Method and System for Switching Between Video Streams in a Continuous Presence Conference
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- selecting a video stream obtained from a first media relay endpoint of a plurality of media relay endpoints; and
responding to a need for an Intra frame to be sent to a second media relay endpoint of the plurality of media relay endpoints, wherein the Intra frame belongs to the selected video stream, comprising;
synchronizing a reference frame in an encoder of the first media relay endpoint that encodes the selected video stream with a reference frame in a decoder of the second media relay endpoint;
obtaining from the selected video stream an Inter frame that is compressed based on the synchronized reference frame;
converting the selected video stream carrying the Inter frame and further received frames into a relayed video stream; and
relaying the relayed video stream toward the second media relay endpoint.
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Abstract
A media relay conferencing system includes a media relay multipoint control unit and a media relay endpoint that handle needs for Intra frames in an efficient way, improves the conferees experience, and reduces the load on the resources associated with that media relay videoconference by reducing the number of Intra frames and lowering the impact of Intra frames when they are needed. In some embodiments, when a requiring media relay endpoint requests an Intra frame for a video stream received from a presenting media relay endpoint, a media relay multipoint control unit may respond by requesting the presenting media relay endpoint to synchronize a reference frame in an encoder of the presenting media relay endpoint, which encodes the relevant relay compressed video stream, with a reference frame in a decoder of the requiring media relay endpoint.
8 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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selecting a video stream obtained from a first media relay endpoint of a plurality of media relay endpoints; and responding to a need for an Intra frame to be sent to a second media relay endpoint of the plurality of media relay endpoints, wherein the Intra frame belongs to the selected video stream, comprising; synchronizing a reference frame in an encoder of the first media relay endpoint that encodes the selected video stream with a reference frame in a decoder of the second media relay endpoint; obtaining from the selected video stream an Inter frame that is compressed based on the synchronized reference frame; converting the selected video stream carrying the Inter frame and further received frames into a relayed video stream; and relaying the relayed video stream toward the second media relay endpoint. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A media relay multipoint control unit communicatively connected to a plurality of endpoints through a network, the media relay multipoint control unit comprising:
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a network interface; a signaling and control module that selects two or more endpoints of the plurality of endpoints; and a video processor, coupled to the signaling and control module and the network interface, configured to; receive instructions from the signaling and control module that a presented endpoint of the selected two or more endpoints is sending a temporary stream of video data chunks toward a requiring endpoint of the selected two or more endpoints in parallel to a first stream of video data chunks; parse the video data chunks of the temporary stream, responsive to the instructions; organize the parsed video data chunks into a stream of relayed video data chunks; and transfer the stream of relayed video data chunks toward the requiring endpoint via the network interface. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A media relay endpoint, comprising:
a video processor configured to; receive a group of streams of video data chunks, wherein each stream originates from a different transmitting-media-relay endpoint; organize the received video data chunks into a plurality of groups, each group corresponding to a transmitting-media-relay endpoint; decode each group of organized video data chunks into decoded video data; assemble a continuous presence layout from the decoded video data; and synchronize a reference frame in a decoder allocated to decode a first video stream of the received group of streams of video data chunks received from a first media relay endpoint with a reference frame in an encoder that is used to compress the first stream responsive to a request for an Intra frame for the first video stream. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
Specification