Asymmetrical VoIP Conference Gateway Echo Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current VoIP conferencing systems face issues with echo cancellation, simultaneous conference management, and secure private conferencing, particularly in asymmetrical setups where local agents participate in multiple conferences, leading to poor audio and video quality and lack of secure, efficient communication environments.
Innovation Solution
A multimedia conferencing apparatus that manages asymmetrical public and private conferences by using a conference managing unit to determine signal accessibility based on transceiver states and generate outgoing signals, avoiding echoes by ensuring each transceiver receives signals only once, and providing secure communication through encryption and separate channels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple conferences are established separately for each external agent in VoIP systems, then asymmetrical conferencing functionality is achieved, but echoes occur when local agents participate in multiple conferences simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate conferences into a single unified conference by establishing one conference call between the gateway and all external agents, rather than creating separate conferences for each external agent. This consolidation eliminates echo problems that occur when local agents participate in multiple separate conferences simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway acts as an intermediary that manages the unified conference, controlling which local agents can hear or talk to which external agents. The gateway mixes audio signals and distributes them appropriately, preventing echo while maintaining asymmetrical conferencing functionality.
2Ease of operation
If separate conference calls are established for each external agent, then individual conference management is possible, but audio and video quality deteriorate due to synchronization issues
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple conference calls are merged into a single unified conference call, ensuring that all external agents and local agents participate in the same conference instance. This eliminates synchronization issues and maintains high audio and video quality while still allowing individual conference management through the gateway's control mechanisms.
3Adaptability or versatility
If local agents can participate in multiple conferences simultaneously, then conferencing flexibility is improved, but secure private conferencing becomes difficult to implement
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway serves as a secure intermediary that controls access between local agents and external agents. It can establish private conference channels between specific pairs of agents while maintaining the unified conference structure, ensuring that private conversations remain confidential even when agents participate in multiple conferences simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified conference is segmented into different private channels or groups by the gateway, allowing specific local agents to have private conversations with specific external agents. This segmentation maintains security while preserving the flexibility of multi-conference participation.
Data Source
AI summary
These multimedia conferencing apparatus and method manage asymmetrical public and/or private conferences. A conference takes place between an external transceiver and at least a local transceiver; local transceivers may take part to a plurality of conferences simultaneously. The apparatus comprises a communication interface connected to a packet data communication network in order to send and receive multimedia signals to and from the transceivers. A conference managing means is operable to determine, for each transceiver, which of the incoming multimedia signals received from the other transceivers are accessible to said transceiver, based on a transceiver's state and on data characterising the existing conferences, said state indicating whether said transceiver is participating to a private conference or to a public conference. A signal generating means generates for each transceiver at least an outgoing multimedia signal by mixing the incoming multimedia signals of the transceivers accessible to said transceiver.