Patent · US Expired

Intelligent buffering process for network conference video

US7133362B2 · kind B2 · utility

31Cited by
13References
17Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateNov 14, 2001
Grant dateNov 7, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 19, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N21/44004
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

In order to minimize the delay of the video images viewed by a network conference attendee, an intelligent buffering process (IB process) selectively discards video frames from at least one point, and in an embodiment, many network points, such as at “in” and/or “out” buffers of clients, servers, routers, etc. Packets of video frame data arrive at a buffer, which can fill to a predetermined limit if the packets cannot be forwarded due to delays or slow connections. To forward the most current video images, old frames in the buffer are discarded rather than forwarded. In a particular embodiment, when the buffer is full, the next arriving delta frame packet is discarded. To avoid distortion, each subsequent delta frame is discarded until a new key frame eventually arrives. If the buffer is still full when the key frame arrives, the buffer is purged and the new key frame is added.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.