Patent ID: 6611503
Filing Date: 2003-08-26
Classification: H04J,H04L,H04N

Abstract:
A method for conferencing in a multipoint control unit, the method comprising the steps of:connecting plural conference sites to the multipoint control unit, each conference site connecting over a respective transmission link having a first information channel and a second information channel and each conference site operable to transmit and receive first information and second information signals to and from other conference sites in the respective first information and second information channels; allocating for each transmission link a first portion of the transmission link bandwidth to the first information channel and a second portion to the second information channel; monitoring utilization of each second information channel; and changing the bandwidth allocation by reallocating the first portion and second portion between the first information and second information channels for all of the transmission links in response to changes in the utilization for at least one second information channel; wherein each second information channel comprises an inbound data channel and an outbound data channel and the step of monitoring utilization includes measuring the data rate of second information signals in the outbound data channel and comparing the measured data rate to the allocated second information channel bandwidth to determine the data channel utilization.