Importance

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Abstract

A method and system for establishing an interactive audio and video conference. A plurality of geographically dispersed interactive sites are connected via the ordinary message telephone system to a central conferencing bridge. The bridge mixes the audio signals received from any of the interactive sites and distributes it to all such sites. The video signal is created in a television studio and transmitted as a conventional television signal via satellite. Steps are taken to bring the moderator at the studio site into the interactive conference while avoiding the echo problems which would normally be created. Moderator audio is conveyed to the bridge site via ordinary telephone lines where it is delayed by a period sufficient to compensate for the difference between satellite and telephone transmission times. The so-delayed signal is added to the mix such that moderator audio is received at each interactive site in synchronism with the satellite received video. A mix minus moderator signal is created at the bridge site and transmitted via ordinary telephone lines to the studio for reception by the moderator and for transmission in the TV signal to non-interactive sites.

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First Claim