Patent ID: 9131016
Filing Date: 2015-09-08
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A first station for use in a virtual auditorium, in which the first station is a first node, the first station comprising: an input, said input accepting a first signal comprising audio from a participant; a connection to a network, said first station having a configuration to communicate with at least a second and third node through said network; an output, said output presenting to said participant at least a portion of a second signal comprising audio, the second signal received from the second node, said output further presenting to said participant at least a portion of a third signal comprising audio, the third signal received from the third node; and, a mixer, said mixer providing a fourth signal representative of at least the first and second signal, said first station sending the fourth signal to the third node, said mixer providing a fifth signal representative of at least the first and third signal, said first station sending the fifth signal to the second node; wherein the configuration represents the position of the first node as being directly connected to the second and third nodes in a hierarchy and is provided by an organizing entity comprising a structured overlay network of which the first node is member, the structured overlay network comprising a distributed hash table, the configuration based on a query of the distributed hash table; and, one of the second and third signals comprises at least a portion of a sixth audio signal from a fourth node in the hierarchy that is not directly connected in the hierarchy to the first node.