Importance

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Abstract

A presentation system is disclosed for synchronizing a performance of a plurality of presentation content portions at a network node, wherein, e.g., when two such content portions are to be presented concurrently at the network node, at least one is delayed until the other such portion can be presented concurrently therewith. That is, these two portions may be received by the network node at times sufficiently far apart so that the earlier received content portion must have its presentation appropriately delayed in order to be presented concurrently with the second content portion. In one embodiment, the content portions are transmitted via at least a portion of the Internet to a plurality of network nodes, wherein the presentation system can distribute the presentation content data to the network nodes via a plurality of network routes and presentation formats. In particular, a first portion of the content data may be provided as slides in, e.g., HTML, while a second portion of the content data may be provided as an audio/video stream. Additionally, the present invention can provide various portions of the content data from a plurality of network server nodes, and during a performance of the presentation, the presentation receiving network nodes can determine a particular variation of the presentation to retrieve from the network server nodes. In particular, the retrieval of presentation data depends upon the transmission characteristics of the network such as data transmission rate. Thus, if a low transmission data rate is detected at a first network node, presentation elements of a reduced size can be retrieved. Alternatively, if a higher transmission rate is detected at a second network node, presentation elements of greater size (and corresponding enhanced quality of presentation) can be retrieved. Thus, within a single performance, network nodes with varying available network bandwidths can synchronously and simultaneously provide the presentation.

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First Claim