Patent ID: 7379450
Filing Date: 2008-05-27
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for providing multi-party voice-over-IP services, the method on an information processing system comprising: establishing a peer-to-peer distribution tree to broadcast a composite audio signal from a root mixing node to a plurality of participating nodes, wherein a subset of the participating nodes are originating nodes that provide a respective audio stream output received by the root mixing node to produce the composite audio signal, wherein the root mixing node directly receives at least one of audio stream output from a second subset of originating nodes within the participating nodes; identifying, independently of the peer-to-peer distribution tree, a first intermediate mixing node from within the plurality of participating nodes, the first intermediate mixing node providing to the root mixing node a mixing of respective audio stream outputs provided by a first subset of originating nodes to the first intermediate mixing node; monitoring a processing load on the root mixing node; identifying, in response to an increase in the processing load on the root mixing node and independently of the distribution tree, a second intermediate mixing node from the at least one neighbor; and assigning, in response to the identifying the second intermediate mixing node, the second subset of originating nodes to the second intermediate mixing node and configuring the second intermediate mixing node to provide a mixing of the at least one audio stream outputs from the second subset to the root mixing node.