Patent ID: 7701930

Claim:
A method of providing virtual multi-station video conferencing, comprising the steps of: connecting a plurality of IP videophones located at different sites for video conferencing, wherein said plurality of IP videophones includes a first IP videophone having limited number of video channels decode and display capability, wherein said first IP videophone includes a virtual n-way conference module (VNCM), and wherein said VNCM is configured for enabling virtual multi-way conference capability to said first IP videophone; decoding and displaying video, on said first IP videophone, from one or more IP videophones selected from said plurality of IP videophones, wherein said VNCM being able to select one or more IP videophones for video decode and display, based on defined selection criteria; and decoding voice, on said first IP videophone, for remaining IP videophones in said plurality of IP videophones for which video is not being decoded and displayed.