Inventors:
Shane D. Mattaway - Boca Raton FL
Glenn W. Hutton - Miami FL
Craig B. Strickland - Tamarac FL
Scott Allen Thompson - Sunrise FL
Assignee:
NetSpeak Corporation - Boca Raton FL
International Classification:
G01R 3108, G06F 1100, G08C 1500, H04J 116
Abstract:
A communication protocol for establishing real-time, point-to-point communications between computer users over a computer network includes a directory server apparatus for providing the current dynamically assigned Internet Protocol addresses of client processes currently connected to the computer network. The server maintains a list of entries, each entry including the Internet Protocol address of a user currently connected to the network. In response to identification of one of the entries by a requesting client process, the server provides the corresponding Internet Protocol address of the entry to the requesting client process. In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the directory server monitors the status of client processes connected to the network via periodic notification from the client processes. The server dynamically modifies the time interval at which client processes notify the server, depending on the demand for server resources.