MULTIPATH DIVERSIFIED CONFERENCING SYSTEM HAVING MULTIPLE REPRESENTATIVE TERMINAL

摘要

A multi-user distributed conference system having a plurality of representative terminals is provided to reduce the number of connection for transferring media and reduce entire network bandwidth largely by grouping a plurality of terminals joining in a conference into each group, selecting the representative terminal of each group, and transferring the media between the groups through the representative terminals. A conference server(20) controls a call for media exchange among a plurality of terminals(10), and the terminals respectively connected to the conference server through the network are grouped into each terminal group(30). The media exchange is performed by connecting one terminal with another terminal in the same group. The media exchange between the terminal groups is performed by using a representative terminal(10a) of each terminal group. The number of terminals included in the same group and the number of groups are determined based on capability of the terminals and local similarity among the terminals.