A computer-based method of innovatively solving one or more problems using a group assembled at a computerized meeting. One participant of the group is the client who is the owner of or is responsible for the problem or opportunity to be resolved. Each participant is provided with a computer which is networked with all other computers. A group list is created of all the participants of the group, and one participant is designated the facilitator who controls the problem solving process of the meeting. The remaining participants are designated as resources. An agenda is created consisting of placeholders and activities. The resources enter creative springboards into their computers based on the problem to be solved, and these springboards are distributed to all participants. Builds and elaborations are generated by the resources based on the springboards and distributed to all participants. Participants are polled about their opinions about the springboards, and one or more beginning ideas are selected based on high newness and intrigue. Participant engage in excursions to gather action oriented ideas concerning the beginning ideas. Action oriented ideas are selected to become emerging ideas, and positive aspects and concerns are identified. Excursions are then used to resolve the concerns about the emerging ideas. Emerging ideas are selected as possible solutions if the emerging ideas have an element of newness, the ideas are feasible, and the group is committed to implementing the idea. Finally, actions are listed; accountability is assigned; and time lines are generated to implement the possible solutions.

Disclosed are a method, a system and a device for the transmission of multimedia streams via telecommunication lines. Especially, the disclosure relates to information transfer in video or audio teleconferences. The invention provides a scale of priorities for active transmission of the streams, wherein the priority status of each stream is changed dynamically with respect of attributes of substreams of the multimedia streams. Only the streams with the highest priority levels are actively transmitted.

A distributed packet-based audio conferencing system, method for packet-based audio conferencing, and a transceiver for use in such conferencing are disclosed. The system uses a collection of transceivers, with each conference participant connected to a local transceiver. When a participant speaks, the local transceiver is responsible for relaying the speaker's voice over a packet network by multicast transmission to transceivers local to each other conference participant. If multiple participants speak simultaneously, a multicast talk stream may originate from each speaker's local transceiver. The total number of simultaneous speakers, however, is limited by an arbitration function resident in each transceiver. The system reduces the costs associated with an always-up communication system. Compared to a data network solution employing a centralized bridge, the present conferencing system enjoys lower delay, lower bandwidth requirements, the ability to utilize voice compression throughout, and ease of reconfiguration.

A system and method makes use of the line-in, line-out connectors for each right and left stereo channel of an audio card to provide a communications network. The distributed computers are connected in a master/slave configuration. All of the slave systems have the line-in ports, and the line-out ports, connected together. The master system line-out is connected to each slave system line-in port, and the slave system line-out ports are connected to the master line-in port, for each channel. A communications protocol is provided wherein the master system allows audio and data information to be simultaneously transferred between the master and slave systems. The master provides a clock signal and performs arbitration in order to facilitate the information transfer.

A multiple channel multiplexing apparatus has a data compressor portion for producing compressed data, and a data expander portion for expanding the received compressed data. The data compressor portion has a data compression circuit for data compressing digital audio data and outputting the resulting data blocks, a sub-block divider for dividing the data blocks output from the data compression circuit into sub-blocks, a sub-block ID flag adding circuit for adding a sub-block identification flag identifying the sub-block arrangement, a multiplexer for generating sub-block groups by combining a plural channel group of sub-blocks with the added sub-block identification flags, and multiplexing the sub-block groups to the digital audio interface format. The data expander portion has a data block synthesizer for assembling data blocks from the sub-block groups input from the digital input circuit based on the sub-block identification flags, a demultiplexer for demultiplexing the assembled data blocks to each channel, and a data expansion circuit for expanding the data blocks to extract the original digital audio data.