Network and bridge devices for facilitating audio communication

Abstract

To improve the functionality of networks and / or bridging devices.SOLUTION: A bridging device may facilitate audio communication between a plurality of devices. The bridging device includes processing circuitry configured to cause the bridging device to selectively apply unidirectional mute of at least audio on at least one of a plurality of interfaces. Each of the plurality of interfaces includes processing circuitry corresponding to a device among the plurality of devices.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Claims

[Claim 1] A bridge device for monitoring and controlling audio communication between a plurality of devices, wherein the bridge device comprises an interface configured for multipoint data transmission between the plurality of devices, and the bridge device further comprises The bridge device comprises a processing circuit that causes the bridge device to perform the step of selectively applying a one-way mute to at least one interface among a plurality of interfaces, each of the plurality of interfaces corresponds to one device among the plurality of devices, A bridge device characterized in that, independently of whether the one-way mute in the output direction is applied to at least one of the multiple interfaces, the processing circuit causes the bridge device to perform the step of transmitting signaling between the multiple devices, so that the selective application of the one-way mute in the output direction maintains at least audio communication with one or more unmuted interfaces among the multiple interfaces and provides a muted audio output to the at least one muted interface among the multiple interfaces. [Claim 2] The aforementioned processing circuit is A step of receiving a mute output command for a first device among a plurality of the devices, wherein the first device has a corresponding first interface among a plurality of the interfaces, The steps of applying a one-way mute on the first interface, at least for the audio output direction, based on the mute output command for the first device, The bridge device according to claim 1, characterized in that the bridge device further performs the above. [Claim 3] The aforementioned processing circuit is A step of generating a first audio output based on an audio input received from at least one of the multiple devices, The steps include generating a second audio output based on the aforementioned mute output command, The steps include outputting the second audio output via the first interface, The steps include outputting the first audio output through another interface among the plurality of interfaces, The bridge device according to claim 2, further characterized in that it applies at least a one-way mute to the audio output direction on the first interface based on the mute output command for the first device. [Claim 4] The bridge device according to claim 3, characterized in that the processing circuit includes a voice conferencing bridge that generates the first audio output based on the received audio input. [Claim 5] The aforementioned processing circuit is The steps include: packetizing the second audio output for output to the first interface; The steps of packetizing the first audio output for output to another interface among the multiple interfaces, The steps include outputting the second audio output, which has been packetized via the first interface, Steps include outputting the packetized first audio output to one of the multiple interfaces, The bridge device according to claim 3, characterized in that the bridge device further performs the above. [Claim 6] The mute output command for the first device is a command for outputting a mute audio output to the first interface, The bridge device according to claim 3, characterized in that the second audio output is a muted signal. [Claim 7] The bridge device according to claim 3, characterized in that the second audio output substantially does not contain audio information. [Claim 8] The bridge device according to claim 3, characterized in that the first audio output and the second audio output are formatted for analog telephone use. [Claim 9] A first communication interface for direct communication with analog audio devices, The bridge device according to claim 2, further comprising a second communication interface for communicating with an Ethernet device. [Claim 10] The bridge device according to claim 9, further comprising a third communication interface for communicating with a controller. [Claim 11] The bridge device according to claim 2, characterized in that the mute output command for the first device is received from a controller separate from the bridge device and the plurality of such devices. [Claim 12] The bridge device according to claim 1, characterized in that the processing circuit selectively propagates the audio input received by the bridge device to other interfaces among the plurality of interfaces, and does not propagate it to at least one interface among the plurality of interfaces, thereby selectively providing a one-way mute in the output direction. [Claim 13] A method for operating a bridge device for monitoring and controlling audio communication between a plurality of devices, wherein the bridge device comprises an interface configured for multipoint data transmission between the plurality of devices, and the method The step of selectively applying a one-way mute, at least in the direction of audio output, to at least one interface among a plurality of interfaces, wherein each of the plurality of interfaces corresponds to one device among the plurality of devices, The step of transmitting signaling between a plurality of devices, independently of whether the one-way mute in the output direction is applied to at least one of the plurality of interfaces, A method characterized in that the step of selectively applying a one-way mute to the output direction comprises the steps of maintaining audio communication with at least one or more unmuted interfaces among the plurality of interfaces, and providing a muted audio output to at least one of the muted interfaces among the plurality of interfaces. [Claim 14] A step of receiving a mute output command for a first device among a plurality of the devices, wherein the first device has a corresponding first interface among a plurality of the interfaces, The method according to 13, further comprising the step of applying a one-way mute on the first interface based on the mute output command for the first device, with respect to at least the audio output direction. [Claim 15] The step of applying a one-way mute to at least the audio output direction on the first interface is: A step of generating a first audio output based on an audio input received from at least one of the multiple devices, The steps include generating a second audio output based on the aforementioned mute output command, The steps include outputting the second audio output via the first interface, The method according to 14, further comprising the step of outputting the first audio output via another interface among the plurality of interfaces. [Claim 16] The method according to 15, wherein the bridge device includes a voice conferencing bridge that generates the first audio output based on the received audio input. [Claim 17] The steps include: packetizing the second audio output for output to the first interface; The steps of packetizing the first audio output for output to another interface among the multiple interfaces, The steps include outputting the second audio output, which has been packetized via the first interface, The method according to 15, further comprising the step of outputting the packetized first audio output to another interface among the plurality of interfaces. [Claim 18] A non-temporary computer-readable storage medium for storing computer-executable instructions, characterized in that, when executed by one or more processors of a bridge device, it causes the bridge device to execute the method according to claim 13 or 14.

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