WO1997032256A1 - Method for creating peer-to-peer connections over an interconnected network to facilitate conferencing among users - Google Patents

Method for creating peer-to-peer connections over an interconnected network to facilitate conferencing among users Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1997032256A1
WO1997032256A1 PCT/US1997/003099 US9703099W WO9732256A1 WO 1997032256 A1 WO1997032256 A1 WO 1997032256A1 US 9703099 W US9703099 W US 9703099W WO 9732256 A1 WO9732256 A1 WO 9732256A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
user
conference
connection information
remote computer
computer
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1997/003099
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Barclay R. Jiang
Original Assignee
Fls Acquisition Corp.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Fls Acquisition Corp. filed Critical Fls Acquisition Corp.
Priority to AU20589/97A priority Critical patent/AU2058997A/en
Publication of WO1997032256A1 publication Critical patent/WO1997032256A1/en

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
    • H04L12/02—Details
    • H04L12/16—Arrangements for providing special services to substations
    • H04L12/18—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast
    • H04L12/1813—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms
    • H04L12/1818—Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/1066—Session management
    • H04L65/1069—Session establishment or de-establishment
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
    • H04L65/40—Support for services or applications
    • H04L65/403—Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences
    • H04L65/4053—Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences without floor control
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L12/00—Data switching networks
    • H04L12/02—Details
    • H04L12/16—Arrangements for providing special services to substations
    • H04L12/18—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast
    • H04L12/1813—Arrangements for providing special services to substations for broadcast or conference, e.g. multicast for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms
    • H04L12/1822—Conducting the conference, e.g. admission, detection, selection or grouping of participants, correlating users to one or more conference sessions, prioritising transmission

Definitions

  • the present invention generally relates to methods for establishing nerwork connections for conferencing over computer networks, and more particularly, a method for establishing conferences and linking conference participants to the conferences over the internet.
  • the traditional paradigm of an on-line conference referring to Fig. 1, consists of a host server 10 connecting a number of conference participants or clients 12a - 12c through their respective individual channels 14a - 14c.
  • This is a client/server paradigm where a host server connects a number of clients. Under this paradigm, a great deal of computing resources are consumed by the host server.
  • the traditional paradigm is no longer adequate in meeting the dynamic and flexible environment demanded by the activity of the network users of today and of the future.
  • a different paradigm referring to Fig. 2
  • this peer-to-peer paradigm there is no host server, and a number of clients 18a -18e are connected via a number of channels 20a - 20e in a variety of manners.
  • the advantage with this paradigm is that there is not a central host server to connect the clients.
  • this network paradigm is feasible and desirable.
  • problems in establishing network connections over an interconnected nerwork in accordance with the peer-to-peer paradigm These problems prove to be cumbersome and sometimes are administratively impossible for the clients (or conference participants) to overcome.
  • IP Internet protocol
  • An IP address uniquely identifies a user's Internet presence and is composed of four bytes of information representing a domain name and an identification number in that domain.
  • IP addresses For users having direct connections to the internet through their company or organization, their IP addresses may be remapped, may change over time, or may be machine dependent Furthermore, many companies and organizations have a computer network security barrier commonly referred to as a "firewall" to stop unauthorized intrusion into their computer networks, and the firewall may translate an IP address for a particular computer or user such that the computer or user is identified by a different address every time.
  • the problems with IP addresses minimize conferences from being established in accordance with the peer-to-peer paradigm on the Internet, minimizing activities such as document conferencing, video conferencing, etc
  • a method for facilitating the creation and maintenance of network connections over an interconnected network for the purpose of facilitating the creation and participation of on-line conferences in accordance to the peer-to-peer paradigm is disclosed.
  • a designated location on the network e.g.
  • a web site on an interconnected network such as the Internet is setup in such a manner that a conference may be created and conference participants can be easily connected into the created conference by making a few simple selections
  • the IP addresses of the conference participants are maintained at the designated site and are transmitted to a new conference participant to allow the new conference participant to connect directly into the conference without the new participant having to know the IP addresses of the conference participants
  • the new participant mav be connected to any one of the existing conference participants
  • no data goes through the designated site or a central host Data packets are directlv sent to and received by the respective application program of each participant.
  • An advantage of the present invention is that a conference participant may join a conference without having to know the IP addresses of other conference participants.
  • Another advantage of the present invention is that the established conference has no data going through a central host or a designated site
  • Fig 1 illustrates connections in accordance to the client/server paradigm where users are connected to a central server for the purpose of conferencing
  • Fig 2 illustrates connections in accordance to the peer-to-peer paradigm where users are connected to each other without a central host
  • Figs. 3-7 show web page layouts and hypertext selections in the preferred embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 8 shows the basic architecture for web interface.
  • Fig. 9a is an overall design of the menu and command structure of the preferred embodiment.
  • Fig. 9b is a table of keys to Fig. 9a.
  • the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a virtual conference hall on the World-Wide Web ("WWW”) as a clearinghouse for all the conferences
  • WWW World-Wide Web
  • a user by using a web-browser and a helper-application program, may go to the virtual conference hall, announce and advertise a conference, create a conference, or join an on-going conference.
  • the host machine supporting the virtual conference hall does not actually host any conferences by receiving and redistributing data packets. Rather, the virtual conference hall facilitates the establishment of conference connections for users wishing to participate in a conference Once a conference is established, data transmission from one user to another user is routed directly via the appropriate Internet protocol and transmission paths.
  • a user by indicating the conference of his or her choice, is connected to the conference whereby an Internet connection is automatically established between this user and one of the existing conference participants without the user having to know the IP address of a conference participant.
  • a user by using a web browser goes to a designated site on the Internet such as "http:Wwww.conferencehall.com.”
  • admmistration 31, registration 33, general information 35, and lounge 37 several selections are available to the user, admmistration 31, registration 33, general information 35, and lounge 37.
  • the admmistration selection provides the user with the option to create a conference 38, remove a conference 42.
  • a conference record for this particular conference is created and inserted into a conference list containing the records for all the conferences. This list is automatically updated to reflect the conference as an on-going conference where people may freely participate in it if it is a public conference.
  • a user may select to remove a conference (42) after the conference is over, provided that the user has the administrative password for the conference.
  • An automatic conference removal method can also be implemented, as opposed to the manual removal process.
  • the user may select to change the chai ⁇ erson of a conference (40), and the conference list will be updated to reflect such a change.
  • a user interested in becoming a conference participant referring to Fig. 6, may register for a conference by selecting an ongoing conference from a list of on-going conferences.
  • Fig. 7 if a conference is a public conference, the user joins the conference, and the user's name, IP address, and other pertinent information is added to the conference record.
  • a helper application predefined in the pertinent section of the web browser is automatically launched and the user is connected to the selected conference through the helper application where the IP address of the conference chair or the conference participant(s) is automatically provided to the helper application to establish the Internet connection.
  • the helper-application Through the helper-application, the user becomes a conference participant and can begin discussions with other conference participants. If the selected conference is a private conference, a password is requested before the user is allowed to join a conference. After finishing with a conference, a conference participant may remove his or her name from the conference list.
  • Fig. 8 illustrates the basic architecture for the World Wide Web interface for the preferred embodiment.
  • the user 52 activates a web browser (also called net browser) 54 and connects to the Internet via the web browser.
  • a web browser also called net browser
  • a file in the hypertext mark-up language (HTML) format is sent to the user and displayed by the web browser on the user's computer (remote computer)
  • HTTP hypertext mark-up language
  • a form requesting information from the user is sent to the user m HTML format
  • a designated common gateway interface (CGI) script 58 (which is a series of commands in the PERL programming language) may be programmed to be executed by the web server.
  • Fig. 9a illustrates an overall menu and command structure (corresponding to Figs. 3-7) of an implementation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention and Fig. 9b provides a table of keys lo the box symbols used in Fig. 9a.
  • the menu and command structure are briefly described and the major functions such as the create-a-conference function and the join-a-conference function are described in detail in the following sections.
  • the web server When visiting the virtual conference hall on the internet, the web server sends to the user the index.html file 70 which provides several hypertext selections. By clicking on a selection, the corresponding CGI script file may be executed and the corresponding HTML file is sent to the user 72-78. From the administration HTML page 72, the user may select the start-a-conference selection 80 whereby the corresponding CGI script file is executed, a new conference record is created, and the conference list is updated. The user also may select to remove a conference. In this operation, the list of on-going conferences are displayed (84) to the user, the user selects a conference to remove, and, given the right password, the underlying remove-conference CGI script is executed (56) to remove the corresponding conference record.
  • the user may change the chai ⁇ erson of a conference by displaying the list of on-going conferences (88), and select and change the conference chair (90) of a particular conference.
  • the corresponding CGI script updates the conference list.
  • a user may join a public conference 94 whereby the user is asked to fill out a form and the user is added to the conference list 96.
  • a password is requested from the user (98) before the user is allowed to join the conference (94)
  • the user may remove his or her name from the conference record 100
  • the information page 76 may provide a variety of information regarding the conferences or any other type of information.
  • the lounge page 78 may provide links to other sites for browsing while a user waits for other users.
  • Creating a Conference In selecting the link to create a conference, a form is sent by the host server of the virtual conference hall to the user's web browser.
  • the form provides blank spaces requesting conference information from the user, information such as the conference title, company name, subject of the conference, the user's name, an administrative password, and a password if it is a private conference.
  • the host server activates a conference creation CGI script that parses and extracts information from the form, and stores the extracted information as a new conference record into a conference list or database containing records of all the on-going conferences.
  • the user's IP address is obtained from the CGI environment variable REMOTE ADDR and stored in the conference record. Then, a MIME type stream containing information regarding the helper application that is to be launched by the user's browser and other pertinent information is sent back to the user's browser. The user's browser upon receiving the MIME stream launches the designated helper application, and the helper application is instructed to go into the listening mode to wait for incoming connection requests.
  • the helper application in this case can be any conferencing software. In the preferred embodiment, the document conferencing software TalkShow is used. With the helper application in listening mode, one or more subsequent connections will establish a conference where users are connected and may chat or pull up documents or graphs for discussion and annotation via their helper applications.
  • a conference Registration icon which will cause the conference list to be displayed to the user.
  • a form is sent to user requesting the user's name and a password if it is a private conference.
  • a join-conference CGI script is executed where the information provided by the user is extracted and stored in the corresponding conference record in the conference list. This user's IP address is stored as well for later use. Then, a MIME stream containing the IP address of the conference chair along with other pertinent information is sent back to the user.
  • the user's web browser Upon receiving this MIME stream, the user's web browser activates the same or a compatible helper-application, and the IP address of the conference chair is provided to the helper-appiication
  • the helper-application makes a TCP/IP call to the conference chair using the given IP address
  • the chau-person's helper-application connects to the caller and a conference session is thereby established. Once the conference session is established, there is no traffic (data packets) going through the conference hail server machine (the host computer). The conference participants communicate directly to each other via their helper-applications.
  • connection for the conference chair is dropped and its IP address is no longer active
  • another conference participant may become the conference chair by going back to the virtual conference hall and updating the conference list via the "change chai ⁇ erson" selection.
  • This conference participant then becomes the chai ⁇ erson and its IP address is stored accordingly.
  • a new conference participant may join the conference by using the IP address of any one of the current conference participants This embodiment can be implemented by sending the IP addresses of all the current conference participants in the MIME stream to the user's browser and have the helper application be directed to try all the addresses until an active address is found.
  • a conference participant may leave the conference and manually sign off the conference via a provided selection on the registration page of the virtual conference hall so that the user's name will not be shown as a conference participant.
  • the user's name will be deleted from the conference record by a CGI script.
  • This process can also be automated where the server of the virtual conference hall periodically samples the connections to determine existing conference participants and updates the conference record accordingly. Note that in the case where a network has a firewall and there is a SOCKS proxy running between the browser and the web server, the CGI script gets the IP address of the SOCKS proxy rather than the IP address of the client machine that is running the browser This problem is solved by providing a name registration daemon that registers each participant's IP address and port number.
  • the helper-appiication When the helper- application is launched by the browser, the helper-appiication first makes a TCP/IP connection to the daemon so that the daemon registers the helper-applicant's client's IP address.

Abstract

A method for facilitating the creation and participation of on-line conferences in accordance to the peer-to-peer paradigm is disclosed. A designated location on the network (e.g., a web site 56) such as Internet is set up so that a conference (94) may be created and conference participants (98) can be easily connected into the conference. The IP addresses of the conference participants (98) are maintained at the designated site and are transmitted to a new conference participant (98) to allow the new conference participant to connect directly into the conference without the new participant (98) having to know the IP addresses of the conference participants (98). The new participant may be connected to any one of the existing conference participants. Once the conference is established, no data goes through the designated site or a central host (56).

Description

Specification
METHOD FOR CREATING PEER-TO-PEER CONNECTIONS OVER AN INTERCONNECTED NETWORK TO FACILITATE CONFERENCING AMONG USERS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to methods for establishing nerwork connections for conferencing over computer networks, and more particularly, a method for establishing conferences and linking conference participants to the conferences over the internet.
Description of the Prior Art In hosting a conference over a computer network such as the Internet, the conference host advertises and promotes the conference as to the subject matter of the conference and the time and location of the conference. Parties interested in participating in the conference join the conference via their network connections at the designated time. The traditional paradigm of an on-line conference, referring to Fig. 1, consists of a host server 10 connecting a number of conference participants or clients 12a - 12c through their respective individual channels 14a - 14c. This is a client/server paradigm where a host server connects a number of clients. Under this paradigm, a great deal of computing resources are consumed by the host server. The traditional paradigm is no longer adequate in meeting the dynamic and flexible environment demanded by the activity of the network users of today and of the future. Ideally, given the level of activity on the Internet, a different paradigm, referring to Fig. 2, is desirable. In this peer-to-peer paradigm, there is no host server, and a number of clients 18a -18e are connected via a number of channels 20a - 20e in a variety of manners. The advantage with this paradigm is that there is not a central host server to connect the clients. As long as the clients utilize application programs allowing communication across networks between the clients, this network paradigm is feasible and desirable. However, there are several problems in establishing network connections over an interconnected nerwork in accordance with the peer-to-peer paradigm. These problems prove to be cumbersome and sometimes are administratively impossible for the clients (or conference participants) to overcome. The problem lies in finding the Internet protocol ("IP") address of the client hosting the conference (conference chairperson) or the IP address of any one of the clients in the conference (conference participants). An IP address uniquely identifies a user's Internet presence and is composed of four bytes of information representing a domain name and an identification number in that domain. By knowing the IP address of a user, an internet connection can be established with that user. However, the IP address of a particular user is not always the same. If a user dials into an Internet service provider ("ISP") in establishing an Internet connection, the users may be assigned a different IP address every time due to the fact that the ISP has a limited number of connections to the Internet and IP addresses must be dynamically allocated as requested. For users having direct connections to the internet through their company or organization, their IP addresses may be remapped, may change over time, or may be machine dependent Furthermore, many companies and organizations have a computer network security barrier commonly referred to as a "firewall" to stop unauthorized intrusion into their computer networks, and the firewall may translate an IP address for a particular computer or user such that the computer or user is identified by a different address every time. The problems with IP addresses minimize conferences from being established in accordance with the peer-to-peer paradigm on the Internet, minimizing activities such as document conferencing, video conferencing, etc
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for dynamically establishing a conference over the Internet in accordance with the peer-to-peer paradigm It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for maintaining the IP addresses ot the conference participants of a conrerence for the purpose of allowing a new user to join a conference without having to know the IP addresses of the conference participants. Briefly, a method for facilitating the creation and maintenance of network connections over an interconnected network for the purpose of facilitating the creation and participation of on-line conferences in accordance to the peer-to-peer paradigm is disclosed. A designated location on the network (e.g. a web site) on an interconnected network such as the Internet is setup in such a manner that a conference may be created and conference participants can be easily connected into the created conference by making a few simple selections The IP addresses of the conference participants are maintained at the designated site and are transmitted to a new conference participant to allow the new conference participant to connect directly into the conference without the new participant having to know the IP addresses of the conference participants The new participant mav be connected to any one of the existing conference participants Once the conference is established, no data goes through the designated site or a central host Data packets are directlv sent to and received by the respective application program of each participant. An advantage of the present invention is that a conference participant may join a conference without having to know the IP addresses of other conference participants. Another advantage of the present invention is that the established conference has no data going through a central host or a designated site These and other objects and advantage of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments
IN THE DRAWINGS Fig 1 illustrates connections in accordance to the client/server paradigm where users are connected to a central server for the purpose of conferencing Fig 2 illustrates connections in accordance to the peer-to-peer paradigm where users are connected to each other without a central host Figs. 3-7 show web page layouts and hypertext selections in the preferred embodiment of the present invention Fig. 8 shows the basic architecture for web interface. Fig. 9a is an overall design of the menu and command structure of the preferred embodiment. Fig. 9b is a table of keys to Fig. 9a.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a virtual conference hall on the World-Wide Web ("WWW") as a clearinghouse for all the conferences A user, by using a web-browser and a helper-application program, may go to the virtual conference hall, announce and advertise a conference, create a conference, or join an on-going conference. The host machine supporting the virtual conference hall does not actually host any conferences by receiving and redistributing data packets. Rather, the virtual conference hall facilitates the establishment of conference connections for users wishing to participate in a conference Once a conference is established, data transmission from one user to another user is routed directly via the appropriate Internet protocol and transmission paths. For example, a user, by indicating the conference of his or her choice, is connected to the conference whereby an Internet connection is automatically established between this user and one of the existing conference participants without the user having to know the IP address of a conference participant. Illustrating an example of the process of using an implementation of the present invention, a user by using a web browser goes to a designated site on the Internet such as "http:Wwww.conferencehall.com." At this site, referring to Fig. 3, several selections are available to the user, admmistration 31, registration 33, general information 35, and lounge 37. Referring to Fig. 4, the admmistration selection provides the user with the option to create a conference 38, remove a conference 42. or have the user be the designated chaiφerson of a particular conference 40. If the user chooses to create a conference, referring to Fig. 5, the user is then provided with a form asking for information pertinent to the conference, information such as the conference title, host of the conference, subject of the conference, the user's name, the conference type, and an administrative password. When a conference is created, a conference record for this particular conference is created and inserted into a conference list containing the records for all the conferences. This list is automatically updated to reflect the conference as an on-going conference where people may freely participate in it if it is a public conference. Referring back to Fig 4, under the administration page, a user may select to remove a conference (42) after the conference is over, provided that the user has the administrative password for the conference. An automatic conference removal method can also be implemented, as opposed to the manual removal process. As a third selection under the admmistration page, the user may select to change the chaiφerson of a conference (40), and the conference list will be updated to reflect such a change. A user interested in becoming a conference participant, referring to Fig. 6, may register for a conference by selecting an ongoing conference from a list of on-going conferences. Referring to Fig. 7, if a conference is a public conference, the user joins the conference, and the user's name, IP address, and other pertinent information is added to the conference record. Information regarding this conference is refreshed accordingly 58. In joining a conference, a helper application (or plug-in software) predefined in the pertinent section of the web browser is automatically launched and the user is connected to the selected conference through the helper application where the IP address of the conference chair or the conference participant(s) is automatically provided to the helper application to establish the Internet connection. Through the helper-application, the user becomes a conference participant and can begin discussions with other conference participants. If the selected conference is a private conference, a password is requested before the user is allowed to join a conference. After finishing with a conference, a conference participant may remove his or her name from the conference list. The process for removing a conference participant from a conference list may be automated by periodically polling the status of the IP connection with the net browser or helper-application of the respective conference participants. Having now described the process via one implementation of the present invention, the underly ing techniques are now described. Fig. 8 illustrates the basic architecture for the World Wide Web interface for the preferred embodiment. The user 52 activates a web browser (also called net browser) 54 and connects to the Internet via the web browser. By visiting a site (web server 56) such as the virtual conference hall in our example "http:Wwww.conferencehall.com", a file in the hypertext mark-up language (HTML) format is sent to the user and displayed by the web browser on the user's computer (remote computer) In certain cases, a form requesting information from the user is sent to the user m HTML format By completing the form and sending it back to the web server (the host computer), a designated common gateway interface (CGI) script 58 (which is a series of commands in the PERL programming language) may be programmed to be executed by the web server. The commands in the script file may request the web server 56 to send a formatted Multi-Puφose Mail Extension (MIME) type stream to the user's web browser which may activate a particular helper application 60 to connect the user's helper- application to other conference participant's helper-applications 62. Fig. 9a illustrates an overall menu and command structure (corresponding to Figs. 3-7) of an implementation of the preferred embodiment of the present invention and Fig. 9b provides a table of keys lo the box symbols used in Fig. 9a. The menu and command structure are briefly described and the major functions such as the create-a-conference function and the join-a-conference function are described in detail in the following sections. When visiting the virtual conference hall on the internet, the web server sends to the user the index.html file 70 which provides several hypertext selections. By clicking on a selection, the corresponding CGI script file may be executed and the corresponding HTML file is sent to the user 72-78. From the administration HTML page 72, the user may select the start-a-conference selection 80 whereby the corresponding CGI script file is executed, a new conference record is created, and the conference list is updated. The user also may select to remove a conference. In this operation, the list of on-going conferences are displayed (84) to the user, the user selects a conference to remove, and, given the right password, the underlying remove-conference CGI script is executed (56) to remove the corresponding conference record. As a third selection under the administration page, the user may change the chaiφerson of a conference by displaying the list of on-going conferences (88), and select and change the conference chair (90) of a particular conference. The corresponding CGI script updates the conference list. Under the registration page 74, a user may join a public conference 94 whereby the user is asked to fill out a form and the user is added to the conference list 96. For a private conference, a password is requested from the user (98) before the user is allowed to join the conference (94) After finishing with a conference, the user may remove his or her name from the conference record 100 The information page 76 may provide a variety of information regarding the conferences or any other type of information. The lounge page 78 may provide links to other sites for browsing while a user waits for other users.
Creating a Conference In selecting the link to create a conference, a form is sent by the host server of the virtual conference hall to the user's web browser. The form provides blank spaces requesting conference information from the user, information such as the conference title, company name, subject of the conference, the user's name, an administrative password, and a password if it is a private conference. Once the form is filled out. the user clicks on a button on the screen which causes the form to be sent back to the host server. In receiving the form, the host server activates a conference creation CGI script that parses and extracts information from the form, and stores the extracted information as a new conference record into a conference list or database containing records of all the on-going conferences. Furthermore, the user's IP address is obtained from the CGI environment variable REMOTE ADDR and stored in the conference record. Then, a MIME type stream containing information regarding the helper application that is to be launched by the user's browser and other pertinent information is sent back to the user's browser. The user's browser upon receiving the MIME stream launches the designated helper application, and the helper application is instructed to go into the listening mode to wait for incoming connection requests. The helper application in this case can be any conferencing software. In the preferred embodiment, the document conferencing software TalkShow is used. With the helper application in listening mode, one or more subsequent connections will establish a conference where users are connected and may chat or pull up documents or graphs for discussion and annotation via their helper applications.
Joining a Conference For a user to participate in a conference, the user clicks on the Conference Registration icon which will cause the conference list to be displayed to the user. By clicking on the conference of his or her choice, a form is sent to user requesting the user's name and a password if it is a private conference. When the user sends the form back to the host server, a join-conference CGI script is executed where the information provided by the user is extracted and stored in the corresponding conference record in the conference list. This user's IP address is stored as well for later use. Then, a MIME stream containing the IP address of the conference chair along with other pertinent information is sent back to the user. Upon receiving this MIME stream, the user's web browser activates the same or a compatible helper-application, and the IP address of the conference chair is provided to the helper-appiication The helper-application makes a TCP/IP call to the conference chair using the given IP address Upon receiving the call, the chau-person's helper-application connects to the caller and a conference session is thereby established. Once the conference session is established, there is no traffic (data packets) going through the conference hail server machine (the host computer). The conference participants communicate directly to each other via their helper-applications. In the case where the connection for the conference chair is dropped and its IP address is no longer active, another conference participant may become the conference chair by going back to the virtual conference hall and updating the conference list via the "change chaiφerson" selection. This conference participant then becomes the chaiφerson and its IP address is stored accordingly. In an alternate embodiment, if the conference chauperson's connection is dropped and a new conference chair is not designated, a new conference participant may join the conference by using the IP address of any one of the current conference participants This embodiment can be implemented by sending the IP addresses of all the current conference participants in the MIME stream to the user's browser and have the helper application be directed to try all the addresses until an active address is found.
Removing a Conference Participant A conference participant may leave the conference and manually sign off the conference via a provided selection on the registration page of the virtual conference hall so that the user's name will not be shown as a conference participant. The user's name will be deleted from the conference record by a CGI script. This process can also be automated where the server of the virtual conference hall periodically samples the connections to determine existing conference participants and updates the conference record accordingly. Note that in the case where a network has a firewall and there is a SOCKS proxy running between the browser and the web server, the CGI script gets the IP address of the SOCKS proxy rather than the IP address of the client machine that is running the browser This problem is solved by providing a name registration daemon that registers each participant's IP address and port number. When the helper- application is launched by the browser, the helper-appiication first makes a TCP/IP connection to the daemon so that the daemon registers the helper-applicant's client's IP address. Although the present invention has been described in terms of the presently preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that such disclosure is not to be inteφreted as limiting. Various alterations and modifications will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the above disclosure. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims be inteφreted as covering all alterations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention What I claim is

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method for establishing peer-to-peer network connections over an interconnected nerwork for two or more users, comprising the steps of: a) receiving by a host computer connection information of a first user using a first remote computer having a first network address, said connection information including said first network address of said first remote computer; b) storing on said host computer said connection information of said first user; c) receiving by said host computer connection information of a second user using a second remote computer having a second network address, said connection information of said second user including said second network address of said second remote computer; d) storing on said host computer said connection information of said second user; and e) sending by said host computer said connection information of said first user to said second remote computer, said second remote computer using said connection information of said first user establishing a direct network connection to said first remote computer.
2. A method of claim 1 further including the steps of: f) receiving by said host computer connection information of a third user using a third remote computer having a third network address, said connection information of said third user including said second network address of said third remote computer; g) storing on said host computer said connection information of said third user; and h) passing said connection information of said first user to said third remote computer, said third remote computer using said connection information of said first user establishing a direct network connection to said first remote computer.
3. A method of claim I further including the steps of: f) receiving by said host computer connection information of a third user using a third remote computer having a third network address, said connection information of said third user including said second network address of said third remote computer; g) storing on said host computer said connection information of said third user; and h) remote computer using said connection information of said second user establishing a direct network connection to said second remote computer.
4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said connection information of said first user further includes a conference title and a host name.
5. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein said direct network connection for a particular user is terminated by the steps of: sending by the remote computer of said particular user a request for termination of said direct network connection of said particular user; receiving by said host computer of said request; and deleting said connection information of said particular user from said host computer.
6. A method for establishing peer-to-peer network conferencing connections over the Internet for two or more users, comprising the steps of: a) receiving by a host computer the connection information of a first user using a first remote computer having a first Internet-protocol address for establishing a conference over the Internet, the connection information including said Internet-protocol address of said first remote computer, and conference information; b) storing on said host computer the connection information of said first user; c) receiving by said host computer the connection information of a second user using a second remote computer having a second Internet-protocol address, the connection information of said second user including said second Internet-protocol address of said second remote computer; d) storing on said host computer the connection information of said second user; and e) passing the connection information of said first user to said second remote computer, said second remote computer using the connection information of said first user establishing a direct network connection to said first remote computer.
7. A method of claim 6 further including the steps of: f) receiving by said host computer connection information of a third user using a third remote computer having a third network address, said connection information of said third user including said second network address of said third remote computer; g) storing on said host computer said connection information of said third user; and h) passing said connection information of said first user to said third remote computer, said third remote computer using said connection information of said first user establishing a direct network connection to said first remote computer.
8. A method of claim 6 further including the steps of: 0 receiving by said host computer connection information of a third user using a third remote computer having a third network address, said connection information of said third user including said second network address of said third remote computer; g) storing on said host computer said connection information of said third user; and h) passing said connection information of said second user to said third remote computer, said third remote computer using said connection information of said second user establishing a direct nerwork connection to said second remote computer.
9. A method as recited in claim 6 wherein said conference information includes a conference title and a host name. 10 A method as recited in claim 6 wherein said direct network connection for a particular user is terminated by the steps of: sendmg by the remote computer of said particular user a request indicating termination of the direct network connection of said particular user; receiving by said host computer of said request; and deleting the connection information of said particular user from said host computer.
PCT/US1997/003099 1996-02-29 1997-02-28 Method for creating peer-to-peer connections over an interconnected network to facilitate conferencing among users WO1997032256A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU20589/97A AU2058997A (en) 1996-02-29 1997-02-28 Method for creating peer-to-peer connections over an interconnected network to facilitate conferencing among users

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US609,025 1996-02-29
US08/609,025 US6167432A (en) 1996-02-29 1996-02-29 Method for creating peer-to-peer connections over an interconnected network to facilitate conferencing among users

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1997032256A1 true WO1997032256A1 (en) 1997-09-04

Family

ID=24439052

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1997/003099 WO1997032256A1 (en) 1996-02-29 1997-02-28 Method for creating peer-to-peer connections over an interconnected network to facilitate conferencing among users

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (1) US6167432A (en)
AU (1) AU2058997A (en)
WO (1) WO1997032256A1 (en)

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6148329A (en) * 1998-07-20 2000-11-14 Unisys Corporation Method and system for maintaining the format of messages in a messaging system database
US6430177B1 (en) 1998-06-09 2002-08-06 Unisys Corporation Universal messaging system providing integrated voice, data and fax messaging services to pc/web-based clients, including a content manager for receiving information from content providers and formatting the same into multimedia containers for distribution to web-based clients
US6954680B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2005-10-11 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and system for the electronic provision of services for machines via a data communication link
US7395122B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2008-07-01 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Data capture for electronically delivered automation services
US8219451B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2012-07-10 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft System and method for electronic delivery of content for industrial automation systems
EP2587722A1 (en) * 2011-10-31 2013-05-01 Research In Motion Limited Auto promotion and demotion of conference calls
US8488764B1 (en) 2007-07-24 2013-07-16 Avaya Inc. Conference call selectable configuration in which participants can be configured to join at different time (order), use presence information to configure/initiate the conference call
US8594315B1 (en) 2006-10-03 2013-11-26 Avaya Inc. Speed dial administration based on call history
US8605881B2 (en) 2011-10-31 2013-12-10 Blackberry Limited Auto promotion and demotion of conference calls
US8768716B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2014-07-01 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Database system and method for industrial automation services
US9020119B2 (en) 2011-10-31 2015-04-28 Blackberry Limited Moderation control method for participants in a heterogeneous conference call

Families Citing this family (334)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6088515A (en) 1995-11-13 2000-07-11 Citrix Systems Inc Method and apparatus for making a hypermedium interactive
US6343313B1 (en) 1996-03-26 2002-01-29 Pixion, Inc. Computer conferencing system with real-time multipoint, multi-speed, multi-stream scalability
US10152876B2 (en) 1996-03-27 2018-12-11 Gtj Ventures, Llc Control, monitoring, and/or security apparatus and method
US10011247B2 (en) 1996-03-27 2018-07-03 Gtj Ventures, Llc Control, monitoring and/or security apparatus and method
US7253731B2 (en) 2001-01-23 2007-08-07 Raymond Anthony Joao Apparatus and method for providing shipment information
US6266328B1 (en) 1996-08-26 2001-07-24 Caritas Technologies, Inc. Dial up telephone conferencing system controlled by an online computer network
JP3592004B2 (en) * 1996-10-31 2004-11-24 キヤノン株式会社 Information sharing management system and information sharing system management apparatus and method
AU741589B2 (en) * 1997-03-26 2001-12-06 Luminis Pty Limited Mediation of circadian rhythms
US5987376A (en) 1997-07-16 1999-11-16 Microsoft Corporation System and method for the distribution and synchronization of data and state information between clients in a distributed processing system
US6393015B1 (en) * 1997-09-12 2002-05-21 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. Method and apparatus for automatic network connection between a small business and a client
US6917962B1 (en) 1997-10-22 2005-07-12 Brokercom Inc. Web-based groupware system
US9075136B1 (en) 1998-03-04 2015-07-07 Gtj Ventures, Llc Vehicle operator and/or occupant information apparatus and method
US6915336B1 (en) * 1998-06-05 2005-07-05 Instant Services.Com, Inc. Real time internet communication system
US7346671B2 (en) * 1998-06-05 2008-03-18 Instant Service.Com, Inc. Real time internet communications system
US6961748B2 (en) 1998-10-27 2005-11-01 Murrell Stephen J Uniform network access
US6928469B1 (en) 1998-12-29 2005-08-09 Citrix Systems, Inc. Apparatus and method for determining a program neighborhood for a client node in a client-server network using markup language techniques
US20060167986A1 (en) * 1999-08-30 2006-07-27 Trzyna Peter K Internet telephone system
US20040193722A1 (en) * 1999-08-30 2004-09-30 Donovan Kevin Remington Joseph Bartholomew Universal instant messaging system for the internet
US7934149B1 (en) * 1999-09-30 2011-04-26 Instantis, Inc. Automated creation and maintenance of programs to process internet form related submissions
US6853634B1 (en) * 1999-12-14 2005-02-08 Nortel Networks Limited Anonymity in a presence management system
US7353251B1 (en) * 1999-12-23 2008-04-01 Polycom, Inc. Automated call launching
US6760750B1 (en) * 2000-03-01 2004-07-06 Polycom Israel, Ltd. System and method of monitoring video and/or audio conferencing through a rapid-update web site
WO2001072022A1 (en) * 2000-03-20 2001-09-27 Sonexis, Inc. Method and system for providing audio conferencing services
US6809749B1 (en) * 2000-05-02 2004-10-26 Oridus, Inc. Method and apparatus for conducting an interactive design conference over the internet
US7143134B2 (en) * 2000-06-02 2006-11-28 Virtual Ink Corporation System and method for integrating electronic transcription systems
US6763501B1 (en) * 2000-06-09 2004-07-13 Webex Communications, Inc. Remote document serving
US20020019845A1 (en) 2000-06-16 2002-02-14 Hariton Nicholas T. Method and system for distributed scripting of presentations
US7117239B1 (en) 2000-07-28 2006-10-03 Axeda Corporation Reporting the state of an apparatus to a remote computer
US6910069B1 (en) 2000-07-31 2005-06-21 The Boeing Company Joining a broadcast channel
US6732147B1 (en) 2000-07-31 2004-05-04 The Boeing Company Leaving a broadcast channel
US6714966B1 (en) * 2000-07-31 2004-03-30 The Boeing Company Information delivery service
US6920497B1 (en) 2000-07-31 2005-07-19 The Boeing Company Contacting a broadcast channel
US6701344B1 (en) * 2000-07-31 2004-03-02 The Boeing Company Distributed game environment
US7088720B1 (en) 2000-08-07 2006-08-08 Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. Multiservice use of network connection capability under user-to-network interface signaling
US7307993B2 (en) * 2000-08-08 2007-12-11 At&T Labs, Inc. Controller based call control for ATM SVC signaling
US7099304B2 (en) 2000-09-05 2006-08-29 Flexiworld Technologies, Inc. Apparatus, methods and systems for anonymous communication
US20020083213A1 (en) * 2000-09-18 2002-06-27 Oberstein Brien M. Method and system for simulating and certifying complex business applications
US7185014B1 (en) 2000-09-22 2007-02-27 Axeda Corporation Retrieving data from a server
US8108543B2 (en) 2000-09-22 2012-01-31 Axeda Corporation Retrieving data from a server
US6631449B1 (en) 2000-10-05 2003-10-07 Veritas Operating Corporation Dynamic distributed data system and method
GB2368246B (en) * 2000-10-17 2004-09-01 Hewlett Packard Co Overview subsystem for information page server
GB2368223B (en) * 2000-10-17 2004-01-07 Hewlett Packard Co Associating parties with communication sessions
GB2368226B (en) * 2000-10-17 2004-08-25 Hewlett Packard Co Helper entity for comuunication session
GB2368227B (en) * 2000-10-17 2003-12-10 Hewlett Packard Co Contact center
GB2368224B (en) * 2000-10-17 2004-08-25 Hewlett Packard Co Content provider entity for communication session
GB2368930B (en) * 2000-10-17 2005-04-06 Hewlett Packard Co Establishment of a deferred network communication session
GB2368225B (en) * 2000-10-17 2003-12-10 Hewlett Packard Co Inviting assistant entity into a network communication session
AU2002229119A1 (en) * 2000-10-30 2002-05-15 Sonexis, Inc. Method and system for providing audio conferencing services using streaming audio
WO2002039215A2 (en) * 2000-11-09 2002-05-16 Visitalk.Com, Inc. Distributed dynamic data system and method
US7903822B1 (en) * 2000-11-10 2011-03-08 DMT Licensing, LLC. Method and system for establishing a trusted and decentralized peer-to-peer network
GB0029025D0 (en) * 2000-11-29 2001-01-10 Hewlett Packard Co Enhancement of communication capabilities
US6567813B1 (en) 2000-12-29 2003-05-20 Webex Communications, Inc. Quality of service maintenance for distributed collaborative computing
US7203755B2 (en) * 2000-12-29 2007-04-10 Webex—Communications, Inc. System and method for application sharing in collaborative setting
US20060161651A1 (en) * 2000-12-29 2006-07-20 Yuri Ardulov Managing resources within a fault tolerant collaboration system
WO2002054264A1 (en) * 2000-12-29 2002-07-11 Webex Communications, Inc. Distributed network system architecture for collaborative computing
US6901448B2 (en) * 2000-12-29 2005-05-31 Webex Communications, Inc. Secure communications system for collaborative computing
US20030167418A1 (en) * 2000-12-29 2003-09-04 Min Zhu Fault-tolerant server for collaborative computing
US6925645B2 (en) 2000-12-29 2005-08-02 Webex Communications, Inc. Fault tolerant server architecture for collaborative computing
US20030164853A1 (en) 2000-12-29 2003-09-04 Min Zhu Distributed document sharing
US7069298B2 (en) 2000-12-29 2006-06-27 Webex Communications, Inc. Fault-tolerant distributed system for collaborative computing
US20020095599A1 (en) * 2001-01-12 2002-07-18 Hyungkeun Hong VoIP call control proxy
US20020122391A1 (en) * 2001-01-12 2002-09-05 Shalit Andrew L. Method and system for providing audio conferencing services to users of on-line text messaging services
KR20010035317A (en) * 2001-02-02 2001-05-07 박영범 Peer to Peer Technology Applied Multi A/V Streaming System
US20030028597A1 (en) 2001-03-14 2003-02-06 Matti Salmi Separation of instant messaging user and client identities
US20060161624A1 (en) * 2001-04-13 2006-07-20 Elaine Montgomery Methods and apparatuses for dynamically sharing a portion of a display for application based screen sampling
US20060161623A1 (en) * 2001-04-13 2006-07-20 Elaine Montgomery Methods and apparatuses for selectively sharing a portion of a display for application based screen sampling
US20020174181A1 (en) * 2001-04-13 2002-11-21 Songxiang Wei Sharing OpenGL applications using application based screen sampling
US20060161622A1 (en) * 2001-04-13 2006-07-20 Elaine Montgomery Methods and apparatuses for selectively sharing a portion of a display for application based screen sampling using direct draw applications
US20030085922A1 (en) * 2001-04-13 2003-05-08 Songxiang Wei Sharing DirectDraw applications using application based screen sampling
US20020165922A1 (en) * 2001-04-13 2002-11-07 Songxiang Wei Application based screen sampling
US7353252B1 (en) * 2001-05-16 2008-04-01 Sigma Design System for electronic file collaboration among multiple users using peer-to-peer network topology
US20030009570A1 (en) * 2001-07-03 2003-01-09 International Business Machines Corporation Method and apparatus for segmented peer-to-peer computing
US20030009660A1 (en) * 2001-07-09 2003-01-09 Walker Mark R. Method and ystem for establishing and bridging of semi-private peer networks
US7590692B2 (en) * 2001-07-09 2009-09-15 Dialogic Corporation Conferencing architecture employing media servers and enhanced session initiation protocol
US6915519B2 (en) * 2001-07-12 2005-07-05 International Business Machines Corporation Pluggable JMS providers in a J2EE server
US7136386B2 (en) 2001-07-19 2006-11-14 Sbc Technology Resources, Inc. Virtual private network over asynchronous transfer mode
US7187678B2 (en) 2001-08-13 2007-03-06 At&T Labs, Inc. Authentication for use of high speed network resources
US20030041108A1 (en) * 2001-08-22 2003-02-27 Henrick Robert F. Enhancement of communications by peer-to-peer collaborative web browsing
US8713623B2 (en) 2001-09-20 2014-04-29 Time Warner Cable Enterprises, LLC Technique for effectively providing program material in a cable television system
US7447608B1 (en) 2001-09-28 2008-11-04 Infocus Corporation Method and apparatus for a collaborative meeting room system
JP2003110564A (en) * 2001-09-28 2003-04-11 Toshiba Corp Information processor and network setting method
US7251319B2 (en) * 2001-11-15 2007-07-31 International Business Machines Corporations Method and system for application initiated teleconferencing
US7254601B2 (en) 2001-12-20 2007-08-07 Questra Corporation Method and apparatus for managing intelligent assets in a distributed environment
KR20030057136A (en) * 2001-12-28 2003-07-04 천병준 Internet real-time chat session data processing method
US20030126199A1 (en) * 2002-01-02 2003-07-03 Kadri Seemab Aslam Peer-to-peer namespace directory and discovery
US20030126213A1 (en) * 2002-01-02 2003-07-03 International Business Machines Corporation Establishing direct instant messaging communication between wireless devices
US20030135552A1 (en) * 2002-01-14 2003-07-17 Blackstock Michael A. Method for discovering and discriminating devices on local collaborative networks to facilitate collaboration among users
JP2005516283A (en) * 2002-01-22 2005-06-02 コーニンクレッカ　フィリップス　エレクトロニクス　エヌ　ヴィ Method and system for delivering multimedia objects
JP4578806B2 (en) * 2002-01-30 2010-11-10 インタラクティブ・アイディアズ・エルエルシー Multipoint audio visual conference system
US7145883B2 (en) 2002-02-25 2006-12-05 Sonexis, Inc. System and method for gain control of audio sample packets
US7177286B2 (en) 2002-02-25 2007-02-13 Sonexis, Inc. System and method for processing digital audio packets for telephone conferencing
US7505423B2 (en) * 2002-02-25 2009-03-17 Sonexis, Inc. Telephone conferencing system and method
KR100463221B1 (en) * 2002-03-19 2004-12-23 알서포트 주식회사 File Transfer System Through A Gateway Server
US7636754B2 (en) * 2002-03-21 2009-12-22 Cisco Technology, Inc. Rich multi-media format for use in a collaborative computing system
US8135843B2 (en) 2002-03-22 2012-03-13 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and systems for providing access to an application
US6983020B2 (en) * 2002-03-25 2006-01-03 Citrix Online Llc Method and apparatus for fast block motion detection
US20040032486A1 (en) 2002-08-16 2004-02-19 Shusman Chad W. Method and apparatus for interactive programming using captioning
US20030196206A1 (en) 2002-04-15 2003-10-16 Shusman Chad W. Method and apparatus for internet-based interactive programming
US20040210947A1 (en) 2003-04-15 2004-10-21 Shusman Chad W. Method and apparatus for interactive video on demand
US7178149B2 (en) 2002-04-17 2007-02-13 Axeda Corporation XML scripting of soap commands
US7454760B2 (en) 2002-04-22 2008-11-18 Rosebud Lms, Inc. Method and software for enabling n-way collaborative work over a network of computers
US20040148340A1 (en) * 2003-01-29 2004-07-29 Web.De Ag Web site having a zone layout
US20040148392A1 (en) * 2003-01-29 2004-07-29 Web.De Ag Website having an event identification element
US20040015546A1 (en) * 2002-07-22 2004-01-22 Web.De Ag Communications environment having communications between portals
US20040148351A1 (en) * 2003-01-29 2004-07-29 Web.De Ag Communications web site
US20050182824A1 (en) * 2002-04-30 2005-08-18 Pierre-Alain Cotte Communications web site
US20040015541A1 (en) * 2002-07-22 2004-01-22 Web.De Ag Communications environment having a portal
US10562492B2 (en) 2002-05-01 2020-02-18 Gtj Ventures, Llc Control, monitoring and/or security apparatus and method
US6691155B2 (en) 2002-06-20 2004-02-10 Linda Gottfried Multimedia system for sharing brand information keeps history of modifications of production information by consumers to allow recreating multimedia interface in its previous formats
US7568004B2 (en) * 2002-06-20 2009-07-28 Linda Gottfried Method and system for sharing brand information
US20040006595A1 (en) * 2002-07-03 2004-01-08 Chiang Yeh Extended features to conferencing system using a web-based management interface
US6723597B2 (en) * 2002-07-09 2004-04-20 Micron Technology, Inc. Method of using high-k dielectric materials to reduce soft errors in SRAM memory cells, and a device comprising same
US20040008249A1 (en) * 2002-07-10 2004-01-15 Steve Nelson Method and apparatus for controllable conference content via back-channel video interface
US7613772B2 (en) * 2002-07-25 2009-11-03 Colligo Networks, Inc. Method for context based discovery and filtering of portable collaborative networks
US8558795B2 (en) * 2004-03-12 2013-10-15 Riip, Inc. Switchless KVM network with wireless technology
US7818480B2 (en) * 2002-08-29 2010-10-19 Raritan Americas, Inc. Wireless management of remote devices
US7684483B2 (en) * 2002-08-29 2010-03-23 Raritan Americas, Inc. Method and apparatus for digitizing and compressing remote video signals
US8068546B2 (en) * 2002-08-29 2011-11-29 Riip, Inc. Method and apparatus for transmitting video signals
US7606314B2 (en) * 2002-08-29 2009-10-20 Raritan America, Inc. Method and apparatus for caching, compressing and transmitting video signals
US7602788B2 (en) * 2002-11-04 2009-10-13 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Peer to peer SVC-based DSL service
US7701953B2 (en) * 2002-11-04 2010-04-20 At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. Client server SVC-based DSL service
US8413180B2 (en) * 2002-12-11 2013-04-02 Broadcom Corporation Media processing system communicating activity information to support user interaction during media broadcasts
US7653059B1 (en) 2002-12-20 2010-01-26 Symantec Operating Corporation Communication sessions for a computer network
US7467194B1 (en) 2002-12-20 2008-12-16 Symantec Operating Corporation Re-mapping a location-independent address in a computer network
US8275864B1 (en) 2002-12-20 2012-09-25 Symantec Operating Corporation Peer-to-peer network with recovery capability
US8370523B1 (en) 2002-12-20 2013-02-05 Symantec Operating Corporation Managing routing information for a computer network
US7327741B1 (en) 2002-12-20 2008-02-05 Symantec Operating Corporation Detecting and breaking cycles in a computer network
US7404006B1 (en) 2002-12-20 2008-07-22 Symantec Operating Corporation Publishing a network address in a computer network
US7406535B2 (en) * 2002-12-20 2008-07-29 Symantec Operating Corporation Role-based message addressing for a computer network
US7292585B1 (en) 2002-12-20 2007-11-06 Symantec Operating Corporation System and method for storing and utilizing routing information in a computer network
US7382785B2 (en) * 2003-02-21 2008-06-03 At&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. Extended virtual user-to-network interface with ATM network
US7010108B2 (en) * 2003-02-21 2006-03-07 Magicsoft Corporation Method for scheduling videoconferences
US7966418B2 (en) 2003-02-21 2011-06-21 Axeda Corporation Establishing a virtual tunnel between two computer programs
EP1618482A2 (en) * 2003-05-01 2006-01-25 Long, Jim Network meeting system
US20050021620A1 (en) * 2003-05-30 2005-01-27 Todd Simon Web data conferencing system and method with full motion interactive video
US7707296B2 (en) * 2003-06-30 2010-04-27 Siemens Communications, Inc. Method and apparatus for selecting a media processor to host a conference
US8886705B1 (en) 2003-06-30 2014-11-11 Symantec Operating Corporation Goal-oriented storage management for a distributed data storage network
DE10345883A1 (en) * 2003-09-30 2005-05-12 Siemens Ag Fabricating device with automatic remote monitoring e.g. for main spindle unit of milling machines and lathes, has data processing device joined via remote data link to server
US7555527B1 (en) 2003-11-07 2009-06-30 Symantec Operating Corporation Efficiently linking storage object replicas in a computer network
US7680950B1 (en) 2003-11-07 2010-03-16 Symantec Operating Corporation Efficient search for storage objects in a network
US8060619B1 (en) 2003-11-07 2011-11-15 Symantec Operating Corporation Direct connections to a plurality of storage object replicas in a computer network
US20090222537A1 (en) * 2003-12-04 2009-09-03 Colligo Newworks, Inc., A Canadian Corporation System And Method For Interactive Instant Networking
US7570600B1 (en) 2003-12-17 2009-08-04 Symantec Operating Corporation Overlay network with efficient routing and recovery
WO2005076582A1 (en) * 2004-01-30 2005-08-18 Combots Product Gmbh & Co.Kg Establishment of links with the aid of contact elements
JP2005244521A (en) * 2004-02-25 2005-09-08 Pioneer Electronic Corp Network conference system, management server, conference terminal and method of managing information transmission authority
US7853663B2 (en) * 2004-03-12 2010-12-14 Riip, Inc. Wireless management system for control of remote devices
US20050228848A1 (en) * 2004-03-22 2005-10-13 Thurston Stacy D Method and system for operating a peer network
US20060002315A1 (en) * 2004-04-15 2006-01-05 Citrix Systems, Inc. Selectively sharing screen data
US7827139B2 (en) * 2004-04-15 2010-11-02 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and apparatus for sharing graphical screen data in a bandwidth-adaptive manner
US7680885B2 (en) 2004-04-15 2010-03-16 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and apparatus for synchronization of data set representations in a bandwidth-adaptive manner
US20060031779A1 (en) * 2004-04-15 2006-02-09 Citrix Systems, Inc. Selectively sharing screen data
US7552175B2 (en) * 2004-04-30 2009-06-23 Microsoft Corporation Mechanism for controlling communication paths between conference members
US7580867B2 (en) 2004-05-04 2009-08-25 Paul Nykamp Methods for interactively displaying product information and for collaborative product design
US7516423B2 (en) * 2004-07-13 2009-04-07 Kimotion Technologies Method and apparatus for designing electronic circuits using optimization
US8266429B2 (en) 2004-07-20 2012-09-11 Time Warner Cable, Inc. Technique for securely communicating and storing programming material in a trusted domain
US8312267B2 (en) 2004-07-20 2012-11-13 Time Warner Cable Inc. Technique for securely communicating programming content
US7526525B2 (en) * 2004-07-22 2009-04-28 International Business Machines Corporation Method for efficiently distributing and remotely managing meeting presentations
US7702730B2 (en) 2004-09-03 2010-04-20 Open Text Corporation Systems and methods for collaboration
US20060064643A1 (en) 2004-09-14 2006-03-23 Hariton Nicholas T Distributed scripting for presentations with touch screen displays
US9723267B2 (en) 2004-12-15 2017-08-01 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Method and apparatus for wideband distribution of content
US20060159432A1 (en) 2005-01-14 2006-07-20 Citrix Systems, Inc. System and methods for automatic time-warped playback in rendering a recorded computer session
US8935316B2 (en) 2005-01-14 2015-01-13 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and systems for in-session playback on a local machine of remotely-stored and real time presentation layer protocol data
US8200828B2 (en) 2005-01-14 2012-06-12 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for single stack shadowing
US8230096B2 (en) 2005-01-14 2012-07-24 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and systems for generating playback instructions for playback of a recorded computer session
US8296441B2 (en) 2005-01-14 2012-10-23 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and systems for joining a real-time session of presentation layer protocol data
US7567565B2 (en) 2005-02-01 2009-07-28 Time Warner Cable Inc. Method and apparatus for network bandwidth conservation
US7602820B2 (en) 2005-02-01 2009-10-13 Time Warner Cable Inc. Apparatus and methods for multi-stage multiplexing in a network
US20060190826A1 (en) * 2005-02-22 2006-08-24 Elaine Montgomery Methods and apparatuses for dynamically sharing a portion of a display during a collaboration session
US8117560B1 (en) 2005-02-22 2012-02-14 Cisco Technology, Inc. Methods and apparatuses for selectively removing sensitive information during a collaboration session
US7675874B2 (en) * 2005-02-24 2010-03-09 International Business Machines Corporation Peer-to-peer instant messaging and chat system
US7752561B2 (en) * 2005-03-15 2010-07-06 Microsoft Corporation Method and system for creating temporary visual indicia
US8457614B2 (en) 2005-04-07 2013-06-04 Clearone Communications, Inc. Wireless multi-unit conference phone
US20060244818A1 (en) * 2005-04-28 2006-11-02 Comotiv Systems, Inc. Web-based conferencing system
US7817180B2 (en) * 2005-04-28 2010-10-19 Apple Inc. Video processing in a multi-participant video conference
US7864209B2 (en) * 2005-04-28 2011-01-04 Apple Inc. Audio processing in a multi-participant conference
WO2006116750A2 (en) * 2005-04-28 2006-11-02 Apple Computer, Inc. Multi-participant conferencing
US7653250B2 (en) * 2005-04-28 2010-01-26 Apple Inc. Adjusting sampling rate for encoding
US7692682B2 (en) 2005-04-28 2010-04-06 Apple Inc. Video encoding in a video conference
US8861701B2 (en) * 2005-04-28 2014-10-14 Apple Inc. Multi-participant conference adjustments
US7899170B2 (en) 2005-04-28 2011-03-01 Apple Inc. Multi-participant conference setup
US7949117B2 (en) * 2005-04-28 2011-05-24 Apple Inc. Heterogeneous video conferencing
US20060271877A1 (en) * 2005-05-25 2006-11-30 Citrix Systems, Inc. A system and methods for selective sharing of an application window
US8443040B2 (en) 2005-05-26 2013-05-14 Citrix Systems Inc. Method and system for synchronizing presentation of a dynamic data set to a plurality of nodes
US20070011231A1 (en) * 2005-07-06 2007-01-11 Microsoft Corporation Application and user interface for facilitating a meeting
US20070022459A1 (en) 2005-07-20 2007-01-25 Gaebel Thomas M Jr Method and apparatus for boundary-based network operation
US8478884B2 (en) 2005-09-30 2013-07-02 Riip, Inc. Wireless remote device management utilizing mesh topology
US7860060B2 (en) * 2005-12-12 2010-12-28 Motorola, Inc. Method and apparatus to facilitate persistence of a handed-off communication system
US20070133439A1 (en) * 2005-12-12 2007-06-14 Promenzio Edgardo L Method and apparatus to facilitate transferring chairmanship of an ad-hoc conference call
US7839826B2 (en) * 2005-12-12 2010-11-23 Motorola, Inc. Method and apparatus to facilitate use of a session initiation protocol instance to support on-hold session status
US20070198637A1 (en) * 2006-01-04 2007-08-23 Scott Deboy Conferencing system with data file management
US20070156829A1 (en) * 2006-01-05 2007-07-05 Scott Deboy Messaging system with secure access
US20070239827A1 (en) * 2006-02-13 2007-10-11 Scott Deboy Global chat system
US8170065B2 (en) 2006-02-27 2012-05-01 Time Warner Cable Inc. Methods and apparatus for selecting digital access technology for programming and data delivery
US8458753B2 (en) 2006-02-27 2013-06-04 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for device capabilities discovery and utilization within a content-based network
US8718100B2 (en) 2006-02-27 2014-05-06 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for selecting digital interface technology for programming and data delivery
US20070286366A1 (en) * 2006-03-17 2007-12-13 Scott Deboy Chat presence system
US8849907B1 (en) * 2006-03-31 2014-09-30 Rockstar Consortium Us Lp System and method for notifying participants of topics in an ongoing meeting or conference
US8769019B2 (en) * 2006-05-04 2014-07-01 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and systems for managing shared state within a distributed system with varying consistency and consensus semantics
US8140618B2 (en) 2006-05-04 2012-03-20 Citrix Online Llc Methods and systems for bandwidth adaptive N-to-N communication in a distributed system
US20070276910A1 (en) * 2006-05-23 2007-11-29 Scott Deboy Conferencing system with desktop sharing
WO2007139850A2 (en) * 2006-05-23 2007-12-06 Rpm Communications, Inc. System and method for providing conferencing capabilities
US9386327B2 (en) 2006-05-24 2016-07-05 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Secondary content insertion apparatus and methods
US8280982B2 (en) 2006-05-24 2012-10-02 Time Warner Cable Inc. Personal content server apparatus and methods
US8605721B1 (en) 2006-05-25 2013-12-10 The Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology Scalable island multicast for peer-to-peer media delivery
US20070282793A1 (en) * 2006-06-01 2007-12-06 Majors Kenneth D Computer desktop sharing
US8024762B2 (en) 2006-06-13 2011-09-20 Time Warner Cable Inc. Methods and apparatus for providing virtual content over a network
US20080005245A1 (en) * 2006-06-30 2008-01-03 Scott Deboy Conferencing system with firewall
US20080043964A1 (en) * 2006-07-14 2008-02-21 Majors Kenneth D Audio conferencing bridge
US8185605B2 (en) * 2006-07-18 2012-05-22 Cisco Technology, Inc. Methods and apparatuses for accessing an application on a remote device
US20080021968A1 (en) * 2006-07-19 2008-01-24 Majors Kenneth D Low bandwidth chat system
US20080066001A1 (en) * 2006-09-13 2008-03-13 Majors Kenneth D Conferencing system with linked chat
US20080065727A1 (en) * 2006-09-13 2008-03-13 Majors Kenneth D Conferencing system with improved access
US7978617B2 (en) 2006-09-15 2011-07-12 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods for providing performance improvement recommendations
US8078972B2 (en) 2006-09-15 2011-12-13 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and interfaces for displaying performance data related to a current remote access session
US8370479B2 (en) 2006-10-03 2013-02-05 Axeda Acquisition Corporation System and method for dynamically grouping devices based on present device conditions
US8520850B2 (en) 2006-10-20 2013-08-27 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Downloadable security and protection methods and apparatus
US8732854B2 (en) 2006-11-01 2014-05-20 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for premises content distribution
US8065397B2 (en) 2006-12-26 2011-11-22 Axeda Acquisition Corporation Managing configurations of distributed devices
US8621540B2 (en) 2007-01-24 2013-12-31 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for provisioning in a download-enabled system
US8181206B2 (en) 2007-02-28 2012-05-15 Time Warner Cable Inc. Personal content server apparatus and methods
GB0703974D0 (en) * 2007-03-01 2007-04-11 Sony Comp Entertainment Europe Entertainment device
US20080235746A1 (en) 2007-03-20 2008-09-25 Michael James Peters Methods and apparatus for content delivery and replacement in a network
JP2008252177A (en) * 2007-03-29 2008-10-16 Toshiba Corp Electronic conference system, information processor, and program
US8098807B2 (en) * 2007-04-05 2012-01-17 Cinchcast, Inc. Method and system for providing an audio conference
US8958536B2 (en) 2007-04-05 2015-02-17 Cinchcast, Inc. Method and system for providing an audio/video conference
US8473850B2 (en) * 2007-05-24 2013-06-25 Cisco Technology, Inc. Methods and apparatuses for displaying and managing content during a collaboration session
US8949369B2 (en) * 2007-06-12 2015-02-03 Ux Ltd. Two-tier architecture for remote access service
US20090030980A1 (en) * 2007-07-23 2009-01-29 Kevin Remington Joseph Donovan Universal instant messaging system for the internet
US8625607B2 (en) 2007-07-24 2014-01-07 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Generation, distribution and use of content metadata in a network
US9661267B2 (en) * 2007-09-20 2017-05-23 Lifesize, Inc. Videoconferencing system discovery
US8561116B2 (en) 2007-09-26 2013-10-15 Charles A. Hasek Methods and apparatus for content caching in a video network
US9071859B2 (en) 2007-09-26 2015-06-30 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for user-based targeted content delivery
US10180962B1 (en) * 2007-09-28 2019-01-15 Iqor Us Inc. Apparatuses, methods and systems for a real-time phone configurer
US8099757B2 (en) 2007-10-15 2012-01-17 Time Warner Cable Inc. Methods and apparatus for revenue-optimized delivery of content in a network
US8397168B2 (en) 2008-04-05 2013-03-12 Social Communications Company Interfacing with a spatial virtual communication environment
US9009603B2 (en) 2007-10-24 2015-04-14 Social Communications Company Web browser interface for spatial communication environments
US9357025B2 (en) 2007-10-24 2016-05-31 Social Communications Company Virtual area based telephony communications
US9503691B2 (en) 2008-02-19 2016-11-22 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for enhanced advertising and promotional delivery in a network
US8300541B2 (en) 2008-02-19 2012-10-30 Time Warner Cable Inc. Apparatus and methods for utilizing statistical multiplexing to ensure quality of service in a network
US8813143B2 (en) 2008-02-26 2014-08-19 Time Warner Enterprises LLC Methods and apparatus for business-based network resource allocation
US8601376B2 (en) 2008-09-23 2013-12-03 Catalina Computing, Llc Virtual wiring
US9357247B2 (en) 2008-11-24 2016-05-31 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for content delivery and message exchange across multiple content delivery networks
US8959243B2 (en) * 2008-12-01 2015-02-17 At&T Intellectual Property Ii, L.P. System and method to guide active participation in peer-to-peer systems with passive monitoring environment
US8738780B2 (en) * 2009-01-22 2014-05-27 Citrix Systems, Inc. System and method for hybrid communication mechanism utilizing both communication server-based and direct endpoint-to-endpoint connections
US11076189B2 (en) 2009-03-30 2021-07-27 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Personal media channel apparatus and methods
US9215423B2 (en) 2009-03-30 2015-12-15 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Recommendation engine apparatus and methods
US8185828B2 (en) * 2009-04-08 2012-05-22 Cisco Technology, Inc. Efficiently sharing windows during online collaborative computing sessions
US8977684B2 (en) * 2009-04-14 2015-03-10 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for computer and voice conference audio transmission during conference call via VoIP device
US8223943B2 (en) * 2009-04-14 2012-07-17 Citrix Systems Inc. Systems and methods for computer and voice conference audio transmission during conference call via PSTN phone
US20100275120A1 (en) * 2009-04-22 2010-10-28 Nicholas Pappas Processing of fields in motion picture videos or still photos
US9602864B2 (en) 2009-06-08 2017-03-21 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Media bridge apparatus and methods
US9866609B2 (en) 2009-06-08 2018-01-09 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for premises content distribution
US8813124B2 (en) 2009-07-15 2014-08-19 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for targeted secondary content insertion
US9237381B2 (en) 2009-08-06 2016-01-12 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for local channel insertion in an all-digital content distribution network
US8396055B2 (en) 2009-10-20 2013-03-12 Time Warner Cable Inc. Methods and apparatus for enabling media functionality in a content-based network
US10264029B2 (en) * 2009-10-30 2019-04-16 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for packetized content delivery over a content delivery network
US9635421B2 (en) 2009-11-11 2017-04-25 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for audience data collection and analysis in a content delivery network
US9519728B2 (en) 2009-12-04 2016-12-13 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for monitoring and optimizing delivery of content in a network
US8891939B2 (en) * 2009-12-22 2014-11-18 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for video-aware screen capture and compression
US9342661B2 (en) 2010-03-02 2016-05-17 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for rights-managed content and data delivery
US8902967B2 (en) 2010-03-31 2014-12-02 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for distributed media stream transcoding and sharing
US8433755B2 (en) 2010-04-07 2013-04-30 Apple Inc. Dynamic designation of a central distributor in a multi-participant conference
US20110264530A1 (en) 2010-04-23 2011-10-27 Bryan Santangelo Apparatus and methods for dynamic secondary content and data insertion and delivery
USD656506S1 (en) 2010-04-30 2012-03-27 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Display screen portion with an animated image
USD642587S1 (en) 2010-04-30 2011-08-02 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Animated graphical user interface for a portion of a display screen
USD656941S1 (en) 2010-04-30 2012-04-03 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Display screen portion with an animated image
US9082106B2 (en) 2010-04-30 2015-07-14 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Conferencing system with graphical interface for participant survey
USD656505S1 (en) 2010-04-30 2012-03-27 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Display screen portion with animated image
USD642586S1 (en) 2010-04-30 2011-08-02 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Portion of a display screen with a user interface
US8626847B2 (en) 2010-04-30 2014-01-07 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Transferring a conference session between client devices
US9106794B2 (en) 2010-04-30 2015-08-11 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd Record and playback in a conference
US9560206B2 (en) 2010-04-30 2017-01-31 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Real-time speech-to-text conversion in an audio conference session
US10372315B2 (en) 2010-04-30 2019-08-06 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd Location-aware conferencing with calendar functions
US9419810B2 (en) 2010-04-30 2016-08-16 American Teleconference Services, Ltd. Location aware conferencing with graphical representations that enable licensing and advertising
US10268360B2 (en) 2010-04-30 2019-04-23 American Teleconferencing Service, Ltd. Participant profiling in a conferencing system
US9189143B2 (en) 2010-04-30 2015-11-17 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Sharing social networking content in a conference user interface
USD656504S1 (en) 2010-04-30 2012-03-27 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Display screen portion with an animated image
USD656507S1 (en) 2010-04-30 2012-03-27 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Display screen portion with an animated image
USD656942S1 (en) 2010-04-30 2012-04-03 American Teleconferencing Services, Ltd. Display screen portion with an animated image
US9300445B2 (en) 2010-05-27 2016-03-29 Time Warner Cable Enterprise LLC Digital domain content processing and distribution apparatus and methods
US9906838B2 (en) 2010-07-12 2018-02-27 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for content delivery and message exchange across multiple content delivery networks
US8997136B2 (en) 2010-07-22 2015-03-31 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for packetized content delivery over a bandwidth-efficient network
US9185341B2 (en) 2010-09-03 2015-11-10 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Digital domain content processing and distribution apparatus and methods
US8711736B2 (en) 2010-09-16 2014-04-29 Apple Inc. Audio processing in a multi-participant conference
US8930979B2 (en) 2010-11-11 2015-01-06 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for identifying and characterizing latency in a content delivery network
US10148623B2 (en) 2010-11-12 2018-12-04 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods ensuring data privacy in a content distribution network
US9282289B2 (en) 2010-12-23 2016-03-08 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems, methods, and devices for generating a summary document of an online meeting
US9129258B2 (en) 2010-12-23 2015-09-08 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems, methods, and devices for communicating during an ongoing online meeting
US9269072B2 (en) * 2010-12-23 2016-02-23 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems, methods, and devices for facilitating navigation of previously presented screen data in an ongoing online meeting
US8922617B2 (en) 2010-12-23 2014-12-30 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems, methods, and devices for time-shifting playback of a live online meeting
US9602414B2 (en) 2011-02-09 2017-03-21 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for controlled bandwidth reclamation
US9137086B1 (en) 2011-08-25 2015-09-15 Google Inc. Social media session access
US8615159B2 (en) 2011-09-20 2013-12-24 Citrix Systems, Inc. Methods and systems for cataloging text in a recorded session
US20130097656A1 (en) 2011-10-17 2013-04-18 John Kennedy Methods and systems for providing trusted signaling of domain-specific security policies
US8555339B2 (en) * 2012-01-06 2013-10-08 International Business Machines Corporation Identifying guests in web meetings
US8788680B1 (en) * 2012-01-30 2014-07-22 Google Inc. Virtual collaboration session access
US9467723B2 (en) 2012-04-04 2016-10-11 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for automated highlight reel creation in a content delivery network
US9854280B2 (en) 2012-07-10 2017-12-26 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for selective enforcement of secondary content viewing
US20140082645A1 (en) 2012-09-14 2014-03-20 Peter Stern Apparatus and methods for providing enhanced or interactive features
CA2892271A1 (en) 2012-11-23 2014-05-30 Calgary Scientific Inc. Methods and systems for peer-to-peer discovery and connection from a collaborative application session
US9071659B2 (en) 2012-11-29 2015-06-30 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for automatically identifying and sharing a file presented during a meeting
US9565472B2 (en) 2012-12-10 2017-02-07 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for content transfer protection
US9131283B2 (en) 2012-12-14 2015-09-08 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for multimedia coordination
US9224219B2 (en) 2012-12-21 2015-12-29 Citrix Systems, Inc. Systems and methods for presenting a free-form drawing
US20140282786A1 (en) 2013-03-12 2014-09-18 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for providing and uploading content to personalized network storage
US9066153B2 (en) 2013-03-15 2015-06-23 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for multicast delivery of content in a content delivery network
US10368255B2 (en) 2017-07-25 2019-07-30 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for client-based dynamic control of connections to co-existing radio access networks
US9069681B1 (en) * 2013-03-20 2015-06-30 Google Inc. Real-time log joining on a continuous stream of events that are approximately ordered
US9274863B1 (en) 2013-03-20 2016-03-01 Google Inc. Latency reduction in distributed computing systems
US9092338B1 (en) 2013-03-20 2015-07-28 Google Inc. Multi-level caching event lookup
US10546441B2 (en) 2013-06-04 2020-01-28 Raymond Anthony Joao Control, monitoring, and/or security, apparatus and method for premises, vehicles, and/or articles
US9313568B2 (en) 2013-07-23 2016-04-12 Chicago Custom Acoustics, Inc. Custom earphone with dome in the canal
US9621940B2 (en) 2014-05-29 2017-04-11 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for recording, accessing, and delivering packetized content
US11540148B2 (en) 2014-06-11 2022-12-27 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for access point location
US9821738B2 (en) 2014-06-30 2017-11-21 Raymond Anthony Joao Battery power management apparatus and method
US9935833B2 (en) 2014-11-05 2018-04-03 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Methods and apparatus for determining an optimized wireless interface installation configuration
US9646163B2 (en) 2014-11-14 2017-05-09 Getgo, Inc. Communicating data between client devices using a hybrid connection having a regular communications pathway and a highly confidential communications pathway
US10116676B2 (en) 2015-02-13 2018-10-30 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for data collection, analysis and service modification based on online activity
US9986578B2 (en) 2015-12-04 2018-05-29 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for selective data network access
US9918345B2 (en) 2016-01-20 2018-03-13 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and method for wireless network services in moving vehicles
US10313405B2 (en) * 2016-02-04 2019-06-04 Cloud9 Technologies, LLC Dynamically configured conferencing
US10404758B2 (en) 2016-02-26 2019-09-03 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for centralized message exchange in a user premises device
US10492034B2 (en) 2016-03-07 2019-11-26 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for dynamic open-access networks
US10687115B2 (en) 2016-06-01 2020-06-16 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Cloud-based digital content recorder apparatus and methods
US10164858B2 (en) 2016-06-15 2018-12-25 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for monitoring and diagnosing a wireless network
US11212593B2 (en) 2016-09-27 2021-12-28 Time Warner Cable Enterprises Llc Apparatus and methods for automated secondary content management in a digital network
US10911794B2 (en) 2016-11-09 2021-02-02 Charter Communications Operating, Llc Apparatus and methods for selective secondary content insertion in a digital network
US10645547B2 (en) 2017-06-02 2020-05-05 Charter Communications Operating, Llc Apparatus and methods for providing wireless service in a venue
US10638361B2 (en) 2017-06-06 2020-04-28 Charter Communications Operating, Llc Methods and apparatus for dynamic control of connections to co-existing radio access networks
US11109290B2 (en) 2017-08-04 2021-08-31 Charter Communications Operating, Llc Switching connections over frequency bands of a wireless network
US10939142B2 (en) 2018-02-27 2021-03-02 Charter Communications Operating, Llc Apparatus and methods for content storage, distribution and security within a content distribution network
WO2020050352A1 (en) * 2018-09-06 2020-03-12 株式会社アイドマ・ホールディングス Information processing device
US10904026B2 (en) * 2019-02-12 2021-01-26 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Information processing apparatus, information processing system, and information processing method
US11760227B2 (en) 2021-02-15 2023-09-19 Raymond Anthony Joao Battery power management apparatus and method

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5475819A (en) * 1990-10-02 1995-12-12 Digital Equipment Corporation Distributed configuration profile for computing system
US5546584A (en) * 1992-07-01 1996-08-13 Lundin; Kenneth System and method for establishing communication protocols between application programs
US5572643A (en) * 1995-10-19 1996-11-05 Judson; David H. Web browser with dynamic display of information objects during linking

Family Cites Families (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5689641A (en) * 1993-10-01 1997-11-18 Vicor, Inc. Multimedia collaboration system arrangement for routing compressed AV signal through a participant site without decompressing the AV signal
US5499343A (en) * 1993-12-17 1996-03-12 Taligent, Inc. Object-oriented networking system with dynamically configurable communication links
US5581702A (en) * 1993-12-20 1996-12-03 Intel Corporation Computer conferencing system for selectively linking and unlinking private page with public page by selectively activating linked mode and non-linked mode for each participant
CA2145921A1 (en) * 1994-05-10 1995-11-11 Vijay Pochampalli Kumar Method and apparatus for executing a distributed algorithm or service on a simple network management protocol based computer network
US5546854A (en) * 1994-06-16 1996-08-20 House Foods Corporation Apparatus for heating and sterilizing food
US5729682A (en) * 1995-06-07 1998-03-17 International Business Machines Corporation System for prompting parameters required by a network application and using data structure to establish connections between local computer, application and resources required by application
US5717863A (en) * 1995-09-27 1998-02-10 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for managing pc conference connection addresses
US5754775A (en) * 1995-09-27 1998-05-19 Intel Corporation Method and apparatus for formulating connection addresses on a PC conferencing system supporting multiple transport type
US5721911A (en) * 1996-06-25 1998-02-24 International Business Machines Corporation Mechanism for metadata for an information catalog system

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5475819A (en) * 1990-10-02 1995-12-12 Digital Equipment Corporation Distributed configuration profile for computing system
US5546584A (en) * 1992-07-01 1996-08-13 Lundin; Kenneth System and method for establishing communication protocols between application programs
US5572643A (en) * 1995-10-19 1996-11-05 Judson; David H. Web browser with dynamic display of information objects during linking

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
IEEE PUBLICATION, 1993, WISE et al., "Message-Brokers: A Novel Interprocess Communications Primitive", pages 184-193. *

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6430177B1 (en) 1998-06-09 2002-08-06 Unisys Corporation Universal messaging system providing integrated voice, data and fax messaging services to pc/web-based clients, including a content manager for receiving information from content providers and formatting the same into multimedia containers for distribution to web-based clients
US6148329A (en) * 1998-07-20 2000-11-14 Unisys Corporation Method and system for maintaining the format of messages in a messaging system database
US8768716B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2014-07-01 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Database system and method for industrial automation services
US6954680B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2005-10-11 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and system for the electronic provision of services for machines via a data communication link
US7127322B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2006-10-24 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method and system for the electronic provision of services for machines via a data communication link
US7395122B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2008-07-01 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Data capture for electronically delivered automation services
US8219451B2 (en) 2001-07-13 2012-07-10 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft System and method for electronic delivery of content for industrial automation systems
US8594315B1 (en) 2006-10-03 2013-11-26 Avaya Inc. Speed dial administration based on call history
US8488764B1 (en) 2007-07-24 2013-07-16 Avaya Inc. Conference call selectable configuration in which participants can be configured to join at different time (order), use presence information to configure/initiate the conference call
US9769319B1 (en) 2007-07-24 2017-09-19 Avaya Inc. Presence aware automated conferencing system
EP2587722A1 (en) * 2011-10-31 2013-05-01 Research In Motion Limited Auto promotion and demotion of conference calls
US9020119B2 (en) 2011-10-31 2015-04-28 Blackberry Limited Moderation control method for participants in a heterogeneous conference call
US8605881B2 (en) 2011-10-31 2013-12-10 Blackberry Limited Auto promotion and demotion of conference calls

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU2058997A (en) 1997-09-16
US6167432A (en) 2000-12-26

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US6167432A (en) Method for creating peer-to-peer connections over an interconnected network to facilitate conferencing among users
Schulzrinne Personal mobility for multimedia services in the Internet
JP4263260B2 (en) Server system
US7058689B2 (en) Sharing of still images within a video telephony call
US10079760B2 (en) Proximity routing for session based applications using anycast
US7453488B2 (en) Sharing of prerecorded motion video over an Internet work
JP4578806B2 (en) Multipoint audio visual conference system
US6693662B1 (en) Coordination of video sessions when calling an auto-attendant system
US7181526B1 (en) Announced session description
US7453993B2 (en) Apparatus and method for a world wide web-based directory with automatic call capability
JP4017037B2 (en) Adaptive infrastructure configuration
US20030167335A1 (en) System and method for network-based communication
US20030056002A1 (en) Load balancing and fault tolerance for server-based software applications
US20050010639A1 (en) Network meeting system
US20030236835A1 (en) Network communication system and apparatus
US20010013054A1 (en) Server device, a method and system for communication, and a computer product
JP2000066982A (en) Communicating method and communication network
AU756725B2 (en) Announced session control
US20050022013A1 (en) Method for customized data output on a web site
CA2358353A1 (en) Method and system for automatic handling of invitations to join communications sessions in a virtual team environment
US7385621B2 (en) Private sharing of computer resources over an internetwork
US20130035079A1 (en) Method and system for establishing data commuication channels
US20050288951A1 (en) Interactive multiple-video webcam communication
AU743274B2 (en) Information retrieval system
JP2005102117A (en) Program, apparatus, method, and system for providing virtual office space, and storage medium storing virtual office space providing program

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AL AM AT AU AZ BB BG BR BY CA CH CN CZ DE DK EE ES FI GB GE HU IL IS JP KE KG KP KR KZ LK LR LS LT LU LV MD MG MK MN MW MX NO NZ PL PT RO RU SD SE SG SI SK TJ TM TR TT UA UG UZ VN AM AZ BY KG KZ MD RU TJ TM

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): GH KE LS MW SD SZ UG AT BE CH DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE BF BJ CF CG CI CM GA

121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
DFPE Request for preliminary examination filed prior to expiration of 19th month from priority date (pct application filed before 20040101)
NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: JP

Ref document number: 97531123

Format of ref document f/p: F

REG Reference to national code

Ref country code: DE

Ref legal event code: 8642

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase
NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: CA