Patent ID: 7490143

Claim:
A communication system, comprising: a plurality of client terminal devices connected to a network and respectively associated with a plurality of identification numbers such that a given one of said plurality of client terminal devices is assigned to a unique one of the plurality of identification numbers; and a communication server machine connected to the network and operable to manage, for each one of said plurality of client terminal devices, the unique identification number assigned to that client terminal device and user information specific to a user of that client terminal device which indicates at least conditions under which that client terminal device may be connected to the network, the conditions including at least one transmission rate available to that client terminal device and a type of peripheral device associated with that client terminal device, and in response to a user of a first one of said plurality of client terminal devices requesting communication using a selected communication application with a user of a second one of said plurality of client terminal devices, said communication server machine being further operable (i) to determine whether the selected communication application is suitable for communication between the first client terminal device and the second client terminal device based on first user information specific to the user of the first client terminal device and second user information specific to the user of the second client terminal device, (ii) if the selected communication application is suitable, to determine whether the type of peripheral device associated with the first client terminal device can communicate with the type of peripheral device associated with the second client terminal device based on the first user information and the second user information, the type of peripheral device including at least one of a microphone or a camera, and (iii) if the type of peripheral device associated with the first client terminal device can communicate with the type of peripheral device associated with the second client terminal device, to provide a connection for communication between the first client terminal device using its associated peripheral device and the second client terminal device using its associated peripheral device.