Inventors:
Andres Vega-Garcia - Newcastle WA, US
Mu Han - Renton WA, US
Donald Ryan - Redmond WA, US
Thomas Pfenning - Redmond WA, US
Rajeev Byrisetty - Bellevue WA, US
Stefan Solomon - Bellevue WA, US
Michael Clark - Logan UT, US
Assignee:
Microsoft Corporation - Seattle WA
International Classification:
H04J 3/04
Abstract:
Computers, particularly personal computers, have become everyday communications devices, nearly as common as telephones and televisions. A big reason for this is the expansion of computer networks, such as the internet, which allow sending and receiving information, including audio and video information, from one computer to one or more other computers. Communicating audio and video information between computers can be problematic because users have to wait for the information to be fully downloaded before viewing or hearing it and because different computers sometimes communicate using incompatible communications protocols, which prevents comprehension. Accordingly, the inventors devised new methods, software, and computer systems that support interactive data streaming (real-time exchange of multimedia data) and full-duplex communications, for example, network conferencing, using more than one communications protocol.