Patent ID: 8718637
Filing Date: 2014-05-06
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A communication system that includes a plurality of terminal equipments and a server equipment, the communication system transmits audio data representing voice from one of the plurality of the terminal equipments, transfers the audio data to other terminal equipments at the server equipment and reproduces the voice in real-time at the other terminal equipments, the server equipment comprising: an audio data receiving section that receives audio data transmitted from the terminal equipments; an audio data transfer section that transfers, using a first communication mode, the audio data received at the audio data receiving section to each of the other terminal equipments excepting an originating terminal equipment that has originated the audio data; a communication status receiving section that receives communication status data indicating whether or not the transferred audio data has been received normally, from each of the terminal equipments to which the audio data has been transferred; an audio data retransmitting section that retransfers the audio data if the communication status data indicates that the audio data which has been transferred has not been received normally, wherein the audio data retransmitting section uses a second communication mode in the retransfer, the second communication mode being relatively slow in communication speed and relatively superior in reliability of communication compared with the first communication mode; a communication status judging section that judges whether or not the audio data received at the audio data receiving section has been received normally; a communication status data transmitting section that transmits communication status data indicating a result of judgment made at the communication status judging section to each of the plurality of terminal equipments; and a transmission inhibiting section which inhibits transmission of the audio data from the terminal equipments until the retransfer by the audio data retransmitting section is completed, each of the terminal equipments comprising: an audio data transmitting section that transmits the audio data to the server equipment using the first communication mode; a transferred audio data receiving section that receives audio data transferred from the server equipment; a communication status judging section that judges whether or not the audio data received at the transferred audio data receiving section has been received normally; a response data transmitting section that transmits the communication status data indicating a result of judgment made at the communication status judging section to the server equipment; a communication status data receiving section that receives the communication status data transmitted from the server equipment; an audio data retransmitting section that retransmits, using the second communication mode, the audio data to the server equipment if the received communication status data indicates the transmitted audio data has not been received normally by the server equipment; a communication status notifying section which notifies a user that the terminal equipment is in a status of retransmission until the retransmission by the audio data retransmitting section is completed; and an audio reproduction section that reproduces voice represented by the audio data received at the transferred audio data receiving section.