Latency compensation adjunct for teleconference voice switches
View Patent ↗When making a decision about who should have control of a voice channel in a teleconference, one exemplary aspect is directed toward a voice switch mechanism that determines and takes into account a latency (such as a round trip latency) of each participant's path to the switch. The switch uses this information to ensure that short-latency paths do not have an unfair advantage over long-latency paths when individuals competitively seek control of the voice channel. Illustratively, if an individual is participating in the path that has a round trip latency of 300 ms or greater than that of other participants, the voice switch creates a level playing field even if it detects voice energy from a short-latency user first by granting control of the channel to the long-latency user if voice energy is detected from that user within 300 ms of the short-latency detection.
1. A method for latency compensation in a communication environment comprising:
determining a latency of one or more communications channels between a switch and an endpoint;
assigning a latency compensation value to one or more of the one or more communications channels that has a relatively long latency relative to other channels, wherein the latency compensation value enables a user of an endpoint associated with a longer-latency channel to compete for control of the switch with a user of an endpoint associated with a shorter-latency channel; and
assigning a handicap latency value to one or more of the one or more communications channels.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining step includes performing one or more of a ping, a traceroute and path ping.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing an indication of at least one latency compensation value to one or more conference participants via a user interface.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using one or more saved latency compensation values to perform the assigning step.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more saved latency compensation values are based on at least one of a previously determined latency compensation value, caller ID information, geographic information and a previously assigned latency compensation value.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising saving the assigned latency compensation value.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communications channels carry teleconference information, and the latency is one or more of roundtrip latency, latency from the endpoint to the switch, latency from the switch to the endpoint, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) latency, UDP (User Datagram Protocol) latency, media latency and signaling latency.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising verifying a saved latency compensation value.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable information storage medium having stored thereon instructions, that if executed by a processor, cause to be performed the steps of claim 1 .
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the latency compensation value during a teleconference, wherein the updating is done automatically.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a first control-request signal on the shorter-latency channel;
receiving a second control-request signal on the longer-latency channel subsequent to receiving the first signal; and
in response to receiving the second signal within a time of the latency compensation value from receiving the first signal, granting the control of the switch to the endpoint associated with the longer-latency channel.
12. A system for latency compensation in a communication environment comprising:
a latency determination module for determining a latency of one or more communications channels between a switch and an endpoint;
a delay module for assigning a latency compensation value to one or more of the one or more communications channels, wherein the latency compensation value enables a user of the endpoint associated with a longer-latency endpoint to compete with a user of an endpoint associated with a shorter-latency channel; and
a handicap module that assigning a handicap latency value to one or more of the one or more communications channels.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the latency determination module further performs one or more of a ping, a traceroute and path ping.
14. The system of claim 12 , wherein an indication of one or more latency compensation values is provided to one or more conference participants via a user interface.
15. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a database module capable of using one or more saved latency compensation values to perform the assigning step based on the loaded value.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the one or more saved latency compensation values are based on at least one of a previously determined latency compensation value, caller ID information, geographic information and a previously assigned latency compensation value.
17. The system of claim 12 , further comprising a database module capable of saving the assigned latency compensation values.
18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the communications channels carry teleconference information, and the latency is one or more of roundtrip latency, latency from the endpoint to the switch, latency from the switch to the endpoint, TCP (User Datagram Protocol) latency, UDP (User Datagram Protocol) latency, media latency and signaling latency.
19. The system of claim 12 , wherein a saved latency compensation value is verified.
20. The system of claim 12 , wherein the latency compensation value is updated during a teleconference, wherein the updating is done automatically.
21. The system of claim 12 , wherein a first control-request signal is received on the shorter-latency channel, a second control-request signal is received on the longer-latency channel subsequent to receiving the first signal and in response to receiving the second signal within a time of the latency compensation value from receiving the first signal, granting the control of the switch to the endpoint associated with the longer-latency channel.
22. A system for latency compensation in a communication environment comprising:
means for determining a latency of one or more communications channels between a switch and an endpoint;
means for assigning a latency compensation value to one or more of the one or more communications channels, wherein the latency compensation value enables a user of the endpoint associated with a longer-latency endpoint to compete with a user of an endpoint associated with a shorter-latency channel; and
means for assigning a handicap latency value to one or more of the one or more communications channels.
23. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a hysteresis time based on a handoff time between neighboring cells, wherein the hysteresis time is used to determine which of the endpoints will have priority.
24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the assigned handicap latency value is based on an individual's level within an organization.