Multipoint Control Unit
The Multipoint Control Unit, MCU short, is a central star hub for video conferencing. An MCU can be implemented in hardware or software.
About an MCU, the data streams are received by several conference participants and processed depending on configuration and returned to all participants. The data streams can be processed in the following ways:
- Continuous Presence: All video data streams are combined and sent back to all participants, so participants can see each other at the same time.
- Voice Switching: In this mode, only the video stream of the currently speaking participant is always sent to all other participants.
In addition, an MCU together also expect the video streams of some or all participants to a new stream, for example, the current speaker fill most of the image, while the other participants can be seen as a thumbnail on the screen.
An MCU is always working together with a gatekeeper that is responsible to manage the incoming connections that can be built from the IP or telephone network.
- Communication device