Patent ID: 7707296

Claim:
A method for selecting a media processor to host a new conference, comprising: receiving, by a multipoint controller, an indication of a need for a media processor to host a new conference; determining by the multipoint controller, for each of a plurality of media processors under control of the multipoint controller, a number of additional participants that can be supported by each of said plurality of media processors based on a current number of conference participants on each of said plurality of media processors and based on a current CPU utilization percentage for each of said plurality of media processors in accordance with the following expression: Nb Channels=Current Nb Channels×((Max CPUUtil /Current CPUUtil )−1) where NbChannels is a number of new conference participants or channels each media processor can support, CurrentNbChannels is a value indicating the current number of conference participants on a media processor, MaxCPUUtil is a constant value indicating a maximum CPU utilization percentage allowed for the media processor, CurrentCPUUtil is a value indicating a current CPU utilization percentage for the media processor, the value of CurrentNbChannels is set to one for determining NbChannels if it is zero, and the value CurrentCPUUtil is set to one for determining NbChannels if it is zero; and determining which one of said plurality of media processors is to host said new conference based, at least in part, on said determined number of additional participants that each of said plurality of media processors can support, where the number of participants in said new conference is not known at the time of the determining of the number of additional participants that can be supported by each of said plurality of media processors, the number of participants in said new conference may dynamically change, and at least two of said plurality of media processors operate on different devices having different capabilities.