system can only be used within a multi-cast capable network, such as a single local or wide area network. As a result, the IPTV client can only make the video conference data available to another IPTV client that is also on a multi-cast capable network.

Problems solved by technology

Thus, there is no centralized streaming server that is able to output a unicast multimedia data stream to a client.

However, multicasts generally cannot be received by most conventional local area or wide area networks that the video conference has not originated on.

Thus, this peer-to-peer system can only be used within a multi-cast capable network, such as a single local or wide area network.

As a result, the IPTV client can only make the video conference data available to another IPTV client that is also on a multi-cast capable network.

As a result, the system shown in FIG. 1 can significantly degrade or otherwise distort the video and audio data.

As a result, there is a significant delay between receiving the digital video and audio streams at the video conference end point device 60 and transmitting the re-encoded digital video and audio streams.

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