Method of transmitting data in a communication system

1. A method of transmitting a combined audio signal to at least one of a plurality of participants in a communication event, the method comprising:

receiving an audio signal from each of said plurality of participants together with audio activity information associated with each of said received audio signals, each of said received audio signals comprising one or more data packets, and said audio activity information associated with each of said one or more data packets;

temporarily storing, in a data storage, each of said received audio signals comprising the one or more data packets together with said audio activity information;

analyzing a measure of audio activity for each received audio signal based on the audio activity information stored in the data storage and associated with each received audio signal, the measure of audio activity based on a signal-plus-noise to noise ratio of each received audio signal and enabling audio signals comprising audio activity to be compared;

selecting a set of audio signals from said received audio signals based on the analyzed measure of audio activity for each received audio signal;

decoding said set of audio signals; and

combining said set of audio signals to generate said combined audio signal to be transmitted to said at least one of said plurality of participants.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the audio activity information associated with each data packet comprises a plurality of bits.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said selecting the set of audio signals comprises selecting a predetermined number of said received audio signals having a highest measure of audio activity.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 further comprising adjusting the predetermined number based on a number of the plurality of participants in the communication event.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the audio signals are received by a host device.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the adjusting further comprises adjusting the predetermined number based on a resource usage of a host device that receives the audio signals.

7. A method as claimed claim 1 wherein the selecting the set of audio signals comprises selecting audio signals having a measure of audio activity above a predetermined threshold.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the measure of audio activity is based on energy in the signal.

9. A host device configured to transmit a combined audio signal to at least one of a plurality of participants in a communication event, the host device comprising:

a receiver configured to receive an audio signal from each of said plurality of participants together with audio activity information associated with each of said received audio signals, each of said received audio signals comprising one or more data packets, and said audio activity information associated with each of said one or more data packets;

a buffer configured to temporarily store each of said received audio signals comprising the one or more data packets together with said audio activity information;

a comparator configured to compare a measure of audio activity for each received audio signal to a measure of audio activity within an active audio range based on the audio activity information stored in the buffer and associated with each received signal, and to select a set of audio signals from said received audio signals based on the measure of audio activity for each received audio signal, the measure of audio activity based on a signal-plus-noise to noise ratio of the audio signal;

a decoder configured to decode said set of audio signals; and

a combiner configured to combine said set of audio signals to generate said combined audio signal to be transmitted to said at least one of said plurality of participants.

10. The host device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the comparator is further configured to select a predetermined number of audio signals having a highest measure of audio activity.

11. The host device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the comparator is configured to select audio signals having a measure of audio activity above a predetermined threshold.

12. The host device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the comparator is configured to compare the measure of audio activity for each received audio signal based on the audio activity information stored in the buffer.

13. The host device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the host device resides in one of said plurality of participants to which the combined audio signal is to be transmitted.

14. The host device as claimed in claim 9 wherein the host device is a server.

15. A participant device configured to participate in a communication event with a plurality of other participant devices, said participant device comprising:

an audio signal receiver configured to receive an audio signal from a user of said participant device, the audio signal comprising one or more data packets;

an audio activity information determiner configured to determine a measure of audio activity in the received audio signal and to generate audio activity information associated with the one or more data packets, the measure of audio activity based on a signal-plus-noise to noise ratio of the audio signal and enabling audio signals comprising audio activity to be compared; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the audio signal and the associated audio activity information to a host device effective to cause the host device to transmit the audio signal to said plurality of other participant devices based on the audio activity information associated with the audio signal.

16. A communication system comprising a host device and a plurality of participant devices participant in a communication event, wherein each of said participant devices comprises:

an audio signal receiver configured to receive an audio signal from a user of said participant device, the received audio signal comprising one or more data packets;

an audio activity information determiner configured to determine a measure of audio activity in the received audio signal and to generate audio activity information associated with the one or more data packets, the measure of audio activity based on a signal-plus-noise to noise ratio of the audio signal and enabling audio signals comprising audio activity to be compared; and

a transmitter arranged to transmit the audio signal and the audio activity information to the host device effective to cause the host device to:

receive the audio signal transmitted from each of said plurality of participants together with said audio activity information associated with each of said received audio signals;

temporarily store each of said received audio signals comprising the one or more data packets together with said audio activity information;

compare the measure of audio activity for each received audio signal based on the audio activity information associated with each received audio signal, and to select a set of audio signals from said received audio signals based on the analysed measure of audio activity for each signal;

decode said set of audio signals; and

combine said set of audio signals to generate said combined audio signal to be transmitted to said at least one of said plurality of participants.

17. A computer program product for transmitting a combined audio signal to at least one of a plurality of participants in a communication event, the computer program product being stored on a computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium not comprising a signal, and the computer-readable medium comprising program code which when executed by a computer implement a method comprising:

receiving an audio signal from each of said plurality of participants together with audio activity information associated with each of said received audio signals, each of said received audio signals comprising one or more data packets, and said audio activity information associated with each of said one or more data packets;

temporarily storing, in a data storage, each of said received audio signals comprising the one or more data packets together with said audio activity information;

analyzing a measure of audio activity for each received audio signal based on the audio activity information stored in the data storage and associated with each received audio signal, the measure of audio activity based on a signal-plus-noise to noise ratio of each received audio signal and enabling audio signals comprising audio activity to be compared;

selecting a set of audio signals from said received audio signals based on the analyzed measure of audio activity for each received audio signal;

decoding said set of audio signals; and

combining said set of audio signals to generate said combined audio signal to be transmitted to said at least one of said plurality of participants.