Patent ID: 7124166

Claim:
A method of transmitting data units, the method comprising: using a switch to receive communications; using the switch to selectively filter the communications; using the switch to receive a first stream of data units that are addressed to a unicast address on the switch, wherein the first stream of data units includes a payload portion and an attribute portion from at least two conferencing participants; using the switch to duplicate at least a subportion of the payload portion of a data unit within the first stream of data units; using the switch to enable access to a duplicated subportion of the payload portion of the data unit by two or more conferencing participants; and forwarding the duplicated subportion of the payload portion of the data unit within a second stream of data units addressed to a unicast address of each of the two or more conferencing participants, wherein the selectively filtering and forwarding are performed by the switch that is structured and arranged to selectively filter and forward between different domains at a same level in a protocol stack.