Patent ID: 8693536
Filing Date: 2014-04-08
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A server apparatus comprising: a reception unit that receives a stream or a packet transmitted from a first terminal of a plurality of terminals that take part to form a group of terminals, the stream or packet transmitted including at least a video signal; copying unit configured to take copies of the packet received from a second switching unit; a transmission unit configured to receive the copied packets from the copying unit and to transmit the copied packets to remaining one or more of the terminals other than the first terminal; a call control unit configured to issue, upon reception of a session initiation signal from a terminal taking part anew in a course of a session, a command indicative of the other terminal taking part anew; a first switching unit configured to receive the packet from the reception unit, the first switching unit, upon reception of the command from the call control unit. during a time of the copied packets being transmitted in the session, changing over to output to a conversion unit M-number of packets corresponding to a video frame directly following the reception of the command from the call control unit, M being a predetermined positive integer, the first switching unit outputting from (M+1)th and onward packets subsequent to the M-number of packets to the second switching unit; the conversion unit configured to receive the M-number of packets from the first switching unit and decode the video frame, the conversion unit converting the decoded video frame to a non-predictive frame to supply the converted non-predictive frame packetized in M-number of packets to the second switching unit; and the second switching unit configured to receive, from the conversion unit, the M-number of the packets including the converted non-predictive frame directly after reception of the command from the call control unit, while receiving, from the first switching unit, the packets from (M+1)th and onward, the second switching unit outputting the packets received from the conversion unit and the first switching unit to the copying unit.