A system and method for voice transmission over high level network
protocols. On the Internet and the World Wide Web, such high level
protocols are HTTP/TCP. The restrictions imposed by firewalls and proxy
servers are avoided by using HTTP level connections to transmit voice
data. In addition, packet delivery guarantees are obtained by using TCP
instead of UDP. Variable compression based on silence detection takes
advantage of the natural silences and pauses in human speech, thus
reducing the delays in transmission caused by using HTTP/TCP. The silence
detection includes the ability to bookend the voice data sent with small
portions of silence to insure that the voice sounds natural. Finally, the
voice data is transmitted to each client computer, independently from a
common circular list of voice data, thus insuring that all clients will
stay current with the most recent voice data. The combination of these
features enables simple, seamless, and interactive Internet conferencing.