Dynamic bandwidth selection for efficient transmission of multimedia streams in a computer network
US6292834A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 14, 1997 |
| Grant date | Sep 18, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 14, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N21/8455
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An efficient transmission protocol for transmitting multimedia streams from a server to a client computer over a diverse computer network including local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs) such as the internet. The client computer includes a playout buffer, and the transmission rate is dynamically matched to the available bandwidth capacity of the network connection between the server and the client computer. If a playtime of the playout buffer, which is one measure of the number of data packets currently in the playout buffer, drops below a dynamically computed Decrease_Bandwidth (DEC_BW) threshold, then the transmission rate is decreased by sending a DEC_BW message to the server. Conversely, if the number of packets remaining in the playout buffer rises above a dynamically computed Upper Increase_Bandwidth (INC_BW) threshold and does not drop below a Lower INC_BW threshold for at least an INC_BW wait period, then the transmission rate is incremented. The transmission rate can be selected from among a predetermined set of discrete bandwidth values or from within a continuous range of bandwidth values. In one variation, in addition to responding to changes in networ…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.