Patent ID: 7328240

Claim:
A method for setting up a distributed multipoint conference among three or more endpoints without requiring centralized control either for signaling or for mixing media streams, the method comprising: establishing a connection between a plurality of endpoints, including at least a requesting endpoint and one or more other participating endpoints participating in a conference with the requesting endpoint; initiating a connection from the requesting endpoint to at least a third endpoint, the requesting endpoint identifying to the third endpoint the one or more other participating endpoints participating in the conference with the requesting endpoint, wherein initiating said connection comprises sending an H.323 setup reguest message that includes an identity of the one or more other participating endpoints in a non-standard parameter field of the H.323 message; and the third endpoint directly establishing a connection between itself and the one or more other participating endpoints identified by the requesting endpoint, the third endpoint identifying the requesting endpoint to the one or more other participating endpoints.